ATTITUDES OF NON-CREDIT FACULTY IN A SAMPLE OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGES TOWARD SELECTED INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes (expectations) of faculty teaching non-credit courses and/or programs in a sample of community colleges in the state of Maryland toward 37 selected institutional practices. Findings were interpreted regarding the improvement of the status and teaching performance of non-credit faculty in these community colleges. Each of seven research questions asked what the expectations of non-credit faculty are for institutional practices in a specific area: administrative support, communications, instructional development, committee and faculty group, personnel, professional growth and development, student services. All 548 non-credit faculty under contract as of February 1, 1984 at four institutions selected by the researcher from among the 17 Maryland community colleges comprised the study population. Each study college represented a geographic service area on a continuum of rural-suburban-urban. Of this total population, 428 responded to two instruments developed by the researcher. The Non-credit Faculty Personal Data Questionnaire (NFPDQ) asks non-credit faculty about certain personal characteristics. The Institutional Practices Attitude Inventory (IPAI) asks non-credit faculty the extent of their agreement toward 37 institutional practices as an appropriate expectation of non-credit faculty in a community college. A five point Likert-type scale was used for the response criteria. Responses were computed and reported in terms of frequencies, means, and standard deviations. Study findings indicated non-credit faculty held highest expectations for practices which related most directly to delivery of instruction, i.e. media use, textbook and library selections. Their lowest expectations were for practices which involved a time commitment to the college beyond classroom hours, i.e. office hours, advising, and recruitment. It was found that non-credit faculty expectations for certain fringe benefits (grievance, health, insurance, sick leave, tuition reimbursement) differed notably among college subsamples suggesting that such practices must be considered on an individual college basis. Based upon study results, it was concluded that non-credit faculty want to teach, and they want their institution to support them in their teaching role. They do not appear to have strong expectations to perform non-teaching functions. They see their role in college governance confined essentially to the non-credit area, not campus-wide.