Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Maureen L. Ellis

Abstract

A community college (CC) in the midwestern United States launched a New Faculty Seminar (NFS) in 1999 for new tenure-track faculty. The problem that prompted this project study is that the NFS has been implemented yearly since 1999 without a formal evaluation. Without an evaluation plan, college leadership cannot determine whether the program is meeting stated goals. The purpose of this program evaluation was to explore how faculty described the NFS inputs and processes they experienced and how they perceived the outcomes and impact of the NFS on their understanding of the CC environment and the development of their instructional delivery. Fredericks, Deegan, and Carman’s logic model served as the conceptual framework. The research questions for this qualitative case study explored how faculty described the NFS inputs and processes they experienced, and their perceptions of the outcomes and impact of the NFS. Training documents were collected from 34 sources and 2 focus group interviews were conducted with 8 tenured faculty who had participated in the NFS. Data analysis was conducted using holistic, in-vivo, and evaluative coding cycles. A few key findings included that the resources allocated in the NFS for the development of instructional delivery strategies were perceived as beneficial, but the opportunity for relationship building and setting accurate institutional expectations were lacking in the NFS and this negatively impacted long-term collaborative work. An executive summary of recommendations for improvements in the NFS and ongoing evaluation plan was developed. The study promotes social change by addressing NSF challenges and possible improvements, which could improve new faculty training.

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