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Institutional Efforts to Support Faculty in Online Teaching

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Abstract

Effective processes, practices, and infrastructure are essential components of successful online teaching and learning efforts; and they lead to a sense of faculty ownership of online teaching as well as enhanced support from an institution’s administration. The institution’s recognition of faculty members’ efforts to teach online in relation to the traditional concepts of scholarship, tenure, and promotion is an important motivational factor for sustaining effectiveness in the online learning environment. This study examined institutional efforts to alleviate or overcome challenges faced by faculty members in creating and teaching online courses, and we investigated faculty members’ perceptions regarding these institutional efforts.

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Correspondence to Robert Orr.

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Robert L. Orr

is Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Resources and CIO at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He received his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Western Carolina University, and he is a 2006 Frye Leadership Institute Fellow.

Mitchell R. Williams

is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University. He received an Ed.D. in Adult and Community College Education from North Carolina State University; and his research interests include programming at rural community colleges, adult education program development, and higher education policy development.

Kevin Pennington

is an Associate Professor of Higher Education at Western Carolina University. He received a Ph.D. from Kansas State University, and his research focuses on the role of community colleges in alleviating poverty.

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Orr, R., Williams, M.R. & Pennington, K. Institutional Efforts to Support Faculty in Online Teaching. Innov High Educ 34, 257–268 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-009-9111-6

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