Hiring, Integrating, and Evaluating Online Faculty

As more courses move online, mistrust and misunderstanding can arise in faculty communities around the issues of how academic units hire, integrate into the faculty community, and evaluate the remote instructors who teach online courses.

When institutions look outside their walls for online instructors, there is naturally some concern that standards and expectations are changing. You can prevent a schism from forming among faculty members by using research-based best practice strategies that ensure that online instructors are just as good and just as immersed in campus educational culture as are traditional, campus-based professors.

Learn how to adapt these best practices to your campus by ordering a copy of Hiring, Integrating, and Evaluating Online Faculty, an online seminar led by Ann Taylor, interim director of the Dutton e-Education Institute, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State University.

After participating in this seminar, participants will be able to:

• Understand how to adapt identified best practices for hiring, integrating, and evaluating online faculty;
• Apply the findings from Penn State’s 2009 research study that combined a quantitative survey with qualitative field interviews of lead faculty and department chairs who work with online courses and programs;
• Recognize and identify growing diversity among faculty and reflect that diversity in hiring practices, professional development, and performance evaluations; and
• Ensure that standards and expectations are consistent for all faculty members.

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Colleges and universities handle online education differently. Some rely solely on a specific set of distance instructors, others only allow residential faculty to teach online courses, and many use a combination of the two. Regardless of your school’s approach, a set of research-based best practices can maintain your campus’s desired educational climate and instructional standards.

Like all Magna seminars and products, this solution-oriented video presentation is designed both to address a timely issue in higher education and also to deliver accessible and actionable steps you can implement immediately.

When you order the recording of this seminar on CD, you’ll also receive a PDF of the complete transcript. An optional Campus Access License is available for an additional $200. It allows the purchasing institution to upload the CD of the seminar onto the institution’s password-protected internal web site for unlimited access by members of the campus community.

Who will benefit:
This seminar is recommended for higher education administrators, faculty, and instructional designers who work in online programs.

All seminars include a discussion guide for facilitators
Participating in a Magna Online Seminar as a team can help leverage unique insights, foster collaboration, and build momentum for change. Each seminar now includes a Discussion Guide for Facilitators which provides step-by-step instructions for generating productive discussions and thoughtful reflection. You’ll also get guidelines for continuing the conversation after the event, implementing the strategies discussed, and creating a feedback loop for sharing best practices and challenges.

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So what does this mean for distance education administrators? It means you need to make your program stand out, and you can do that by providing the training and support online faculty need to be effective in their positions, to feel connected to the institution, and to grow professionally. In the end, a stable roster of skilled and happy educators will not only save you money, but will result in a better learning experience for your students.

During the seminar, 10 Ways to Support Adjunct Faculty in Small Online Programs, Jeanne Widen, PhD,chair of the English Department at Ellis University, outlined how Ellis is able to establish a strong connection with the approximately 265 online adjuncts it employs.

The first step is a comprehensive training program which is conducted online over a two-week period with the expectation that new faculty spend about 10 hours per week taking part in the training. The orientation is led by an experienced facilitator and covers Learning Management System functionality, policies (including institution-wide policies on things like academic integrity and policies where instructors can use their discretion, such as whether to accept late work), expectations and evaluation criteria, online pedagogy and best practices, and institutional values.

Once new faculty complete the initial training, they are assigned to a mentor who will interact with them via phone and email throughout their first few courses. In some cases the mentor is the department chair. The mentor also observes their classes and provides detailed feedback, and conducts the performance evaluation.

“I think performance evaluation can be optimized to support online faculty and to establish that strong connection you want,” said Dr. Widen. “You should use it as an opportunity to get to know the individual instructor and make it as personal as possible instead of treating it as some impersonal process. You can focus on the strengths and contributions and recognize them formally. To make the evaluation a constructive process, you should try to make it formative rather punitive, meaning you should give concrete goals and suggestions for how an instructor can improve performance instead of simply pointing out where the instructor fell short.”

Many of the other practices Ellis University uses to train and retain its online adjuncts involve providing low-cost incentives and rewards, such as giving exemplary instructors their choice of specific courses, $100 gift cards, and recognition in departmental emails and on the Center for Teaching and Learning website. The university also works to integrate online adjuncts into the teaching community by including members on the faculty senate and its various committees, creating an online discussion space for sharing best practices as well as institutional information, supporting their professional development through conferences and webinars, and involving adjuncts in curriculum review and revision.

