Faculty Focus Report 657

Best Practices for
Training and Retaining
Online Adjunct Faculty

Featuring content from

A MAGNA PUBLICATION

Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online
Adjunct Faculty
Becoming a new faculty member is seldom easy. Whether the instructor is simply transi-
tioning to a new university or stepping into the classroom for the very first time, there are
questions large and small that arise every day about policies, procedures, techniques, and
technologies. For online instructors, many of whom teach only part-time, this sense of dis-
orientation is made even more difficult by their off-site location and the growing list of
tools and technologies they need to learn in order to create a rich learning environment.

These challenges are a major concern, not only for new faculty members but for the
college as well. The institution has invested significant time and resources in the recruit-
ment and hiring process. To lose online instructors due to a difficult transition or inade-
quate support would be a waste of time, effort, and resources, not to mention the
potential impact on course quality.

This Faculty Focus special report contains 12 articles pulled from the pages of Distance
Education Report. The articles feature best practices from colleges and universities who
have solved the training and retention puzzle and come up with innovative approaches to
ensure their online instructors are trained, connected, and supported throughout their
teaching experience.

Here’s a sample of some of the articles you will find in Best Practices for Training and
Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty:
• Giving Part-Time Online Instructors What They Need
• The Virtual Faculty Lounge: Providing Online Faculty Development for Adjunct
Instructors
• Eight Facts to Know About What Bothers Your Distance Education Faculty, and
What Keeps Them Coming Back
• Jump Starting Faculty into Online Course Development
• A System for Managing Online Faculty
• Tips for Designing an Online Faculty Workshop

This special report will provide you with the best practices you need to improve the
training and retention of your online faculty.

Christopher Hill
Editor
Distance Education Report

2 Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty • www.FacultyFocus.com

Table of Contents
Giving Part-Time Online Instructors What They Need ................................................................................................4

Training Online Adjuncts the Florida Way ................................................................................................................5

The Virtual Faculty Lounge: Providing Online Faculty Development for Adjunct Instructors ..................................7

Getting By With a Little Help from One's Friends: Mentoring Program Boosts Faculty Retention ............................9

Tips for Designing an Online Faculty Workshop ......................................................................................................10

Eight Facts to Know About What Bothers Your Distance Education Faculty, and What Keeps
Them Coming Back ................................................................................................................................................12

Training 60,000 Faculty to Go Online ......................................................................................................................14

Jump Starting Faculty into Online Course Development ..........................................................................................16

A System for Managing Online Faculty ....................................................................................................................18

How to Train and Maintain Your Distant Faculty ....................................................................................................20

Development on Demand: Professional Enhancement Resources for a Geographically-Diverse Faculty ................22

Designing a Certificate Program for Preparing Faculty for Online Teaching and Hybrid Course Development ......23

Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty • www.FacultyFocus.com 3

time consuming and if you add that

Giving Part-Time Online component to delivering the content,
you’re basically doubling their

Instructors What They Need workload, and who wants to work
with an organization when their
workload has doubled, and they’re
not being compensated for it?”
Although fair compensation is
By Christopher Hill important, some instructors are
motivated by other factors. “There are
a lot of faculty members who know
that online learning is hot and it’s the
here are many benefits of online instructor, reminding them of

T employing part-time instructors
to teach online: they can relieve
the instructional workload of full-time
the services that we have in the Open
Learning Centre that can make this
teaching experience positive for them
thing they need to get into. A lot of
faculty do it to try to get into teaching
full time, and if they show that they’re
interested in using the technology,
faculty; they can provide expertise because in a lot of cases, online
they feel that makes them more at-
that is not available within a program; faculty feel that the focus is on
tractive as candidates for full-time
and they can help keep program costs making sure that the student is happy
positions. But ultimately, in order to
manageable. Along with these and that no one is really there for
retain the faculty, we’re trying to
potential benefits, relying on part-time them,” Hickey says.
make the experience less frustrating
online instructors creates new chal- Each online instructor is assigned a
and as positive as possible for them
lenges, including high rates of instruc- specific staff member (according to
with limited resources,” Hickey says.
tor turnover. academic area), which provides a
When an online learning program single point of contact for each
relies heavily on part-time instructors, instructor.
A faculty community
Like students in an online course,
a high turnover rate could negatively
when instructors feel like they are
affect course quality and increase Compensation
part of a community, they will likely
faculty development costs. This is Because Humber College is decen-
stick around, Hickey says. To create a
why retaining good part-time online tralized, part-time instructors’ pay
sense of community, the Open
instructors is a priority at Humber varies among the different academic
Learning Centre invites part-time
College’s Open Learning Centre, programs. Some are paid hourly and
online instructors to campus events
where 90 percent of online courses some are paid according to the
such as course showcases and faculty
are taught by part-time instructors. number of students they teach.
development opportunities. (Most of
Ruth Hickey, director of the Open “There’s a lot of work involved with
the part-time online live near the
Learning Centre, provides centralized teaching online. That’s the hardest
Humber’s Toronto campus.)
support for online instructors in an part in retaining faculty—the fact that
An important part of creating this
otherwise decentralized institution. initially it looks like you’re not getting
sense of community as well as
Hickey works with academic program paid for what you do because you
improving instructors’ technology
coordinators to identify which courses spend so much time fumbling around
skills is the WebCT clinic the Open
will be offered online. (Currently with the technology,” Hickey says.
Learning Centre offers. After complet-
there are approximately 200 online The goal of the Open Learning
ing this clinic—Hickey recommends
courses that have been developed for Centre is to support faculty and
that all online instructors complete it
online delivery, and 130 to 150 of provide the services needed to allow
before teaching online—instructors
these are offered each term.) them to “focus on the content and
can take part in an ongoing threaded
Hickey encourages each department teaching their online courses so they
discussion about online teaching tech-
to identify its online faculty as early don’t have to deal with the nitty-gritty
niques with other instructors who
as possible, which enables the Open technical support for the students,
have completed the clinic. “We try to
Learning Centre to begin working such as navigation.” Hickey says. “I
build a sense of community [online],
with these instructors before the term think by providing that type of
realizing that they’re not necessarily
begins. service, the faculty aren’t so over-
“I send out a welcome letter to each whelmed. Teaching online is very PAGE 5


FROM PAGE 4 sometimes there is no substitute for Providing instructors with the
individual attention from a support support they need likely will help
on campus a whole lot. You have to staff member. As the number of retention, but the need for support
utilize the technology in terms of courses grows, providing this support does not end even after they have
building that sense of community the will be a challenge. “Because of our taught online for a long time, Hickey
same way you do in your online large number of courses, our resources says. “You’re always going to need to
classroom,” Hickey says. are grown, but not at the same rate [as do that little bit of handholding, even
our online course offerings]. Our with experienced online instructors
Timely support biggest challenge now is to make sure because technology changes so
The Open Learning Centre’s website that our resources are set up in a way much.” G
includes information that can help in- that our instructors can actually access
structors manage their courses, but them,” Hickey says.

