Abstract:
Based on Yackee's (2000) study of the perceptions of chief instructional officers (CIOs) at community colleges accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), this study identified, described, and compared the perceptions of CIOs at institutions accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC). The CIOs' perceptions regarding difficulty accreditation criteria for part-time faculty, challenges in implementing commonly cited good practices for employing and using part-time faculty, and reasons for employing part-time faculty were included. The population included CIOs from all SACS-COC-accredited associate's colleges. A questionnaire was adapted from Yackee's survey instrument for distribution using an online software program and was sent to all 256 chief instructional officers; 107 questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 42%. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The one-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD test for multiple comparisons were used to analyze significant differences (p<.05) among the data. The findings were that (a) CIOs perceived meeting accreditation criteria as not difficult; (b) there were no statistically significant differences in the perceptions of difficulty in meeting SACS accreditation criteria among CIOs based on institutional location; (c) CIOs perceived implementing commonly cited practices for employing and utilizing part-time faculty as challenging across all types of associate's colleges; (d) Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines proved the most challenging for recruiting and hiring part-time faculty; and, (e) CIOs agreed that commonly cited reasons for employing part-time faculty influenced the decision to employ part-time faculty. The conclusions were that (a) no statistically significant differences existed in the perceptions regarding difficulty in meeting SACS accreditation criteria among CIOs at associate's colleges based on institutional size and location; (b) the practices that contribute to the effective employment and use of part-time faculty are typically the same practices that pose the greatest challenge to CIOs at SACS-accredited associate's colleges; (c) STEM disciplines pose the greatest challenge for recruiting and hiring part-time faculty across associate's colleges, regardless of location or size; and, (d) regardless of institutional type, CIOs at SACS-accredited associate's colleges agreed on the reasons for employing part-time faculty.