TEACHING ENVIRONMENT

6. Document policies and expectations. A consistent, high-quality learning experience is best achieved when the expectations of part-time faculty members are clear. An up-to-date “Instructor Handbook” documenting expectations of and resources available to part-time faculty, and acting as a repository for part-time faculty questions, is essential. The Handbook we created was organized to cover the following topics:

• Organization, Contractual Duties and Responsibilities;
• Your Course Materials and Website, Teaching and Incorporation of Student Feedback;
• Your Mid-Term and Final Examination;
• Your Marking Process and the Design and Effectiveness of Internal Controls Over Marking;
• Important Dates, Course Administration and Registration and the Student Complaint Process; and
• Exhibits.

7. Establish an effective (re)orientation program for part-time faculty. In most cases, part-time faculty members spend the bulk of their time engaged with students, and preparing individually for classes. There is often little contact with full-time or part-time colleagues, except through electronic or phone communications. In order to counteract the isolation that can develop in the role, an annual (re)orientation program is necessary. An orientation program can perform multiple functions: a celebration of teaching achievements, an introduction to staff (including perhaps library, technology, student services, financial and wellness staff), discussion of proposed curriculum changes, an overview of policy updates and implementation practices, to name a few. At the same time, networks are being developed, relationships are being maintained, and ideas are being exchanged.

It is important for the Dean (or designate) to attend, to offer welcoming remarks and acknowledge the contributions of part-time faculty.

8. Design and implement effective internal controls over student assessment. It is important that assessment practices are, and are perceived to be, equitable within a course, across sections and terms, regardless of the particular instructor. Accordingly, robust internal controls over assessment are a key ingredient in the delivery of consistent, high-quality learning experiences. Achieving consistency requires coordination, and may require the use of including detailed answer keys and marking rubrics. The integrity of the grades reporting process should also be guarded, through restricted access, segregation of duties, reconciliations, data security, automated spread-sheet procedures and calculations, identification of manual over-rides, and testing to substantiate manual entries.

CURRICULUM

9. Establish a robust course curriculum, learning objectives and assessment tasks. Full-time faculty should be charged with, and accountable for, curriculum development and approval of the content of the courses part-time faculty teach. Program courses should be integratively mapped to address program expectations and learning outcomes. Within each course, detailed learning objectives, teaching activities and evaluation methods should be explicit and aligned with one another. The course syllabus should be peer-reviewed, published, up-to-date, detailed and comprehensive, with overall and weekly learning outcomes clearly documented. It is important that the syllabus focus not on ‘covering a list of topics,’ but rather developing competencies and abilities to apply processes within different contexts.

A highly developed syllabus enables part-time instructors to achieve the goal of consistent, high quality curriculum delivery, despite differences in their teaching styles and the experiences they bring to the classroom.

10. Solicit part-time faculty input into regular curriculum reviews. Regular curriculum reviews and updates are an essential part of any successful program. From their position in the front lines of curriculum delivery, part-time faculty can often provide valuable insights into the update process. Many can offer additional unique perspectives by virtue of their simultaneous participation within the realms of practical experience and education. Involving part-time faculty has lateral benefits as well – they are aware of the changes, and are more likely to understand the rationale for the changes and be aligned with them. Furthermore, soliciting part-time faculty input underlines the importance of the role these faculty members play in the program, and the education process.

Conclusion
Taking a deliberate, thoughtful approach to coordinating part-time faculty leads to positive outcomes for students, faculty and the broader program. Some of the positive outcomes we have observed in the aftermath of implementing these steps for one of our large multi-section courses include:

• improved student experience (instructor ratings for the course involved now fall entirely within the highest range (4+/5); course evaluations consistently rank highest, or amongst the highest of our large multi-section courses);
• streamlined administrative processes (consistency in teaching approach and assessment methodologies has led to fewer administrative appeals (grade reappraisal requests and expressions of student concern, for example);
• co-operative, constructive faculty relationships (part-time instructors bring diverse external experience and fresh views on student learning to the table – they provide important contributions to the curricular design and assessment undertaken by full-time faculty); and
• sharing amongst coordinator group (multi-area orientation sessions were organized, policy manuals were shared and updated, successes and challenges were discussed).