Training Online Adjuncts the Florida Way
By Christopher Hill

lorida Community College are automatically assigned a mentor. pline are selected based on their per-

F Jacksonville (FCCJ) is an online
institution that employs only
adjunct faculty. Since they ventured
FCCJ has a lead mentor who is a
fulltime faculty member, with about
ten other adjunct mentors. There is a
formance. “They are really good en-
thusiastic instructors, who wanted to
get involved and who wanted to
online, they have developed a system mentor for each discipline area. Each help. We tried to pick out ones so
for training their adjuncts, building that we’d have one for each different
community among them so that they discipline,” Hardy says. The mentors
train each other, and building a sense were paid a stipend depending on
of professional spirit among them. how many mentees they were
Every new adjunct that’s hired
Kim Hardy, Dean of Instruction and assigned, but with funding cuts
Student Success at FCCJ, recently is required to go through an Hardy is not sure the program is
explained to Distance Education going to be able to do that any more.
Report some of the more effective online orientation program, FCCJ is looking at how they might be
tools in their adjunct program. able to revise the program to com-
taught by an FCCJ mentor. pensate for that.
1.The orientation program. Every
new adjunct that’s hired is required 3. Certification program Another
to go through an online orientation thing new faculty are required to do
program, taught by an FCCJ mentor. new hire is matched with a mentor. is go through a certificate program.
FCCJ trainers built the orientation The mentor has access to the That was created by FCCJ’s profes-
class in BlackBoard. It includes six to mentees classes, so they can judge sional development office. Subjects
10 modules and it talks to the new the help that the mentee may need. covered include how to build an
adjuncts about some of the adminis- This relationship lasts for a semester online course, online pedagogy, how
trative tasks and other technical but if the new adjunct wants it for a to use BlackBoard, introduction to
functions they are responsible for. year they have that option. multimedia, how to do Podcasts and
Lead mentors are instructors who wikis, and more.
2. The mentor program. The are teaching full-time online, and At the end of the program they get
mentoring program was designed for they coordinate the adjuncts. The PAGE 6
any new online instructor. Adjuncts regular online mentors for each disci-


FROM PAGE 5 there was an instructor, I don’t know philosophy, he created a forum in
where he was but he wasn’t here, BlackBoard and invited all adjuncts
a certificate and a small salary and he was having a hard time trying who were interested in creating a
increase. Mentees then have to serve to figure out how to do something in new quality assurance program to
as a mentor to a new adjunct. BlackBoard. We have an administra- take part in it. Every week for eight
tor monitoring this but before she weeks he did a video cast with them,
4. Electronic newsletter This goes could even respond, a couple of talking with them on a different
out twice a semester. It serves a adjuncts jumped in and said, ‘I topic--courses, discussions, quality in
community-building function, con- haven’t exactly done this but here’s assessments, and so forth. When
taining news of adjunct achievement FCCJ put this new quality assurance
and other news briefs. It alerts into place, the adjuncts felt like they
adjuncts to events and opportunities. had a stake in it, some ownership.
“That’s something else that helps us People felt like they had a say in how
keep in touch with each other,” says
Discussion boards are set up
this quality assurance was going to
Hardy. so if adjuncts need to talk to be implemented.

5. Live webinars For the last two other instructors, if they need 9. The resources page FCCJ has a
years FCCJ has done webinars using page where adjuncts post different
Elluminate for adjuncts at the time of resources in their subject, if resources that they come across. The
the school’s fall convocation. They mentors contribute.
use it to welcome the adjuncts and
they need to know some
offer useful advice. Some of the administrative policies or if Guiding Philosophy
webinar is live, other portions prere- The guiding philosophy from start
corded. There is a question and they don’t know how to use to finish at FCCJ is peer-to-peer com-
answer period. munication. Hardy believes that it’s
something in BlackBoard, they one thing to get input or direction
6. V-Compass FCCJ has a communi- from an academic superior or an ad-
cations and information forum in can discuss those issues.
ministrator. It’s another to hear sug-
BlackBoard called V-Compass.
gestions from peers. “It’s not so
Instead of sending adjuncts a stream
much you’re telling me what to do,
of e-mails reminding them of various
but instead here is a suggestions from
things, they have created V-Compass
as a clearing house for information. what I think’. And another person a colleague. I think that helps a lot,”
Discussion boards are set up so if jumped in and said, ‘Yes but you says Hardy.
adjuncts need to talk to other in- need to do this and that; and they
structors, if they need resources in were all in there helping each other.” “Let’s use the resources we have,”
their subject, if they need to know says Hardy. “We have some great in-
some administrative policies or if 7. Online workshops and videos. structors here. They’re the ones who
they don’t know how to use Short two or three minute demonstra- will be able to help our new instruc-
something in BlackBoard, they can tions on how to do specific opera- tors really acclimate to this environ-
discuss those issues. All the tions in BlackBoard are made ment and help them with a lot of
webinars are on V-Compass. There
available online to students and their questions that could be
are also interactive tutorials, online
faculty. answered not just by our administra-
demonstrations and videos. Adjuncts
tors here but also by our fellow
can go on V-Compass any time.
Adjuncts are encouraged to go online 8. Quality assurance. The dean of adjuncts.” G
and answer each other’s questions, FCCJ’s online program decided it was
to support each other , to post time to focus on quality. Because
resources for each other, and get this was going to look at how FCCJ
involved in mentoring each other, evaluated adjuncts as instructors, he
either officially or unofficially. wanted to make sure they all had a
Hardy tells a story: “I was on our voice in the creation of the evaluation
V-Compass Forum the other day and system. In a move typical of FCCJ


the instructor is introduced to the

The Virtual Faculty Lounge: Blackboard system that serves as the
shell for the Lounge and is granted
access to it through a personal
Providing Online Faculty account.
The Lounge contains a variety of
Development for Adjunct materials that the adjunct instructor
will need, ranging from the highly

