Education Commons^™

Mentorship Within Developmental Networks: A Phenomenological Study Of Black Women Tenured Associate Professors And Their Path Toward Full Professor, Jenifer F. Godfrey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The problem of inadequate representation of Black women in tenure track faculty positions is both pronounced and longstanding. With Black women making up less than 2% of full professors, this is particularly true at institutions categorized as R1 – Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity by The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. College faculty have long been the focus of scholarly research. However, studies focused on mentorship to be promoted to full professor for associate professors generally, and Black women associate professors specifically, are lacking. Using a conceptual framework that defined mentorship broadly as developmental networks and …

November 17, 2023 Minutes, Swosu Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

Minutes from the November 17, 2023 Faculty Senate meeting.

Collaborative Challenges Between Educational Accessibility Coordinators And Adjunct Faculty In Supporting Autism Spectrum Students, Tamara Faure, Pietro Antonio Sasso

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Accessibility of educational accommodations has increased but can be frequently inconsistent for undergraduates with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The didactic relationship between educational accessibility staff with faculty, who are increasingly adjuncts, facilitates many course-learning accommodations. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the perceptions and professional experiences of educational accessibility coordinators with adjunct faculty in their implementation of learning accommodation for undergraduates with ASD. Findings from this study suggested that accessibility coordinators negotiated expectations of unprepared adjunct faculty and ASD students to address issues throughout the semester.

Coordinators believed ASD students struggled to navigate their experiences with adjunct professors because they were …

Law School News: Dean Bowman On The Scotus Admissions Decision 6-29-2023, Gregory W. Bowman

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Predicting The Relationship Between Student, Faculty, And Institutional Diversity With Graduation Rates In Higher Education, Hridya C. Mondal

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The importance and significance of diversifying higher education are undeniable. Research has examined that diversifying higher education may produce more graduates, predominantly minority students. However, more literature is needed on how diversifying faculty and students relate to and impacts overall undergraduate graduation rates in higher education in the United States. This study aimed to gauge the predictive relationships between student diversity, faculty diversity, institutional locale, enrollment size and admissions selectivity and construct a relationship with graduation rates. The study examined a random sample of 291 Title IV, four-year postsecondary institutions, and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) employed for the …

Resolving Faculty Incivility And Workplace Bullying In Higher Education, Jared Rawlings

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Workplace bullying behavior exists in higher education and the purpose of this session is to present current research about bullying behaviors, explain the impact of bullying between and among populations (faculty and staff), explicate legal and ethical issues, and model practices for academic chairpersons to address bullying behaviors.

Leadership Doesn't Have To Be Lonely: Creating Cross-Institutional Community, Jerry Schnepp, Lisa K. Hanasono, W. John Koolage, Mary-Jon Ludy, M. Elise Radina, Jolie A. Sheffer

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters and participants will build communities of support through engaging in interactive co-writing surrounding shared challenges, opportunities, and solutions for academic administrators as servant leaders.

How To Retain Your Best Faculty Members, Jeff Buller

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

As department chairs, we devote a great deal of time and energy to recruiting excellent faculty members, but we spend far less time and energy trying to retain them. Superb college professors are vital to a department’s success, but they are also highly competitive in the marketplace. They have options and, if they begin to think that they can do better (financially or otherwise) elsewhere or even outside of academia, they’ll start looking elsewhere. In this best practices workshop, we’ll explore how to apply certain strategies to our work at the departmental level so as to increase the likelihood that …

Navigating Your Department Post Pandemic With Creative Wellness, Krista Bridgmon, Elizabeth List

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters will discuss and participants will practice creative counseling skills including mindfulness, empathy, effective questioning, reflecting emotion and goal setting which will assist the evolving work-life concerns of faculty, staff, and students following the pandemic.

Needle In A Haystack – Searching For Your New Faculty Colleague, Jeff Bright

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The presenter and participants will explore best practices for conducting a search for a new faculty member. Topics covered in the session will include selecting search committee members, recruiting a candidate pool, virtual interviews, scheduling the campus visit, do’s, don’ts, and bias in the screening process.