Setting the stage for part-time faculty success involves upfront and ongoing investment in recruiting, curriculum, and the teaching environment. The benefits to be realized make that investment well worthwhile.

Dr. Richard W. Leblanc is an associate professor of Law, Governance & Ethics at York University in Toronto. He can be reached at rleblanc@yorku.ca. Sandra Scott is the former undergraduate program director at the School of Administrative Studies at York University. She can be reached at sjscott@uoguelph.ca.

“Adjuncts have been getting a lot of bad press lately — accusations that they’re inferior and that we’re exploiting adjuncts — but the reality is adjuncts bring an important degree of flexibility to our work in higher education, and adjuncts are not an inferior workforce at all,” says Dr. Cynthia Tweedell, associate dean for Institutional Effectiveness at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU).

In the recent online seminar, Managing the Adjunct Pool for Consistent Learning Outcomes, Tweedell and Dr. George Howell, associate dean of the School of Business and Leadership at IWU’s College of Adult and Professional Studies, outlined the processes IWU uses to screen, train, and keep quality adjuncts.

In addition to its full-time faculty members, Indiana Wesleyan employs more than 1,800 adjunct faculty at 80 different locations across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio as well as online. The school uses a rigorous five-step selection process where prospective adjuncts are evaluated based on their academic qualifications and credentials, teaching experience, understanding of the adult learning model, and overall fit with the school’s mission, Howell says. The screening process includes multiple interviews, a live teaching demonstration, and formal orientation workshops.

Upon successful completion of the orientation, the candidates are brought on board and paired with a mentor within their discipline. The new adjuncts undergo formal peer review by full-time or affiliate faculty and are assessed by students at the end of each course and program. Because IWU uses a prescriptive curriculum administrators are able to assess student learning outcomes between adjunct and full-time faculty, as well as online and on-site classes. There have been no significant differences in the quality of student learning outcomes, says Tweedell.

“The bottom line is education is about consistent student learning outcomes and adjuncts don’t jeopardize consistent student learning outcomes because adjuncts can be carefully selected, well oriented, trained and mentored,” Tweedell says. “If you are operating a complete assessment system — with both direct and indirect measurement — you can document that you have consistent learning outcomes using adjuncts. And if you don’t have consistent learning outcomes, then you can do what you need to do to get them.”

Managing the Adjunct Pool for Consistent Learning Outcomes

In 1970, just 20 percent of instructors were part-time faculty. By 2005, that figure increased to 48 percent, and continues to rise steadily. These figures from National Center for Education Statistics (2008) demonstrate the rapid growth in the number of adjunct instructors at colleges and universities –both public and private.

As the use of adjunct faculty continues to grow, administrators are searching for management tools that will help them ensure the quality and consistency of their part-time instructors. After all, even if they aren’t full-time employees, adjunct faculty still need care, attention, and support … and they need to be held accountable. Without a system to ensure quality, a large adjunct faculty pool can compromise the overall integrity of a department, or even an entire institution.

Get advice from two experienced department leaders during this 75-minute session that examines their tried-and-true system for overseeing a large adjunct faculty pool.

This seminar will give you a thorough understanding of how to create an effective system for managing your adjunct instructors with special attention paid to selection, class assignment, evaluation, and improvement.

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Order today, and you’ll learn how to:

• Utilize a clear system for screening and selecting quality adjunct faculty.
• Implement orientation and training for consistent learning outcomes.
• Implement ongoing faculty development for adjuncts.
• Implement a system of faculty evaluation of teaching. (Handouts included!)
• Retain quality adjuncts by rewarding them for quality teaching.

Who will benefit?

• Directors of Adult Education
• Deans of Adult Studies
• Directors of Continuing Education
• Vice Presidents of Academic Affairs
• Deans of Faculty

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Whether one views this as “an alarming trend or necessary change to an unstable tenure system, American colleges and universities will increasingly rely on adjunct faculty to teach courses, face-to-face and online,” says Dana Offerman, PhD., provost and chief academic officer at Excelsior College.

