Two-year colleges offering baccalaureate programming: Faculty development and support needs

The purpose of the study was to identify what faculty support and development was required for traditional two-year college instructors to transition to a faculty that could deliver upper-division baccalaureate programming. The study was conducted at a former two-year institution that was developing and delivering four-year programming. The quantitative part of the study used a survey to examine what faculty support and development was important as a two-year institution developed and implemented upper-division curriculum. The qualitative part of the study used interviews to expand and clarify the results from the quantitative study.;There were several conclusions drawn from the study. Overall, the respondents and informants to the study indicates that support and development for faculty regarding the preparation and delivery of upper-division courses was important. They also indicated that any development strategies undertaken needed to be supported on an ongoing basis by the institution.;Respondents and informants in the study indicated that professional activities for faculty were important in the development and delivery of upper division courses. The activities included workshops, conferences, content expertise upgrading, formalised peer interaction, faculty and student research and external professional contact.;Respondents and informants also suggested that faculty required more time to prepare and deliver upper-division courses versus lower-division programming. As a result, institutions needed to plan additional faculty time for preparation, grading, professional activities, and faculty and student research where required.;There were several faculty resource challenges for two-year institutions implementing four-year programming. Increased resources were needed to support workload adjustments, library resources, technology support, faculty and student research and increased access to professional activity such as conferences and workshops.;Overall, respondents and informants identified that faculty support and development was required to implement and sustain four-year programming at a former two-year school. Professional activities, workload considerations and resource increases were all important parts of the faculty support and development strategy.