Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Alice Eichholz

Abstract

Community college systems must create and maintain curriculum quality management processes and mechanisms to assess the effectiveness of curricula as mandated by state accountability measures. This basic qualitative study was employed to understand the perceptions of members of a curriculum quality management team at a multicampus community college district. Senge's learning organization theory and tenets of Gronn's distributive leadership principles guided this study. Semistructured interviews were used as the data collection method to examine perceptions of 8 full-time curriculum team members at a multicampus community college district in the southwestern United States about the organization, collaborative formats, and governing procedures of their curriculum management system. Data analysis employed the use of open coding, reflective journaling, and the formation of themes. Team members perceived that their multicampus structure makes it challenging to maintain a seamless curriculum quality management system. Participants were perplexed while attempting to describe their perceptions of governance. In general, participants described the governance system using the word collaborative with the caveat that final decisions rest with leadership; however, a few participants felt that the governance system lacked structure. Organizing curriculum management teams into functional collaborative units may help multicampus community college districts to be better equipped to maintain quality curricula. Ultimately, the goal is to improve the success of graduates in the workforce, resulting in positive social change regarding a cultural shift on campuses where curriculum quality management is an institutional practice.

Download

Share

 
COinS