Last week Offerman led an online seminar titled Engagement Strategies for Online Adjuncts in which she shared policies and procedures used to foster a deeper connection between adjuncts and the institution where they teach. Similar to the widely accepted beliefs regarding student engagement, the best practices help create a framework for a successful and sustainable online teaching experience.

Some of the best practices Offerman shared for engaging online adjuncts include:

Mandatory orientation – Regardless of previous face-to-face or online teaching experience, Offerman recommends institutions require all new online adjuncts to participate in a structured orientation program facilitated by an experienced online instructor.

Expectations and standards – Be sure to establish and communicate clear expectations of what you require of your online adjuncts. For example, how often must the adjunct be “present” in his or her online class? (Be sure to define what you mean by “present.”) Also, let them know how you will be evaluating their practices and be prepared to provide faculty development activities to address any deficiencies.

Recognition – There are many small things you can do to recognize and reward outstanding adjuncts, including an awards program, mention in the department newsletter, and an invitation to a graduation ceremony or other campus event. If possible, offer your best adjuncts a multi-year contract or, instead of paying adjuncts a flat-rate, create a salary scale that rewards seniority and performance.

Professional development – As budgets tighten, professional development is often one of the first things on the chopping block, but Offerman says there are many low-budget ways to keep your adjuncts current on the latest teaching strategies —starting with leveraging the expertise of other faculty through a mentor program. She also recommends conducting an annual needs assessment to learn which skills adjuncts are most interested in developing.

Governance – As the number of adjuncts continues to increase, many are starting to wonder what their role can and should be in institutional decision-making. While acknowledging it’s a sensitive issue, Offerman recommends starting small by getting adjuncts involved on ad hoc committees or advisory councils.

References
National Center for Education Statistics, “2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04),” http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005172.pdf (Accessed February 17, 2010).

Offerman, Dana. “Adjunct Faculty in Online Education: Expectations, Accountability and Quality Assurance.” Distance Education Report, vol. 14, no. 4, 5-7.

Engagement Strategies for Online Adjuncts

When it comes to faculty engagement, you face a “double whammy” with online adjuncts. They’re online…which means they’re not necessarily tied physically to the campus. And they’re adjuncts…operating outside many of the institutional processes and policies that define your relationship with full-time faculty. And yet, online adjuncts are an important part of your team; their success impacts institutional success.

What can you do to better integrate your online adjuncts into the campus community, improve communication, and keep them engaged and committed?

In Engagement Strategies for Online Adjuncts, Dana Offerman, Ph.D., provost and chief academic officer at Excelsior College, provides best practices and a solid strategic framework for dealing with online adjuncts.

In this 75-minute audio presentation, she discusses:

• Trends and concerns regarding the use of online adjuncts.
• The importance of adjunct engagement to academic quality.
• The value of mandatory orientation programs, and what to include.
• How to engage adjuncts in institutional decision-making.
• How to craft policies and plans for adjunct professional development.
• How to communicate expectations regarding workload and performance.
• And much more.

If adjunct faculty are a part of your distance-education strategy, this is a presentation you really shouldn’t miss!

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This seminar is intended for:

• Department chairs
• Faculty development directors/coordinators
• Provosts
• Chief academic officers
• Vice presidents for academic affairs
• Deans

Learn how to bring online adjuncts into the fold, and fully integrate them into your campus community with a copy of this informative seminar!

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Faculty Development in Distance Education: Issues, Trends and Tips

Of the many lessons learned from the early years of distance education one of the most persistent to remain, and thankfully so, is the fact that you cannot simply pluck an instructor out of the classroom, plug him into an online course, and expect him to be effective in this new and challenging medium. Some learned this lesson the hard way, while others took a proactive approach to faculty training from the start.

Here’s your chance to learn from the mistakes and successes of those who blazed the distance education trail.

Faculty Development in Distance Education: Issues, Trends and Tips

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Faculty development for distance educators is a critical component of all successful distance education programs. Well thought-out faculty development weaves together needed training, available resources, and ongoing support, and carries with it the same expectations for quality teaching that institutions of higher education have for their face-to-face classes.

