Impacts of Need and Culture in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper aims to further explore the impact of need and culture as they relate to orientation, training, development, and administrative policies on regional university adjunct faculty. The use of adjunct faculty has risen considerably over recent years making their university experience more relevant in today’s higher education climate. Adjunct faculty express the desire for orientation, training, and professional development. In addition, adjunct faculty find administrative policies extremely isolating in nature as they struggle to develop more meaningful relationships with other faculty, administrators, and students. While adjunct faculty have vast industry experience, they often lack extensive experience in higher education. Considering that adjunct faculty have such a tremendous impact on college students, how they feel about their higher education experience is of great concern. Adjunct faculty effectiveness suffers when they do not receive adequate orientation, training, and development. When adjunct faculty are isolated from the university due to the structure of administrative policy, they become less committed to the overarching goals of the organization and thus less committed to students.