We asked…and they told us! Meeting Faculty Needs with Asynchronous Research Programming

Streamed Session Research

Brief Abstract

Face it! Faculty are BUSY! They are teaching, grading papers, planning lessons, engaged in service to the college through clubs and committees, and serving the university through committees. With time as limited as this; engaging in scheduled synchronous research programming is often difficult. In this session research findings will be provided related to asynchronous developmental research programming to meet the busy needs of online faculty so that they can access what they want and need easily – one ‘Bite’ of content at a time.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Morgan McNaughton, Grand Canyon University

Co-presenter: Helen Hammond, Grand Canyon University

Helen Hammond is a passionate Lifelong learner and enthusiastic encourager. She is committed to the development of others and enjoys seeing them realize their potential. She believes we are 'Better Together'. When she’s not loving 'Lope Life' on campus at GCU…she’s loving 'Arizona Life' on the 40 acres she and her husband have in Northwest Arizona and their adult sons frequently visit! Dr. Hammond is senior program manager and assistant professor in the Center for Innovation in Research on Teaching at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. She teaches undergraduate business courses including management, organizational behavior, servant leadership, marketing, and leadership in organizations. Dr. Hammond holds a PhD in In Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Her Research interests include servant leadership, management, teaching and learning, and online teaching best practices.

Additional Authors

B. Jean Mandernach, Grand Canyon University

B. Jean Mandernach, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching at Grand Canyon University. Her research focuses on enhancing student learning in the online classroom through innovative instructional and assessment strategies. In addition, she has interests in the development of effective faculty evaluation models, perception of online degrees, and faculty workload considerations. Jean received her B.S. in comprehensive psychology from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, an M.S. in experimental psychology from Western Illinois University and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Extended Abstract

The age-old question when it comes to faculty research programming has been “What will they use? As one considers the typical faculty member, we are quick to realize that there really isn’t one. The online faculty member takes on so many different faces due to the realities of remote work. Some teach full-time online; some teach adjunct and for more than one school. As different as each of our faculty may be, it is important for administrators, research departments, and faculty members, to recognize the value of research support – and how involving faculty voice in the development of asynchronous research programming can be especially important for faculty engagement as well as commitment to meet the busy needs of our online faculty.

A plethora of research has established the value of including faculty in the development of the programming (Elliott, Rhoades, Jackson & Mandernach, 2015). When faculty perceive that they have been included in the programmatic development, they are more likely to attend – and benefit (2015). A review of the literature points to consistent themes of faculty voice: time, scheduling, financial incentive as relevant topics (Elliott, et al, 2015; Cottom, Atwell & Ombres, 2018; Bolitzer, 2019; Castleberry, Haines, Stein, Van Amburgh & Persky, 2019). Adjunct faculty echo these concerns as well as the obstacle of distance from the university community (Dailey-Hebert, et al, 2014).  Efforts to address geographic diversity as and scheduling issues (Dailey Hebert, et al, 2014; Hammond & Waltemeyer, 2021) have led to wide acceptance of the value of asynchronous delivery in faculty development programming. Faculty development departments embrace developing content in formats requested by faculty; yet the need to attract more faculty to programming exists.

In this session, research findings will be discussed in the context of two stakeholder groups: faculty developers and research departments. Faculty developers and research department administrators will leave this session with a greater understanding of how to best maximize time and resources in faculty development initiatives in relation to what faculty want – because at the end of the day – if we give them what they want – they will engage and use it!