Instructors practical to the more theoretical. For
example, Bennett notes that many
forms the institution uses may be
difficult for the instructor to access
during off-hours, when the instructor
By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti is able to visit campus. Therefore, the
committee that made recommenda-
tions for the Lounge’s content
ore and more, Ohio’s two- insisted that practical resources such

M year colleges are turning to
adjunct instructors to teach
their courses. These instructors bring
Helping adjunct faculty address
these training needs will help
as forms be made available for
download.
Additionally, the Lounge is filled
a wealth of real-world experience and ensure that students receive a with resources to help adjuncts learn
subject-matter expertise to their time more about pedagogical techniques.
in the classroom. However, they often better education and that “Two-year college faculty are often
lack the knowledge of pedagogical content experts, not education
and learning theory that their full-
valuable, part-time faculty experts,” Bennett says of these part-
time counterparts may have obtained members are inspired to time faculty. As such, adjuncts can
as part of their preparation to teach, bolster their classroom and teaching
or in subsequent faculty-development continue to bring their skills by working through the infor-
opportunities. Further, the adjunct mation found in the Lounge.
population is typically a busy one, expertise to the college. BTC provides support and guidance
with demands from full-time jobs, for adjuncts as they continue their
making it difficult to take time out education, as well. Adjunct faculty
during normal business hours for are typically observed in their
continuing education. This is the problem that Cathy classroom by the department chair or
If lack of training in pedagogical Bennett, associate dean of Learning, a member of the college’s administra-
theory is a typical weakness of Information Services, and Technology tion, who assesses the instructor in
adjunct faculty, it is very likely that for Belmont Technical College (BTC), areas including class organization,
these instructors know it. Not only has been confronting for several presentation, student/faculty relation-
can a lack of training in this area on years. Working with a committee of ship, professional competence,
the part of adjunct faculty have a former adjunct instructors, BTC has content, interaction, and active
negative impact on student retention, devised a Virtual Faculty Lounge that learning. These visitors might make
it can also contribute to adjunct- allows adjunct instructors to access note of some areas the adjunct in-
faculty attrition, as these otherwise training and resources any time of structor could strengthen, such as en-
skilled professionals feel underpre- the day, whether they are on or off couraging class discussion or
pared to successfully deal with a campus. understanding learning styles. Or, the
classroom of learners. Helping adjunct may identify an area that he
adjunct faculty address these training Providing resources for theory or she would like to improve.
needs will help ensure that students and practice “Someone can suggest, or an adjunct
receive a better education and that An adjunct faculty member is intro- can self-select,” says Bennett of this
valuable, part-time faculty members duced to BTCs Virtual Faculty Lounge teaching-related training.
are inspired to continue to bring their in a mandatory orientation during the
expertise to the college. PAGE 8
instructor’s first term. At that time,


FROM PAGE 7 professor adjunct, based on a variety on to the Virtual Faculty Lounge.
of criteria. While part of a faculty Other materials and tools the instruc-
This assessment leads to the con- member’s eligibility for promotion tor may wish to utilize are also
struction of an individualized hinges on formal education and available through the library, and
learning plan. The learning plan degrees earned, total experience in library staff serve as support to help
includes recommendations in four the field, as well as number of terms instructors use the resources, such as
major areas: as an instructor, the faculty member integrating PowerPoint presentations
• classroom organization and may also complete certain modules into their lectures. This lends a
processes (including time man- from the Virtual Faculty Lounge as human component, as well as
agement, classroom manage- part of demonstrating readiness for physical resources in support of the
ment, syllabus development, the next level. virtual tool, The Lounge.
course preparation, class
processes, and A third type of information housed Recommendations for working
computer/software use); in the lounge is a result of other pro- with other institutions
• content presentation (including fessional development opportunities When it comes to supporting
lecture/presentation techniques, that the adjunct instructors may not adjunct faculty, Bennett sees no
communication skills — verbal, have been able to attend. For reason why individual institutions
nonverbal, and written — profes- example, Bennett tells of a presenta- should go it alone. “There is no
sionalism, and subject tion by the Ohio state attorney reason you can’t partner with other
knowledge); general held during a professional de- institutions,” she says. She notes that
• fostering learning (including velopment session for full-time BTC is beginning some early cross-in-
brain-based learning, active faculty that addressed federal privacy stitutional dialog about ways to adapt
learning, constructive feedback regulations. BTC secured permission the Virtual Faculty Lounge for use
and evaluation, developing to post the PowerPoint presentation with other institutions. One proposal
students’ lifelong learning skills, to the Virtual Faculty Lounge, where involves collaborating with other in-
and fostering responsibility); and faculty members could access it at stitutions to offer a multi-institution,
• learning environment (including their convenience. adjunct-orientation course; another
cooperative learning, learning proposal suggests opening a Virtual
communities, learning and Securing a physical space Faculty Lounge that would serve
teaching styles, developing and Although the Virtual Faculty more than one institution, using the
communicating high expecta- Lounge is, by definition, located in Ohio Learning Network’s
tions, and supporting diversity). cyberspace, while delivering online (http://www.oln.org/) open-source
Each area can include a specific and on-demand learning to adjunct pilot project. Both ideas are in the
recommendation for additional faculty, BTC felt that it was also earliest stages of gauging interest, but
training that the instructor can important to link the lounge to a already it is easy to see how such a
pursue with the help of the physical space. This follows the rec- resource could include information
Virtual Faculty Lounge. ommendation from the committee of and training of use to adjunct instruc-
former adjuncts, turned full-time tors at a variety of colleges across the
At the end of the additional faculty, who made suggestions for state or across the country. G
training, the instructor is assessed the program. “It [couldn’t] be just
again, with the expectation that he or virtual; it had to have a physical
she has integrated the new informa- piece,” Bennett says.
tion into the classroom approach. For the physical piece, BTC selected
“We hope they expand and grow as the Learning Resources
educators,” Bennett says. One way Center/Library. The library proves to
that this growth can be objectively be the ideal place to serve as an on-
measured is by eligibility for campus base for the Virtual Faculty
promotion. Adjunct faculty at BTC Lounge. One benefit is the extended
move from the ranks of instructor hours held by the library, which
adjunct, assistant professor adjunct, means that adjunct instructors can
and associate professor adjunct, up to visit at a wide range of times to log