This special report, Faculty Development in Distance Education: Issues, Trends and Tips, features 12 articles pulled from the pages of Distance Education Report, including:

• Faculty Development: Best Practices from World Campus
• Developing Faculty Competency in Online Pedagogy
• A Learner-Centered, Emotionally Engaging Approach to Online Learning
• How to Get the Best Out of Online Adjuncts
• Workload, Promotion, and Tenure Implications of Teaching Online
• Four Steps to Just-in-Time Faculty Training

This report is loaded with practical strategies that can help you build a comprehensive faculty development program, helping ensure that instructors stay current in both online pedagogy and practical technical know-how.

Faculty Development in Distance Education: Issues, Trends and Tips

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Download the report for FREE when you join the Faculty Focus community!

Faculty Focus contains a wealth of valuable material on all of the key issues that matter to today’s top faculty and administrators. It’s packed with strategies, tips, and other information you can use on the topics that impact your students, your school, and your work, including:

• Instructional Design
• Faculty Development
• Teaching Strategies
• Distance Learning
• Classroom Management
• Educational Assessment
• Faculty Evaluation
• Learning Styles
• Curriculum Development
• Trends in Higher Education
• And much, much more.

Faculty Development in Distance Education: Issues, Trends and Tips

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Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty

As colleges and universities continue to expand their online course offerings, increasingly they’re turning to adjuncts to help carry the load. These online instructors, many of whom work full-time in addition to their part-time teaching gig or teach online courses at multiple schools, create unique training and retention challenges. This report features strategies for ensuring distance education faculty have the necessary training and support to succeed.

Higher education institutions invest significant time and resources in the recruitment and hiring of online instructors. To lose them because they don’t receive adequate training, compensation or support would be a waste of time, effort, and resources, not to mention the potential impact on course quality.

Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty

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This Faculty Focus special report contains 12 articles pulled from the pages of Distance Education Report. The articles feature best practices from colleges and universities who have solved the training and retention puzzle and come up with innovative approaches to ensure their online instructors are trained on the technology and techniques, feel connected to the institution and other educators, and are supported throughout their entire teaching experience.

Take a look at the articles you will find in Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty:

• Getting By With a Little Help from One’s Friends: Mentoring Program Boosts Faculty Retention
• Giving Part-Time Online Instructors What They Need
• Training Online Adjuncts the Florida Way
• The Virtual Faculty Lounge: Providing Online Faculty Development for Adjunct Instructors
• Eight Facts to Know About What Bothers Your Distance Education Faculty, and What Keeps Them Coming Back
• Training 60,000 Faculty to Go Online
• Development on Demand: Professional Enhancement Resources for a Geographically-Diverse Faculty
• Jump Starting Faculty into Online Course Development
• A System for Managing Online Faculty
• Tips for Designing an Online Faculty Workshop
• Designing a Certificate Program for Preparing Faculty for Online Teaching and Hybrid Course Development
• How to Train and Maintain Your Distance Education Faculty

Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty

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Online educators report that lack of contact with colleagues and the institution can lead to isolation and frustration. Without the proper training and support system, they may stop teaching online or fail to achieve their full potential as educators. For institutions, failure to build a sense of community for online faculty, including a virtual faculty lounge where they can go to for ideas, support and encouragement, is an expensive mistake they can’t afford to make over and over again.

Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty will provide you with the practical strategies that will make a big difference when it comes to training, supporting and retaining your online faculty.

Best of all, the report is free when you sign-up to receive Faculty Focus, our new e-newsletter for higher education faculty and academic leaders.

Faculty Focus contains a wealth of valuable material — not just about online faculty retention — but all of the higher education issues that are important to faculty and administrators. It’s packed with tips, best practices and other actionable information you can use on the topics that impact your students, your school and your work, including:

• Instructional Design
• Faculty Development
• Distance Learning
• Classroom Management
• Educational Assessment
• Faculty Evaluation
• Learning Styles
• Curriculum Development
• Community College
• Trends in Higher Education
• Learning Communities
• And much, much more.

If you’re experiencing a high online faculty turnover rate, you’ll want to download Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty.

