PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF FULL-TIME FACULTY IN TECHNICAL COLLEGES

Meaningful faculty professional development has been recognized through decades of research as an important component in effective classroom instruction. Too often, however, faculty development activities are offered by well-meaning administrators with little or no attention to faculty assessments of their own levels of competence. This study of full-time faculty in Georgia's technical colleges seeks to identify professional-development activities that are perceived as important by faculty. Further, the study identifies performance gaps between what is important and the level of competence, as identified by the faculty themselves. Thus, in a time of tight budgets, decision makers can direct their limited resources to areas of faculty development that will have the greatest impact on instruction while providing significant support to faculty.