A Safe Place for Questions
Getting By With a Little Help Steven Huntley is a professor based
in FCCJ's Kent Campus and the lead

from One's Friends: Mentoring mentor for the Virtual Mentoring
Program. He explains that the

Program Boosts Faculty mentoring program is designed to
encourage questions and avert
problems for adjunct faculty in their
Retention first semester teaching for FCCJ.
The mentoring program employs
ten mentors scattered around the
country, each one a seasoned FCCJ
By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti faculty member representing a
specific academic discipline. As the
college hires new faculty, they are
assigned a mentor from their
ecoming a new faculty member ments online in the 2004-05 academic

B
discipline.
is seldom an easy transition. year. Each semester, FCCJ offers The mentor makes initial contact
Whether the instructor is some 450 sections of online courses, with his or her assigned mentee, es-
simply transitioning to a new univer- taught by 100 full time faculty and tablishing time frames for contact
sity or stepping into a classroom for 200 adjuncts. throughout the semester. The pair
the very first time, there are exchange contact information and set
questions large and small that arise a schedule for checking in with one
every day about policies, procedures, another, with at least two contacts
techniques, and technologies. For The typical new faculty required each semester. However,
the online instructor, this sense of Huntley finds that the adjuncts
disorientation is only made more member with a question typically desire contact much more
difficult by the faculty member's off- often.
site location and the necessary tech- usually believes that the Huntley believes that this result is
nology that can seem as much a due mainly to a general comfort level
communication barrier as a commu- question must be posed to a
with the mentor that may not exist
nication tool.
new boss, a daunting prospect for the typical new faculty member in
This is a major concern, not only an academic department. The typical
for the new faculty member but for that causes many questions to new faculty member with a question
the university. The institution has usually believes that the question
invested significant time and go unanswered. must be posed to a new boss, a
resources in the recruitment and daunting prospect that causes many
hiring process, and it will continue to questions to go unanswered. This is
make investments in training and especially true of the software
retention. To lose a faculty member Although approximately two-thirds questions that often plague a virtual
due to a difficult transition would be of the virtual adjuncts reside in the instructor adjusting to a new system.
a waste of time, effort, and the state of Florida, many are not local to “The mentees have a place to go.
faculty member's potential. Jacksonville and therefore cannot They have a safe place to confide
Florida Community College at easily visit campus to resolve in…they are more likely to ask
Jacksonville is well aware of these problems or get to know other faculty questions,” says Huntley. It is this
challenges. The college offers a and staff. To help smooth the road for safe, non-threatening relationship
variety of distance learning programs these "virtual adjuncts," FCCJ has that is at the heart of virtual faculty
delivered through online, blended, developed a mentoring program retention for FCCJ.
CD-based, and telecourse platforms, designed to ease transitions and
serving approximately 25,000 enroll- improve faculty retention. PAGE 10


FROM PAGE 9 offer help when it can be most amount of work, as FCCJ does not
effective. “The earlier the mentor is mandate the number of hours the
An additional responsibility for the involved the more receptive [the mentor spends with each mentee,
mentor is to help head off problems adjunct]. We want to help them,” only that regular communication take
that often arise for new faculty says Huntley. place.
members, proposing solutions before The relationship does not end
the problem becomes too large. For An Effective and Efficient when the semester does. Although
example, online courses are usually Approach no further formal contact between
constructed with events that are time- A mentor’s life can range from idle mentor and mentee is suggested or
based, such as an exam that must be to busy, depending on the demands mandated, the new faculty member
completed by a certain time or a of hiring for a given semester. In one may look first to his or her old
bulletin board that will be accessible recent semester, some 40 new faculty mentor when a question arises. And
for a certain number of days for a members were hired, meaning that all faculty in the mentor’s discipline,
required contribution. Even with the each of the 10 mentors averaged four including the new ones, receive
best of intentions, links fail, instruc- regular communications from the
tions are unclear, and students find mentor about what is going on in
themselves frustrated attempting to that area.
fulfill the requirements of the course. In sum, Huntley calls the Virtual
Experienced faculty like Huntley Mentor Program “an effective,
know to check in on time-sensitive
An additional responsibility for
efficient way to train new faculty.”
tasks, ensuring that links are active the mentor is to help head off Assigning faculty mentors to new
and checking email to see if students faculty, with a nominal compensation
are having problems. By checking in problems that often arise for amount, is much more cost effective
early, faculty can fix problems before than hiring a full time staff member
they become course-wide difficulties. new faculty members, to handle the same duties. And,
A new faculty member, however, may more importantly, new faculty at
not think to do this. “New faculty
proposing solutions before the
FCCJ begin their work with a non-
may not be in tune. They may not problem becomes too large. threatening relationship with an ac-
know to check in when their students cessible mentor who sets the tone for
are logging in,” says Huntley. By a career that is hopefully long and
stepping in early in the term, the successful. G
mentor can help the new faculty
avoid problems and have a successful
result. mentees per person. However,
But what of questions of independ- simple averages may not tell the
ence of the new faculty member, and story, since mentees are assigned by
the traditional power of the faculty to the mentor’s academic discipline.
teach as they see fit? “It’s not so Therefore, even in a relatively active
much a challenge to academic semester, some mentors may not
freedom, but to see how things are have mentees, while some may have
working,” says Huntley. For this a full dance card. For the coming Fall
reason, the mentors do not try to semester, with enrollments flat or
prescribe teaching methods. “We slightly declining, FCCJ may hire only
don’t advocate mentors get involved half that number of new faculty.
[in pedagogy],” says Huntley. Each mentor with an active mentee
Instead, the mentor may at most load receives a flat fee each semester
choose to ask a well-placed, probing for serving as mentor, along with an
question about the intention and additional amount for each new
expected outcomes of a particular mentee. The amounts are modest,
approach. The intention, however, is each ranging in the low hundreds of
not to limit academic freedom but to dollars. This fee is for an unspecified


One set of links available to the
course participants is a listing of
Tips for Designing an Online resources addressing current thinking
about pedagogy. Links in this section

Faculty Workshop include ones to Quality Matters,
Merlot, and the Sloan-C Consortium.
The online faculty workshop also
includes several videos to personalize
the information and allow campus
By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti experts to talk about their own experi-
ences. “We have lots of videos of ex-
perienced online professors who share
hat is the best way to train who range from busy new professors their best practices,” says Clerkin.

