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In an extensive study of part-time academic faculty, Gappa and Leslie ( The Invisible Faculty: Improving the Status of Part-Timers in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993) developed a typology consisting of four employment profiles based primarily on academic background, employment history, and career motivations: career-enders, specialists/experts/professionals, aspiring academics, and freelancers. Using a survey research design, the authors sought to determine whether the categories developed by Gappa and Leslie held in recent times and whether there were statistical differences in contingent faculty members’ desired mentoring functions and work engagement based on employment profile. As the current study included both full-time and part-time contingent faculty, the results of a thematic analysis produced a fifth employment profile, true teachers. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was run to identify differences in desired mentoring functions and work engagement among employment profile groups while controlling for employment status, years teaching, and history of mentorship. Aspiring academics were the largest employment profile group, representing one-third of all respondents. This finding supported an earlier study that indicated a disproportionately large segment of contingent faculty desiring a permanent position in academia. The results of the multivariate analyses revealed that aspiring academics and career-enders had a significantly higher need for career-related mentoring than other groups. Furthermore, career-enders and specialists reported the highest levels of engagement, while aspiring academics reported the lowest levels of engagement. These findings indicate a need for attending to the career development needs of a large segment of contingent faculty in higher education.

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Positive interpersonal relationships between college administration and faculty are necessary as they contribute to organizational climate measures, such as a sense of belonging and perceived organizational worth. Furthermore, such relationships may combat against faculty cynicism. Interpersonal experiences are particularly relevant in a post-coronavirus disease 2019 workplace in which interactions with colleagues are infrequent. Little is known about the effects of interpersonal experiences on part-time faculty specifically, as compared with full-time faculty. This study investigates teamwork experiences and interpersonal constraints as predictors of the attitudes and perceptions of full- and part-time faculty at a four-year public teaching college in the southwestern United States. After controlling for years working at the college, teamwork was a consistent predictor of higher sense of belonging, perceived organizational worth, and lower cynicism among full- and part-time faculty. Furthermore, the presence of negative coworker relationships was a significant predictor of lower sense of belonging and perceived organizational worth among full-time faculty. Inadequate help or lack of contact with co-workers was not a significant predictor of faculty attitudes and perceptions. The results of this study suggest the need for fostering teamwork and positive relationships among full- and part-time faculty in a meaningful and systemic manner within institutions of higher education. Additionally, this study provides support for institutionalizing a team-based approach to working among all faculty to foster perceived belonging and worth, while limiting cynicism.

The Explainer Video Project was developed to familiarize management students with evaluating explainer videos for credibility and quality. In addition, it provides students with unique options for creating video content. Today’s workplace needs college graduates with entrepreneurial skills applicable to the gig economy enabled by online platforms. The demand for the perpetual creation of new video content generates a need for creators to develop explainer videos. Accordingly, consumers of such content require the necessary skills to evaluate them for credibility and quality. Through the phases of this project, students learn to evaluate explainer videos for quality and credibility and create credible, high-quality explainer videos using a visual communication platform.