Date of Award

6-13-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Thomas Barrett

Abstract

As part of the post-secondary educational landscape, online education in the form of online programs and courses help institutions reach and enroll more students. To meet the needs of increased enrollments in online education, part-time faculty are often hired to teach online courses. Part-time contingent faculty or adjuncts represent a growing majority across many fields of study in colleges and universities. As Rendahl & Breuch (2013) reported, first-year courses, specifically freshman composition, are increasingly taught online. This explanatory mixed-methods dissertation examines how, and in what ways, writing program administrators approach preparing and training part-time faculty to teach writing online. The findings reveal that WPAs often encounter work-load and funding constraints that limit their ability to help professionalize part-time faculty, however, participants were mindful of the issues related to contingent employment, which reflected a servant leadership style of management. The writing program administrators were empathetic to part-time faculty needs and made attempts to empower them through professional development opportunities that included some training for online writing instruction.

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