W and support a beginning
online faculty member? At
some colleges, the only option is on
to even busier department chairs who
may not be able to carve several hours
or days out of their schedule for face-
Other videos are from the director of
the library, the director of the help
desk, the director of the academic
site training held on the campus over to-face training. However, all of them support center, the instructional
a day, a weekend, or a period of days are used to finding information online. designer, students, and Clerkin herself.
during the summer. These on-site • Tip: Remember that although not • Tip: Videos can be a good way to
workshops, while potentially very all online faculty will be physically personalize online training and to
effective, commit the faculty members located off-campus, that doesn’t allow the participants to get to know
to time, travel, and often inflexible mean they will have a great deal of the resource personnel they will need
scheduling. However, Berkeley available time for face-to-face to be successful.
College, with campuses in New York training. Online training can be a
and New Jersey, has designed an good solution to varied and busy The online workshop also includes
online faculty workshop and set of schedules. an online faculty resource center,
training and support tools that ensures which features tools and resources
that online faculty are never far away Clerkin notes that the college piloted that faculty likely will need. This
from the assistance they need. an online workshop two quarters ago, includes a faculty handbook, a
This is not to say that Berkeley with just seven faculty members as checklist for a successful course
College has neglected its on-site participants. This initial group liked created by the dean, and a section on
training and supporting online infor- the training, so the college made a academic integrity.
mation components. Before designing two-week workshop for beginning The online faculty resource center is
the online faculty workshop, the online instructors available. The team conceived as “a place where faculty
college already offered an online is now working on offering courses for can share,” says Clerkin. For example,
teaching tutorial; on-site beginning, advanced faculty and for instructional all faculty meetings are held online
advanced, and instructional design design. through a section of the resource
workshops and open labs at all Although the beginning instructor’s center dedicated to discussions. This
campus locations; WebEx conferenc- workshop is billed as a two week section also includes discipline-specific
ing; online peer mentoring by disci- endeavor, the actual amount of time discussions for faculty in certain
pline, an online faculty recourse that completion will require depends subject areas, and an option for voice
center, and a variety of personnel to on the individual faculty member’s discussions. There is even room for
support faculty training. The center of technical expertise. The course is faculty-initiated interaction projects;
all of this activity is Mary Jane replete with resources, including the for example, one faculty member has
Clerkin, coordinator of online faculty textbook that complements the course. asked to run an online book club, so
support. The text offers an excellent companion that discussion area is now found
Clerkin explains that Berkeley has website and a link for beginning online.
always made use of adjunct professors online teachers. • Tip: Allow faculty the chance to
to teach some of its online courses, • Tip: Berkeley College uses personalize online space in order to
but many of its online instructors are Teaching Online: A Practical Guide, keep them coming back. An online
actually on site and teaching campus- by Susan Ko and Steve Rosen, as a book club or other non-work interac-
based courses as well. Scheduling is a text and companion web site.
PAGE 12
concern for these faculty members,


FROM PAGE 11 best practices. One section includes Clerkin and Berkeley College intend
sample courses in a variety of disci- to keep upgrading the online faculty
tion may make them feel more at plines, which allows participants to workshop so that all faculty continue
home online. view a successful course and learn to have the tools they need to be
what aspects they might adopt for effective in the online classroom. “It is
The site also includes a number of their own. There are also many sets important that faculty have access to
forms that the faculty members will of directions and instructions for using all new materials,” Clerkin says. For
need as they do their work, such as common tools, like Blackboard. example, Blackboard, which the
progress reports. “All they have to do Finally, the online faculty workshop school uses as its course management
is click to take any one of those requires the participants to demon- system, has new portfolio features that
forms,” says Clerkin. Additionally, the strate competence with practical appli- the faculty need to understand in
site lists the various upcoming confer- cations. Each participant is asked to order to make use of them.
ences that faculty may be interested in complete certain tasks, like posting a Clerkin and the college intend to
attending, a feature that is additionally comment, to show their readiness to keep developing workshops to help
nice because of the generous amount teach online. At the end of course faculty stay current in their field. An
of grants Berkeley College makes completion, they are sent certificates advanced workshop and one on in-
available to its faculty for attendance of completion to show that they suc- structional design are expected to be
at these events. cessfully navigated the course. available by the beginning of the year.
• Tip: Put all of the forms and infor- • Tip: Just as you would have tests G
mation your faculty will need online and assignments for students in an
in easily downloaded formats, so online course, consider having as-
that they can be accessed at all sessment activities for participants
hours from any computer. in an online training workshop, so
that they may demonstrate mastery
The site is filled with models and of the materials.

Eight Facts to Know About What Bothers Your
Distance Education Faculty, and What Keeps
Them Coming Back
By Christopher Hill

hen Jennifer McLean, learning administrator. “More and tion. The findings are important for

W director of instructional
technology and distance
learning for the Pennsylvania College
more faculty are working totally
remotely,” she says. “Is that an
isolating experience? What does that
any distance learning administrator to
understand and address to create
happier faculty.
of Technology, looked through the mean for faculty retention? What do
existing literature on distance they need and how can we support Stressor: Student Interaction
education, she found many studies them?” McLean’s first finding was that
and articles addressing the needs of McLean undertook a study using a distance learning faculty “didn’t expe-
students and how to retain them. Delphi panel of distance educators, rience more stress than other faculty
Unfortunately, she found few asking them about their causes of members, but from different sources.”
mentions of studies of the faculty ex- stress and satisfaction with their jobs Much of this stress came from working
perience, and here she saw a gap that and allowing them to discuss their with students who are not prepared to
impacted her work as a distance opinions online in a sort of conversa-
PAGE 13


