Does Experience Matter? The Influence of Years of Service on Faculty Developers' Vision and Priorities in the Field

The composition of faculty developers is a mixture of new professionals (less than four years), established developers (four to nine years), and experienced professionals with over ten years in the field. The research reported in this study is the first to inquire about differences in the issues new...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe journal of staff, program & organization development Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 111 - 124
Main Authors Eddy, Pamela L, Beach, Andrea L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New Forums Press, Inc 01.07.2005
Subjects
College Faculty
Experience
Faculty Development
Higher Education
Teacher Educators
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Summary:The composition of faculty developers is a mixture of new professionals (less than four years), established developers (four to nine years), and experienced professionals with over ten years in the field. The research reported in this study is the first to inquire about differences in the issues new, established, and experienced faculty developers find important to address, about influences on their personal practice, and about their priorities for future direction for the field. The findings from this study indicated that all groups of developers identified the same faculty development goals as critical; however, they differed in goals of secondary importance. Individual influences also differed by experience level. Finally, more experienced developers rated more importance to emerging new directions than their less seasoned counterparts. This research identified a large influx of new developers, highlighting a need for developer training. On the other end of the continuum were the most experienced developers who are nearing retirement. The implication of this impending staff turnover argues for intentional succession planning.
ISSN:0736-7627