Faculty Development, Support and Tenure Promotion for Distant or Online Education In Nursing

Nursing and Faculty Development, Support and Tenure Promotion for Distant or Online Education

Faculty Development and Support In Nursing Education for Online or Distant Education, Faculty Tenure and Promotion for Distant or Online Learning In Nursing Education.

Faculty Development and Support In Nursing Education for Online or Distant Education

    The advances in educational technology have changed the way that teaching and learning occurs (Pearsall, Hodson-Carlton, & Flowers, 2012). Faculty who are expert teachers in the classroom may find themselves in the role of a novice when teaching online. 

    Faculty who are facing the transition from in-class to online teaching need to reconsider their role in the learning process and redesign their pedagogical strategies to facilitate student learning (Ali et al., 2005; Richard et al., 2005; Ryan, Hodson Carlton, & Ali, 2005; Zsohar & Smith, 2008). 

    A growing number of faculty now teach full-time at a distance from the location of their employer. They seldom, if ever, meet face-to-face with their administrators, colleagues, and students. Although many may find the faculty-at-a-distance nurse educator (FDNE) option to be attractive, it does present challenges (Pearsall et al., 2012). 

    When asked about hiring, acceptance, and success of the FDNE, nurse educators and administrators identified attitudinal barriers as of most concern. Part of faculty development needs to address the perceptions of the FDNE role and how it can promote nursing education excellence through achievement of the National League for Nursing nurse educator competencies. 

    Faculty development needs encompass the following areas: instructional design and course development, technology management, workload and time management, role reconceptualization, student learner development, student faculty interactions and socialization, and assessment and evaluation of learner outcomes (Halstead & Coudret, 2000; Lahaie, 2007b; Pearsall et al., 2012). 

    Before faculty begin any online course development, it is important to assess their knowledge and comfort level regarding conversion of traditional classroom courses into online courses and identify what level of instructional design support will be needed. 

    Developing expertise in online teaching is usually a gradual learning process for faculty and initially may be intimidating even for experienced faculty (Zsohar & Smith, 2008). 

    Scheduling an ongoing series of educational sessions focused on such topics as technology and time management, developing online courses that promote active learning and foster student faculty interactions, and evaluating learner outcomes throughout the academic year can help faculty acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully design and teach online courses.

Faculty Tenure and Promotion for Distant or Online Learning In Nursing Education

    A major issue is how faculty are rewarded for their hard work developing and teaching online courses. New processes are needed to reflect changing needs in workload, promotion, and tenure for online faculty (Kelly, nd). The biggest question is whether teaching online requires more or less time when compared with teaching face to face. There is debate about this issue (Van de Vord & Pogue, 2012). 

    The answer is that it depends on the skills of the individual faculty member and the design of the course. For example, one's ability to type on a keyboard is a major factor in the time spent communicating electronically in online discussion, whereas typing proficiency is a negligible consideration for those who are interacting with students in person. 

    Faculty may find that grading hard copies of assignments with red ink is much easier than employing software tools such as comments and tracked changes to provide feedback on electronic submissions. Preparing teaching materials for an online class has been likened to making a movie. The course is created ahead of time and presented to the students mostly as a finished product. 

    Teaching in the classroom has been compared to performing in a play. There is preplanning, but the delivery is done in real time before a live audience. Designing, recording, and programming a lesson for online delivery may take considerable time and effort, but once it is finished, it can be shown repeatedly to many students. 

    A stand-up lecture may involve less preparation and more spontaneity, but must be presented in person every time it is taught. When asked to keep time logs, one aspect of teaching online that stood out as requiring significant amounts of time was grading assignments (Barra, 2014). 

    This may be attributed more to the fact that the subject matter that is typically taught online may not lend itself to objective testing. Instead, evaluation may require that faculty grade papers, projects, and other written assignments that do not lend themselves to quick, computerized evaluation. Class discussion is another factor to consider. 

    A face-to-face class has a “hard” start and stop and this places limits on how much time the faculty member will interact with the students regardless of class size. But online discussion has no time boundary, and faculty may spend hours responding to students in discussion threads. 

    Another question about online teaching is whether the devotion to this format reduces productivity in other areas that could affect promotion and tenure (Kelly, nd). This influences their portfolios that are submitted for review. Institutions need to have policies in place but they may vary from department to department. Leadership at the department level influences how online teaching is valued and rewarded. 

    Although the institution may say that online delivery is the way of the future and critical to its success, is this reflected in how the faculty are rewarded who teach online? Are faculty paid extra or given release time to develop an online course? How does authoring a course compare to authoring a book? 

    Faculty who teach face-to-face courses may be resistant to anything that encourages online offerings and may block changes to tenure and promotion policies. The climate and culture of the department is reflected in how receptive its members are to change. The department or program leader plays a pivotal role in setting the direction and explaining the effect of online teaching on workload, promotion, and tenure. 

    The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) noted in a 2009 report (Committee on Contingency and the Profession, 2009) that almost 70% of faculty members were employed in non tenure track positions. Although faculty teaching in traditional programs on campus tended to be tenured, faculty teaching online were more likely to be hired on a contingent basis. 

    The report noted that contingent faculty worked for lower wages in teaching-only positions. The AAUP is calling for the organizing of contingent, or adjunct, faculty. The organization argues that contingency is an issue of academic freedom. Also, adjunct faculty who do not view their teaching as their primary source of income still depend on it to maintain their lifestyle. 

    But adjunct faculty may resist organizing because they value the flexibility that the position offers to carve out time for child care or elder care, for example. Part-time online faculty may be a “tough sell” (Kociemba, 2014) .