FROM PAGE 12 group that views themselves primarily
Non-Stressor: University Pressures as teachers. “The faculty who are
study online, and then attempting to Although distance learning faculty drawn to distance education are even
remediate these students in an asyn- experience a good deal of stress from more independent” than the tradi-
chronous environment. Faculty cite interactions with their students, some tional faculty member, says McLean.
stress originating from “the reality that of the typical stresses faced by tradi- “They self-select into this, so they may
much of the remediation they are tional faculty members are often not a be better teachers,” she notes.
providing should have been provided consideration. For example, distance Even though they recognize the
earlier in the student’s academic learning faculty are often not held to stresses that can come from relative
career,” McLean writes in a paper for the traditional triad of expectations of isolation and pressure to meet unreal-
the Distance Learning Administration teaching, research, and service, and so istic student demands, they are
conference, “Forgotten Faculty: Stress they do not experience the stress that generally happy with the life they have
and Job Satisfaction among Distance results from juggling these demands. elected. “They perceive the trade-off
Educators.” Additionally, they do not feel bound as well worth it,” McLean says, noting
by expectations for social interaction that faculty describe their jobs as “sat-
Stressor: The Rolling Presence or even for earning a good evaluation. isfying and challenging.”
Distance learning administrators Many of the faculty in McLean’s study
often emphasize students’ desire to report that they rarely see a perform- Uncertainty: Knowledge of
have rapid responses to their email ance evaluation and really do not care Colleagues
messages and chat room postings, but to. They are also extremely unlikely to A point of low satisfaction among
this can be very stressful for the look to the university for social inter- faculty members was knowledge of
faculty member. “Students assume you action, so don’t expect these faculty, their colleagues. For example, a pair of
are sitting at your computer 24/7,” even the locally-based ones, to hang questions asked the participants to
says McLean. This perception is out in the department lounge or rate the degree to which their col-
known as the “rolling presence,” and eagerly anticipate the holiday party. leagues were boring or lazy, and the
it causes faculty a great deal of anxiety “They don’t perceive themselves as participants admitted they did not
when they do decide to log off for an part of the university as a whole, and know these people well enough to
evening or a weekend. McLean tells of they don’t feel left out,” McLean says. respond.
one faculty member who checked her In fact, this population seems to This lack of personal connection
email while at her daughter’s delight in being “out of sight, out of extends up the hierarchy. “One
wedding, so concerned was she that a mind,” or “flying under the radar,” panelist didn’t even know who [his]
student’s question would go unan- two phrases that came up repeatedly supervisor was,” says McLean, who
swered. If our society as a whole in the study. “They don’t feel alone; notes that distance faculty often
suffers from the “always on” phenom- they like it that way,” says McLean. simply receive a teaching assignment
enon that makes professionals tote This fierce independence can have from the department secretary. This
their Blackberries along on beach some serious implications for distance lack of interaction can create mistaken
vacations, the pressure is even more learning administrators and depart- impressions, such as when campus
intense for the faculty who work with ment deans who may try to reach out based colleagues assume distance
students who expect them to be to their distance faculty, only to find a faculty are on something akin to a
available at any time. lukewarm response. However, certain permanent vacation.
other university populations are seen
Stressor: Perfectionism as tremendously important by the Uncertainty: Equitability of Pay
Further complicating the pressure to distance faculty. When asked about Finally, faculty in McLean’s study
respond immediately is the fact that their interaction with colleagues, had a difficult time assessing the
faculty as a group tend to be “fairly McLean reports that her study popula- fairness of their pay. Although many
perfectionistic,” McLean says. This tions did not “talk about their disci- of the participants were quite experi-
self-imposed stress can lead them to pline or their deans; they talk about enced faculty members at the end of
berate themselves for not living up to tech support. That is their link to the successful careers, which muddied
the 24/7 expectations of their university.” perceptions about the availability of
students, and the pressure to be promotion opportunities, there was a
available all day, late into the night, Satisfaction Point: feeling that the ratio of pay to
and over the weekend can be very Independence workload may not accurately reflect
wearing for a faculty member and his The faculty who elect to teach
or her family. PAGE 14
online are often a very independent


FROM PAGE 13 should assess their own level of social The information should also be
engagement needs to determine how quite useful for distance learning ad-
the amount of effort distance learning well they will deal with the independ- ministrators who hope to understand
requires. ence or isolation. They should also the stressors and uncertainties among
realize that it is difficult to remediate their faculty and help them manage
Lesson: Know Thyself students in the distance environment, them. McLean recommends communi-
One obvious benefit of McLean’s and “it is very easy to get pulled under cation and support to help these
study is the opportunity for faculty the wheels of rolling presence,” distance faculty feel a part of the uni-
considering distance learning to McLean says. She recommends faculty versity as a whole. Just don’t expect
measure their own preferences against set boundaries, as “the burn out factor them to show up at the next depart-
known stressors. For example, faculty is the greatest threat to productivity.” ment meeting. G

Training 60,000 Faculty to Go Online
By Christopher Hill

ohn Whitmer and his @One reach a much larger audience — the The video is accompanied by a phone

J (pronounced at-one) group had
to teach 60,000 faculty how to
operate online. That’s the total
entire system. “Your reach is very
limited if you’re going to stay on the
ground,” says Whitmer. “In a state as
bridge so that the presenter and the
participants can call in to an 866
number and converse. “That’s one of
number of faculty and staff in the big as California you’re not going to the biggest tools for us and that’s
whole California Community College get too far.” how we’re reaching several thousand
(CCC) System — all 110 schools and @One has a core staff that does all people per term,” says Whitmer.
72 district offices. the administrative work: logistics and @One offers a variety of different
The @One Project is a technology coordination, planning and pedagogy, types of training. One of their basic
training and support program for the marketing, outreach, registration, and formats is the desktop seminar —
faculty and staff of the CCC system. evaluation. But all the technology short 45 minute presentations with
Their charge is to make it easier for and production work is outsourced. 15 minutes of Q&A. The desktop
CCC faculty and staff to learn how to @One’s preferred outsourcing seminars cover everything from the
use technology to enhance student suppliers are other chancellor’s office very basics — how to make PDF files
learning. @ONE’s programs provide projects, where @One can largely get — t advanced desktop applications
training, online resources and what they need for free. The most like Excel, PhotoShop, PowerPoint,
support for free — or at a very low important of these services is access and Flash.
cost — thanks to funding from the to CCC Confer, the California Lately, many of the seminars have
California Community College Community College version of moved beyond strictly technological
Chancellor's Office. Horizon Wimba, the e-conferencing skills, into pedagogical issues,
solution. CCC Confer allows users to featuring training in online instruc-
Scaling Up Training set up a web portal that presenter tion, effective evaluation skills and
Before the @One project, the and participants both log on to. The detecting plagiarism.
California Community College System presenter can show PowerPoint slides Whitmer concedes that 45 minutes
had tried to address its training needs or even their own desktop (so partici- is not a lot of time to do all this
with four peripatetic trainers going pants can see any other application training. Responding to this fact,
from one school to the next. The idea running on the presenter’s computer @One has developed the most
behind the @One Project was to use in real time). There’s also a chat popular of these desktop seminars
distance education and distributed window, a white board, a polling tool
learning technologies in order to and other interactive functionality. PAGE 15


