Online adjunct faculty: Understanding the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction - A strategic imperative

This purpose of this study is to provide a baseline metric or benchmark of the level of job satisfaction among adjunct faculty teaching in either the online modality or in the traditional classroom setting at an institution of higher learning. It provides insight into the forces driving overall job satisfaction and its counterparts in Frederick Herzberg's terminology: motivation and dissatisfaction. Incorporating Michael Porter's model of five forces into the discussion, adjunct faculty in many institutions and certainly in the University under study become the suppliers of a key input and gain in power as their numbers increase. Those suppliers gain additional power as they become trained in the online modality. Online adjunct faculty are no longer limited by commuting distance in considering employment opportunities. As these opportunities become obvious the level of job satisfaction becomes a key input to a faculty member's decision to leave or stay. Based upon survey data, this research identifies those variables most likely to affect job satisfaction or dissatisfaction thereby providing the institution with the opportunity to reinforce or alter current practices and eventually, using current academic terminology, close the loop.