Faculty Development Opportunities in Interdisciplinary General Education Programs.

Abstract

Reduced budgets and shrinking enrollments have created a climate of limited opportunities for mobility for college and university professors today. This situation, when coupled with the fact that the majority in both public and private institutions are tenured, points to an urgent need for a response that will provide faculty members with the stimulation and intellectual challenge that they have come to expect from the profession. Predictably, changes will have to come within, using available resources. An ideal plan calls for merging faculty development with a curriculum that addresses the specific goals of each institution. Faculty development through participation in interdisciplinary general education programs was investigated in this study. Sixty faculty members at three prestigious liberal arts colleges in the midwest were interviewed about their experiences with the interdisciplinary general education programs. Ten participants and ten non-participants from each institution were matched as closely as possible in terms of rank, discipline, and years of teaching experience. Responses were solicited to questions about professional goals and objectives, attitudes toward the program, and issues concerned with career development and satisfaction, faculty development, and institutional support of this curriculum plan. Information gained from respondents was recorded anecdotally and in tabulated form so that comparisons between the two groups could be made. Participants described themselves as more satisfied with their positions, the colleges in which they teach, and their careers. Because of their experiences with interdisciplinary general education, they report a higher incidence of increased vitality, new relationships with colleagues, intellectual stimulation, increased respect and tolerance for other disciplines, and the use of new teaching strategies. Generalizations which may be useful to other colleges interested in developing an interdisciplinary general education program for the purpose of faculty development are presented.