Date

April 2008

Chair

Leonard Parker

Primary Subject Area

Education, Higher

Keywords

Job Satisfaction, Adjunct, Teaching, Survey, Job Descriptive Index, Job in General Index

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe levels of satisfaction of the adjunct faculty who teach in online modalities of instruction at a private evangelical university located in the southern United States. The three faculty groups included in the study were (a) online adjunct faculty (independent contractors), (b) adjunct faculty (university full time staff and administrators teaching part-time in the online program) and (c) full-time residential faculty who teach online courses in the distance format. The abridged Job Descriptive Index and the abridged Job in General index were chosen to survey respondents regarding satisfaction levels. The results of the study found that in general, all faculty groups who taught in the online environment were satisfied with the work itself, supervision, staff, and the job in general. Full-time faculty were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with pay and opportunities for improvement. Part-time faculty and full-time staff and administration who taught in the online programs scored in the neutral area of satisfaction regarding opportunities for promotion. In general, none of the faculty groups was dissatisfied with any of the job facets examined during the study.

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