College teachers--Tenure

The survey research in this study was a delayed post-examination of characteristics and outcomes of return-to-industry experiences of vocational community college faculty in Florida. A questionnaire was sent in 1990 to all community college faculty who participated between 1986 and 1990 in the Florida Vocational In-Service and Business Exchange Program. The survey population included all persons who had received grants in support of return-to-industry experiences for faculty or institutional upgrading over the four-year period. The questionnaire designed for this study solicited information about measurable outcomes affecting the participants and their institutions following the experiences. Questionnaire responses indicated perceived outcomes of curricular change, participant's increased knowledge, increased industry contacts, and updated knowledge of equipment and employment needs in participating industries. Initial data on the characteristics of each experience were gathered from the files of the Florida Department of Education in Tallahassee. These files contained data relating to the amount, the number of days, and the participant's department and college for each grant. Responses were analyzed using Pearson-r correlations and multiple regression analysis to determine whether significant relationships existed between and among reported characteristics of the experiences and the outcomes perceived by participants. Results of the regression analysis support the presence of a relationship between initial goals of the experience and actual outcomes. Statistically significant relationships were found to exist within the group as a whole and when grouping participants by year as separate reference groups. These relationships were determined by using responses to the questionnaire as variables in a correlation analysis. The results of this study may serve as a reference for administrators, participants, funding agencies, and state education agencies for planning, budgeting, implementing, and evaluating future return-to-industry and staff development programs.

Tenure has long been a debated issue. Does tenure protect academic freedom or does it protect the incompetent? Declining enrollments, increasing tuition, plus curriculum changes have caused the issue of tenure to be scrutinized. The purpose of this study was to survey the attitudes of faculty members at Florida's community colleges regarding tenure/continuing contract related to age, gender, rank, years of employment and tenure/continuing contract status. A review of related literature includes an introduction to the tenure issue and history of tenure. Relative research and the pros and cons of tenure are also presented. Finally, the status of tenure in Florida is summarized. Eight hundred and seventy-nine faculty members composing a stratified random sample from 21 of Florida's 28 community colleges were asked to complete and return a Likert scaled survey. Six hundred and seventy surveys were returned, comprising a 76 percent response rate. Survey results were analyzed using five separate one-way analyses of variance, for the measuring of attitude as related to age, gender, rank, years of employment, and tenure/continuing contract status. Of the five hypotheses tested there were significant differences in attitude regarding tenure as related to rank and tenure/continuing contract status. Results of this survey were then compared to a 1971 survey on tenure published by the Commission on Academic Tenure. Upon this comparison, it was found that in this community college survey as well as the survey conducted in 1971, faculty displayed significant differences in attitudes regarding themselves and their institutions depending on their tenure/continuing contract status. This community college survey compared to the 1971 survey produced findings indicating that a greater sense of freedom to express ideas was related to faculty rank. Community college faculty and administrators may find this study useful as they evaluate academic freedom in the classroom versus job security.