FROM PAGE 14 multimedia, technology-enhanced in- connection, the more individualized
struction. But @One has another attention someone gets, the higher
into series, allowing the subject to be audience as well — the “techies” as they rate the service.” He adds that
explored more deeply. Whitmer calls them — and they this is not just in response to
The next level of @One instruction present a different challenge. The obviously related questions like how
support is asynchronous online technologists in the CCC system are good the facilitator was, but also to
classes, from three to six weeks long. only taught face to face, not via seemingly unrelated questions like
Whitmer describes them as standard distance learning. “Techies can’t get “How well did the content meet your
online classes, with course content away,” explains Whitmer. “We could needs?” “That gets a much higher
online, each module with a discus- not do the techie training online rating if we have more one-on-one
sion forum, often with multimedia because if they’re in front of a activity,” Whitmer says. In @One’s
elements. computer they’re working, and the evaluation data people are happier
It’s in designing their online only way they can get training is to and more satisfied, and get a better
courses that @One staffers really call actually get them out of the office. learning experience, if they have a fa-
on their outsourced support. “We We’d been very successful in getting cilitator helping them through.
have people all over the state who to everybody else but the techies, and In the immediate future, @One is
are instructional designers,” Whitmer we would talk to them and they planning a conference — the Online
says – “Very talented people whom would say ‘Nice class, the technology Teaching Conference – for the
we work with on a contract basis.” looks good but I can’t participate. summer of 2007 It will be a standard
Though @One doesn’t have Because my choice is to learn two-day conference format, with a
trainers or instructional designers on something new or fix a server.’ And projected attendance of about 300.
staff, they do have a set of production we never won that battle. So we But, in line with @One’s mission,
standards. “We have a design guide provide them all face-to-face they have their eyes on the 60,000
that we use,” says Whitmer. “We training.” strong CCC audience. So they’ve
have a look and feel. We have a decided to stream the whole confer-
template. We have other standard Reaching thousands ence while they hold it face-to-face
policies and features for our classes. Over the course of the last four “We call it a hybrid event,” says
We have it all standardized, but we years @One training has reached Whitmer. “We’re going to be web-
don’t use a designer.” almost 12000 people. Last year alone casting the keynote speakers that’ll
@One reached 8022 people. That go straight out to the Internet. Also,
Using System Resources number breaks down this way: 1019 for some of the breakout sessions
The resources of the CCC system through face to face training; 1259 we’ll be using CCC Confer and
also provide Whitmer and his group through online courses; desk top offering those as interactive sessions.
with subject matter experts to teach seminars 3262; video on demand The people in the audience will be
the online courses. They have several 953; the other 1500-plus group is there but we’ll also have a virtual
ways of locating potential instructors. made up of people who choose self- audience that can hear the presenter
They can advertise on a system-wide paced materials. Self-paced materials in real time, that can ask questions
listserv; the @One staff also knows are similar the online classes — and interact. There will be no charge
many people who have worked in the sometimes it’s the same content — for virtual attendees. We’ll open it up
CCC system capable of teaching a but repurposed so that learners go to the whole educational system.”
course. And sometimes they recruit through at their own rate. There are And so the @One Project continues
talented students — CCC faculty or no activities and no discussion. its mission. G
staff — from the classes. Says
Whitmer, “Drawing on the resources Evaluation
and the talent and the knowledge @One does point-of-service evalua-
that’s already in our system has been tion at the conclusion of all of their
one of the biggest factors in our events – a formative ongoing evalua-
ability to do this on a budget, and tion process with a core set of
provide really a very rich and robust questions that are asked with every
content.” service so that they can do compar-
isons across services. “What we’ve
@One teaches general topics to found,” says Whitmer, “is that the
faculty and staff — Online teaching, more personalized service, the more


course’s effectiveness.

Jump Starting Faculty into Digital Media Services (DMS),
IUPUI’s in-house production facility,

Online Course Development is another key part of the team. They
are the people who will assemble and
produce the finished course. Once the
course has been designed, the faculty
member, the instructional designer,
By Christopher Hill and the IT consultant get together
and create a plan the DMS will be
able to use to create the course.
ost distance education ad- would give them all the support they

M ministrators know that
there’s going to be a certain
amount of hand-holding involved
needed. The Jump Start team
includes an instructional technology
consultant, an instructional design
The Jump Start process
The heart of the Jump Start Process
is an intensive four-day week where
the faculty members work on devel-
when they’re trying to get faculty consultant, production support, a
members to produce their first online librarian to help them connect to oping a prototype model for their
courses. On the other hand, at the online resources, and a copyright course.
Center for Teaching and Learning at management office. Day 1: Tuesday Eight to 12 faculty
Indiana University-Purdue University members gather, first for a series of
Indianapolis (IUPUI), they get 12 workshops on the basics of online
novice professors to produce 12 new course design. They then meet with
courses in 90 days – and like it. Terri
The Jump Start team includes their support team. They’ll see
Tarr, Director of Instructional Design examples of previous Jump Start
an instructional technology courses . People from Digital Media
and Development and Rhett
Services (DMS) come in and “sort of
McDaniel, Director of Instructional consultant, an instructional
Technology, explained to Distance put the parameters around what’s
Education Report how IUPUI’s “Jump design consultant, production possible,” as McDaniel says. Together
Start” program works. with the professors, the DMS people
IUPUI had decided they wanted an support, a librarian to help develop a work plan, sitting down
online degree option to offer with a calendar to plan their work for
commuter and non-traditional
them connect to online the next 90 days.
students. But they had a problem resources, and a copyright
with faculty. Says Tarr, “The faculty Day 2: Wednesday The next day, the
was saying, yes, we’d like to develop management office. faculty members become familiar
the courses but we don’t have the with online course development
expertise, we don’t want to spend the guidelines, and begin to develop their
time learning how to develop them, The instructional technology con- syllabus. Multicultural teaching
we really want to focus on teaching, sultant from IUPUI’s Center for strategies are discussed. The profes-
and so on.” “They just got lost,” says Teaching and Learning helps the pro- sors are introduced to the key
McDaniel of the professors. “They fessors explore some of the possible concepts in intellectual property, and
didn’t know where to start, they technology options. The instructional they work with librarians to learn
didn’t know how to start. They didn’t design consultant helps the faculty about connecting to online resources.
know what a course looked like member determine objectives for the They finish defining their goals and
online.” course, and decide how to organize objectives for their courses. They’re
It was in response to this that Tarr the content. The designer helps them introduced to different web interface
and McDaniel began to develop the think through issues like creating in- options, and start thinking about
Jump Start program. The idea was teractive exercises, or establishing a what kinds of interactivity are
two-fold. One) Have the faculty social presence online. They can help available to them.
members work collaboratively and them decide what sort of assessment
two) surround them with a team that they’re going to use to gauge the PAGE 17


