Community College Faculty, Overlooked and Undervalued: ASHE Higher Education Report, Volume 32, Number 6 - Softcover

Townsend, Barbara K.

9780787997779: Community College Faculty, Overlooked and Undervalued: ASHE Higher Education Report, Volume 32, Number 6

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0787997773 ISBN 13: 9780787997779

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2007

Public community colleges in the United States enroll approximately 6 million students, about 45 percent of all undergraduates. These students are taught by nearly four hundred thousand full- and part-time faculty members, about whom little is known. The community college professoriate is truly overlooked in the research on postsecondary faculty. When community college faculty are studied, they are often examined through lenses more appropriate for four-year faculty.

This volume provides a broad overview of community college faculty: who they are, what they do, and what factors affect their career and work. The authors also analyze community college teaching as a profession in an effort to take a fresh look at community college faculty and their work. The goal is to make all readers come to view community college faculty members as colleague making a distinct contribution to their students and to faculty work. Such an understanding is critical in the current policy environment that values postsecondary education for everyone and sees the community college as a major venue for providing that education.

This is the 6th issue of the 32nd volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Back Cover:

Intergroup dialogue promotes student engagement across cultural and social divides on college campuses through a face-to-face, interactive, and facilitated learning experience that brings together twelve to eighteen students from two or more social identity groups over a sustained period of time. Students in intergroup dialogue explore commonalities and differences; examine the nature and impact of discrimination, power, and privilege; and find ways of working together toward greater inclusion, equality, and social justice.

Intergroup dialogue is offered as a cocurricular activity on some campuses and as a course or part of a course on others. The practice of intergroup dialogue is considered a substantive and meaningful avenue for preparing college graduates with the knowledge, commitment, and skills essential for living and working in a diverse yet socially stratified society. The research evidence supports the promise of intergroup dialogues to meet its educational goals�consciousness raising, building relationships across differences and conflicts, and strengthening individual and collective capacities to promote social justice.

This volume outlines the theory, practice, and research on intergroup dialogue. It also offers educational resources to support the practice of intergroup dialogue. Addressing faculty, administrators, student affairs personnel, students, and practitioners, this volume is a useful resource for anyone implementing intergroup dialogues in higher education.

About the Author:

BARBARA K. TOWNSEND is professor of higher education and chair of the Department of Leadership at the University of Memphis. For eight years she was a full-time faculty member, teaching developmental English and study skills, at Thomas Nelson Community College.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.