Creating And Celebrating Honors Faculty, Lynne C. Elkes

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors faculty are defined by their dedication to their craft and their enormous impact on students in every discipline. However, their role within the larger university setting is nebulous, leading to an undervaluation of their contributions to higher education in an era of negative perceptions of the industry. Honors faculty can be tenured, contingent, academic, or professors of the practice; in every case, questions of promotion, compensation, and teaching assignments make staffing an honors program in a consistent manner difficult at best. These programs, their students, and their faculty would benefit from a more standardized approach to effectively serve honors …

Crossing The Cultural Chasm And The Power Of Listening: How We Wrote A New Tenure Code, David Larson, Linda Hanson

Faculty Scholarship

Revising the Tenure Code of an institution of higher learning may be among the most challenging of the processes it undertakes, especially when there is a commitment to shared governance by its Board of Trustees and Faculty. At Mitchell Hamline School of Law, we recently experienced this process - both difficult and ultimately satisfying - following the combination of two law schools. In 2016, Mitchell Hamline School of Law became an independent institution formed through the combination of independent William Mitchell College of Law and Hamline School of Law, a school of Hamline University, both based in St. Paul, Minnesota. …

“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This qualitative study sought to determine the stressors that motivate faculty to seek administrator support and examined faculty experiences of administrator support. Participants were 27 full- and part-time faculty members who completed a seven-item online questionnaire. Findings show that many participants felt unsupported by their administrator while navigating the stressful situations for which they sought help. This lack of support led to negative departmental cultures and faculty feeling insecure, undervalued, and isolated. This study highlights the need for policies and practices designed to build relationships between faculty and administrators. Efforts to improve the faculty-–administrator relationship can lead to increased understanding, …

A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Instructors and administrators continue to debate the merit and value of using course evaluations to assess instructor effectiveness and course outcomes, especially when students see course evaluations as satisfaction surveys where they can unload negative and/or hurtful comments directed at instructors. Little is known about instructors’ perceptions of negative course evaluations. This study qualitatively examined faculty’s (N = 90) perceptions of negative course evaluation qualitative comments. Using a grounded analyst-constructed typologies approach, three types of negative course evaluation comments were identified: professional, personal, and performance. These types of negative comments call into question the disconnection between what students and instructors …

An Examination Of Faculty And Staff Collaboration And Relationships In Higher Education, Jennifer Syno, Juliann S. Mcbrayer, Daniel W. Calhoun, Cordelia Zinskie, Katherine Fallon

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Collaboration between academic and student affairs professionals is an important means of increasing student success; however, historical divides between these units have made implementation of these efforts challenging. This quantitative study sought to evaluate the perceptions of faculty and student affairs staff towards collaborative efforts and toward one another within a single campus of a comprehensive regional university within the southeast. Findings show that while both faculty and staff value collaborations and believe they positively impact student success, these units do not experience equitable voice and responsibility within collaborative efforts when conducted. Additionally, differences were found in enjoyment of collaborative …

Faculty-Student And Student-Student Connections Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Fatma Ouled Salem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic expedited the shift toward distance education by forcing institutions to adapt to the limitations of social distancing mandates. This resulted in a general sense of disconnection and isolation, compounding the other adverse effects of the pandemic. Since faculty-student and student-student connections are consistently identified as best practices in distance counselor education, the aim of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of counselor educators during the COVID-19 pandemic relating to faculty-student and student-student connections. A phenomenological framework was used to suspend presuppositions of the phenomenon and to describe the lived experiences of participants. In-depth …

December 9, 2022 Minutes, Swosu Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

SWOSU Faculty Senate Official Minutes from the December 9, 2022 meeting.

Gendered Impact Of Caregiving Responsibilities On Tenure Track Faculty Parents’ Professional Lives, Amy C. Moors, Abigail J. Stewart, Janet E. Malley

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Navigating a career while raising a family can be challenging, especially for women in academia. In this study, we examine the ways in which professional life interruptions due to child caregiving (e.g., opportunities not offered, professional travel curtailed) affect pre- and post-tenure faculty members’ career satisfaction and retention. We also examine whether sharing caregiving responsibilities with a partner affected faculty members’ (particularly women’s) career outcomes. In a sample of 753 tenure track faculty parents employed at a large research-intensive university, results showed that as the number of professional life interruptions due to caregiving increased, faculty members experienced less career satisfaction …

Navigating Leadership In Academia Through A Crisis, Domenick J. Pinto

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Academic leadership is a fast-paced ever changing entity. When you add an unexpected global pandemic to the mix, it changes academic life beyond anyone's wildest dreams. In this workshop I hope to share how I and my colleagues handled the pandemic and invite the participants to share their experiences. Let's learn from one another!

Investing In Our Faculty: Creative Virtual Recognition Ideas For Leadership, Celine S. Hall, Nikki L. Williams

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Faculty are one of our greatest assets. Feeling valued and appreciated by leadership and peers help cultivate feelings of belonging and encourage engagement. In this presentation, we will share ways in which leadership recognizes faculty achievements and provide opportunities for peers to do so as well within an online setting.

