The recent, rapid growth of online higher education is well-documented. For example, Kiernan (August 8, 2003) mentions a U.S. Department of Education finding that there were 754,000 students enrolled in distance education for-credit courses in 1994; by 2000, that number had increased to 2,876,000. The National Center for Education reported that, as of 2002, 57% of U.S. undergraduates had taken an Internet-based course (Palloff and Pratt, 2003). This dramatic increase in enrollment has created a corresponding growth in the demand for faculty members, a demand that is increasingly being met by part-time, adjunct instructors. Grieve (2000) stated at the time of writing that 40% of college instruction was being delivered by part-time faculty, and predicted an increase in that percentage based on the growth in distance learning. As a result, higher education administrators need to know how to hire, train, and retain part-time faculty members. Feldman and Turnley (Fall, 2001) note a lack of research in this area. In response, the purpose of the study that is summarized in this article was to assist administrators by discovering and presenting reasons why prospective faculty members seek parttime, online instruction assignments and why faculty members choose to continue to be affiliated with schools once hired.
American Higher Education in Transition