FROM PAGE 16 handle on the process. It also gets the aside to work on that project,” says
faculty thinking concretely about the Tarr.
course – what content they will need The program has been so success-
Day 3: Thursday The group identi- to write, where they will need to ful that Tarr and McDaniel can now
fies best practices for online teaching. build in interactivity, graphics they envision a time when it won’t be
At this point the professors begin to will need, and so on. “Once they see needed. “When it was first created
look at their course as a whole. They that first module and they have a there was a strong need to help
decide how it will be structured -- by design for it, and DSM creates it so faculty create online courses -- they
unit, chapters, weeks, subject area, they can see it, it’s a lot easier for were really lost,” she says. Now, she
topic, etc. They pick out a representa- them to visualize the rest of the thinks the need may be becoming
tive section to focus on. As the days course,” says Tarr. less pressing, although she thinks
proceed, the professors are having that the model they have created of
less and less facilitated time and are production support for faculty will
spending more and more working in- continue to be valid.
dependently on their own courses. One of the directions McDaniel and
Once all the prototypes are Tarr want to go with Jump Start is to
Day 4: Friday By Friday the profes- put more and more of it online. On
sors are deep into designing their created, the faculty members their last Jump Start cycle they con-
prototype. They start developing a sciously put more material online and
plan for assessing course effective-
come back in the summer for
had the professors do some prepara-
ness. They’ll finalize a work plan for a prototype showcase, where tory work online as well. They plan
the next 90 days to complete their to do more of this that the faculty
course. They turn in their design they present their prototype members will experience more of the
document to DMS, who will have a student viewpoint online.
prototype built. Faculty members modules to each other and Jump Start has had an institution-
share their course design and view wide impact. The courses created out
other faculty projects.
describe their projects.
of the process have now spread out
into many of the schools and depart-
Once all the prototypes are created, ments of IUPUI, and Jump Start
the faculty members come back in courses have been used as models by
the summer for a prototype One factor that helps the Jump other departments. “[Jump Start] has
showcase, where they present their Start process work is money – profes- had a ripple impact on the institu-
prototype modules to each other and sors receive a $5000 stipend for tion,” Tarr says. “In that way I think
describe their projects. Over the creating their courses. But most it’s done a wonderful job.” G
summer they continue to work with faculty actually enjoy the process as
their team. The team is led by one of well. “Jump Start week is really,
the instructional designers who is really intense and if it were not fun
designated as project manager. The people would not be interested in
professor develops course content coming,” says McDaniel. His
and reviews it via e-mail with the assertion that Jump Start week is fun
project manager. By the beginning of is borne out by the growing number
fall term, the course is ready to go. of applications they get. “More than
we can handle,” says Tarr.
The impact of a Jump Start Tarr says that what makes this
The main aim of Jump Start week intense week work is that the profes-
is to have the professors actually sors are taken out of their routines –
develop fully a section of their they’re away from their offices and
course. This does a number of things. away from their phones, away from
It makes the professors feel less over- people who drop in for a chat, away
whelmed at the outset, giving them from their computers. “They are
the sense that they’ve gotten a given the luxury of having time set


that the teachers may feel more like

A System for Managing independent contractors than part of
the university. They don’t necessarily

Online Faculty feel they represent the institution,
even though they do, of course, to
their students. If they are detached
from the school or if they become
unhappy with something going on in
By Kathleen Vail their course, they are more likely
than full-time faculty to complain to
their students.
anaging faculty is one of the full time job somewhere else. Most “When we’ve run into problems in

M big challenges in online
education. It is especially
difficult when a program uses adjunct
are vice presidents or managers.”
The advantages to using adjunct
faculty in online learning programs
the past, it’s when faculty got busy or
were traveling. They didn’t realize
that when there’s a lot more things
impinging on their time, it draws you
professors to teach many of its are many. Off-campus teachers, often
classes. Norwich University in from the business world, are more away from your class,” says Orlando.
Northfield, Vt., has developed a comfortable with the independent “We make sure they understand the
system of training and monitoring time commitment. Faculty is the first
online faculty for its online master’s connection to students. If they are
degree programs that allows it to take not actively involved, we will lose
advantage of using adjunct faculty Norwich’s faculty students.”
while minimizing the problems asso- Norwich’s online faculty manage-
ciated with off-campus teachers. management program ment program allows the school and
Norwich’s faculty management students to enjoy the benefits of
program investigates potential in-
investigates potential using off-campus faculty while mini-
structors during recruitment, provides mizing the problems they present.
instructors during recruitment,
clear expectations and extensive
training before they teach, and close provides clear expectations Recruitment
monitoring during the course. Orlando and his staff use a three-
“We make sure we screen our and extensive training before part process to recruit faculty: resume
faculty to make sure they aren’t over- reviews, phone interviews, and
loading by taking on a teaching
they teach, and close reference checks. That’s in addition
position at Norwich,” says John to content knowledge and teaching
monitoring during the course. experience. Most preferred is
Orlando, associate program director
for Norwich’s masters of Information someone with online teaching experi-
Assurance (MSIA) program. “We ence. Newcomers to online teaching
emphasize that you will put in 15 to style of work demanded by online tend to take a couple of classes to
20 hours per week online. You’d courses. The university can also take adjust, including making the lifestyle
better have that time available.” advantage of choosing teachers from adjustments necessary to be available
a wide variety of backgrounds, expe- to their students when required.
Off-campus caveat rience, and qualifications. Orlando Candidates are fully briefed on
Most of the online courses in the says this is particularly pertinent to what they’re expected to do. They
masters program are taught by the MSIA degree program -- informa- also are asked about their business
adjunct faculty, who are, in large tion security being a new field, where travel schedule, in case there is a
part, working professionals in there are few academic experts to be conflict with the school’s schedule.
addition to their teaching duties “We found. Finally, adjunct faculty can be
do require them to have teaching ex- removed from their positions more Training
perience,” Orlando says, “but we easily than tenured professors. Training and support is essential for
want them to have practical experi- However, off-campus status can
ence in the field. A majority have a pose problems. First among them is PAGE 19


Faculty Focus Report 657

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