New Chairs In A World Of Hurt: Using Trauma-Informed Leadership To Guide Communication, Compassion, And Flexibility For Five New Chairs., Lisa Jellum, Christina Wolfe, Jessica Lindberg, Erin Shufro, Josie Baudier, Jayme Wheeler

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters will discuss their challenges as first-year Chairs facing the multiple academic fires generated by an unprecedented global pandemic. The presenters will detail how using Trauma-Informed Leadership styles allowed them to adjust for the unpredictability of communication from system-level administration, establish relationships with internal stakeholders, and develop trust with faculty as new leaders within the institution.

Addressing The Great Resignation In Higher Education, Jeff Buller

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The expression “the Great Resignation” refers to the trend, largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, for employees to quit their jobs either because they’ve found more attractive possibilities or because they’ve decided to retire early. For department chairs, the question often becomes: "I worked so hard to recruit them, now how do I keep them?" In this presentation, we'll explore proven strategies from the moment of hiring onward that can increase the likelihood that chairs will not suffer the worst effects of "the Great Resignation."

More: How To Do More With More In 2022, Harriet E. Watkins, Jacquelyn Cato

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

In 2022 we are dealing with new academic realities. This presentation will investigate current faculty concerns and explore the ways academic coaches assist faculty and put the personal touch in online courses necessary to support and enhance the student experience. Providing the ability to scale and save on instructional costs.

Navigating The Realm Of Faculty Evaluation, Sonal Dekhane, Patrice Bell, Neelam Khan

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

In this presentation the presenters will discuss annual evaluation process followed at a young, liberal arts institution. Chairs from three different STEM disciplines will provide an overview of the annual evaluation process and share strategies to ensure successful and consistent evaluation in departments of various sizes.

Shared Academic Governance.. A Historical Perspective, Domenick J. Pinto

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Shared academic governance is a key to ensuring that faculty and administration can work collaboratively to reach strategic planning outcomes, maintain excellence and show continued growth and collegiality in higher education. This workshop will elaborate on experiences I have had in both a university senate and academic assembly, present scenarios that the group can brainstorm on, and conclude with suggestions on how all faculty can become involved.

Moving The Faculty Diversity Needle: A View From The Trenches, Amanda Bozack, Darryl L. Corey

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters and participants will discuss a real case scenario that brought diversity weaknesses to light in one department and explore diversity-focused strategies that chairs and departments can use to shape departmental culture to yield a more inclusive, diverse candidate pool for faculty searches and hires.

Establishing A Faculty Mentoring Program, Joshua Schulte

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenter will discuss the establishment and conductance of a college-wide faculty mentoring program. The program entails connecting a new faculty member with a mentor and includes regular meetings, observations, and discussions of pedagogy.

Not Your Typical Administrator, Shaunda French-Collins, James F. Koehn, Wendy Waugh

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters will examine the trend of “wearing many hats” in higher education leadership. For example, being both a department chair and faculty member. In addition, the notion of successfully managing up, the importance of understanding each role you have, and understanding your situational role and the communication we use will be discussed. Lastly, participants will engage in case study scenarios challenging participants to consider various administrative situations and identifying reasonable approaches based on which “hat” you are wearing.

Pandemic Issues: Faculty Value Alignment And Burnout, Eu Gene Chin, Brooke Hildebrand Clubbs

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Burnout among faculty members impacts physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning and has negative socioeconomic consequences downstream. Prior to the pandemic, faculty members were already reporting high levels of burnout, which is characterized by depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and a lack of personal accomplishment. Previous research reported that value incongruence functions as one of the strongest predictors of depersonalization (and subsequently) turnover intention. This study provides a snapshot of the value alignment and burnout of faculty at a regional public university in the months following the pandemic-induced pivot to remote learning. Results from our survey of faculty members (N = 58) suggest …

Managing Mental Health Risks On Short-Term Study Abroad Programs: A Faculty Development Approach, Katherine A. Hoffswell

Culminating Experience Projects

Over the past several decades, the increase in college students participating in study abroad programming has coincided with the increase in students reporting issues with their mental health. Faculty directors who lead short-term study abroad trips are responsible for creating a safe environment that supports student health, wellbeing, and learning while abroad. However, literature suggests that many faculty directors feel unprepared to address issues with student mental health as they facilitate their programs. This project seeks to improve faculty director competency and confidence regarding mental health risk management abroad through the creation and implementation of a virtual professional development series. …