Best Practices for Training and Retaining Online Adjunct Faculty

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Training and Supporting Online Adjuncts: Practical Ideas

As the number of online courses continues to grow at a steady pace, quality online adjuncts are in short supply. Even if you’re lucky enough to find them, and get them properly trained, you’re still not out of the woods. Defections are common as online adjuncts report feeling disconnected from the campus community they serve, and there’s always competition from others schools who may offer a better pay rate.

Growing your online course catalog takes much more than simply making sure all the technical requirements and pedagogical issues have been addressed. One of the most critical needs – and one that seems to be lagging in terms of leadership support – is locking down a stable roster of qualified online adjuncts that you can count on each semester. But when you don’t see them on a daily basis, how can you develop an outstanding online adjunct faculty, and encourage them to stay loyal to your institution?

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If your campus is struggling to keep online adjuncts happy and engaged, you won’t want to miss Training and Supporting Adjuncts: Practical Ideas. Presented by Dr. Kimberly Hardy, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, this seminar shows how to successfully compete for good adjunct talent, how to train and support adjuncts effectively, and how to retain them for your institution.

Drawing from the success of the online adjunct program at FCCJ, this seminar will provide you with details on a wealth of initiatives you can undertake at your institution, including:

• Creating an online mentoring program
• Helping adjuncts with development and preparation of courses
• Ensuring adequate technical assistance
• Developing a robust communication platform of information, tools and forums
• Building a technical and emotional support network
• Connecting offsite adjuncts to the campus
• Establishing professional development opportunities

Training and Supporting Adjuncts: Practical Ideas is an essential learning opportunity for anyone faced with a tight and competitive market for adjuncts. In 60 fast-paced minutes, you get no-nonsense strategies for integrating online adjuncts into your campus community, including small, inexpensive steps that will make a big difference when it comes to training, supporting and retaining online adjuncts.

Who will benefit from this seminar:

• Academic deans
• Directors
• Program managers of distance learning programs
• Technical staff
• Department chairs
• Faculty development professionals

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At Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ), the key to retaining quality online adjuncts is a comprehensive support program that has grown to keep pace with the school’s web-based offerings. With more than 300 part-time adjuncts in 38 different states, it is critical to make these online instructors feel they are as much a part of the team as regular, full-time faculty, says Dr. Kimberly Hardy, dean of instruction and student success at FCCJ.

In the recent seminar Training and Supporting Online Adjuncts: Practical Ideas, Hardy, outlined the strategies the school uses to support its online adjunct faculty members and help them succeed.

The FCCJ program features a network of support that includes components in four major areas: building communities, professional development, communication, and social and technical support.

1. Online Communities: Each new online adjunct is required to attend orientation. Hosted in Blackboard, the orientation includes modules on a variety of topics ranging from course policies and procedures to syllabus information and other resources. There’s also a virtual community with active discussion forums on specific disciplines, such as social sciences, math and business, as well as broader issues such as proctoring tests and online pedagogy.

2. Professional Development, Training and Certification: FCCJ offers a number of professional development opportunities that are free to all faculty and staff, including full- and part-time adjuncts. Further, completion of the Online Professor Certificate Program earns the instructors an honorarium of $500 and a pay-per-course increase.

3. Proactive and Consistent Communication: To keep adjuncts connected and inspired, FCCJ relies heavily on its communities in Blackboard but also sends regular communiqués on accomplishments, announcements and other relevant information, and conducts live webinars and podcasts that provide adjuncts with the opportunity to ask questions.

4. Social and Technical Support: An online mentoring program supports new online adjuncts in their first year. These peer mentors serve as liaisons between the adjuncts and the distance learning office, while providing both technical and emotional support.

Although the FCCJ program is well-established and quite robust, Hardy notes many of the components outlined here can be created with small, inexpensive steps that will make a big difference when it comes to training, supporting and retaining online adjuncts.

“We have to keep in mind that our adjuncts are teaching not only for us, but for other institutions as well,” Hardy says. “So, we’re in competition with other colleges. Colleges who oftentimes can pay them more than we can, especially if they’re teaching for for-profit institutions or some private colleges that do have good pay rates. So, we have to come up with other ways of retaining our adjuncts rather than compensation, and really be creative in our support that we provide, because that can have a big impact on retaining good, quality instructors.”