Teaching & Learning at HCC: An Online Professional Learning Community for Adjunct and New Full-time Faculty

“Teaching & Learning at HCC” is an online professional learning community and is a dynamic and ever-evolving resource that all faculty access for teaching/learning strategies, professional development, and community college resources. Included are a video repository of lessons with associated lesson plans, online module ideas, lecture best practices, examples of weekly lesson plans, course syllabi, and interactive discussion boards. The goal of the online professional learning community is to encourage adjuncts and new faculty to develop their ties to the school and enhance their instruction and promote student success. Based on faculty participation and feedback we anticipate revising and opening the online professional learning community to other schools in the area. This will serve to expand the video repository and foster cross-collaboration between higher education institutions in our county and neighboring counties. Educational Problem According to the American Association of University Professors, 68 percent of faculty are in non-tenure track positions, and the majority of classes, approximately two-thirds, at community colleges across the nation are taught by adjunct faculty. Our institution, Hillsborough Community College (HCC), employs 309 full-time faculty members. An additional 1263 are adjuncts (HCC Factbook 2014, 2013). This is a higher adjunct number than the national average (Curtis, J., & Thornton, S. 2013). Many adjuncts possess subject knowledge, but little or no teaching experience. Additionally, adjuncts often forego faculty professional development opportunities due to other obligations at their full time job. They are disconnected from the teaching community, as they are usually not on campus during traditional hours, or teach solely online. New full-time faculty face many of the same obstacles (Background Facts on Contingent Faculty). New faculty are often new to the school and must quickly learn policies, procedures, and campus culture while trying to balance a full course load. This leaves little time to attend professional development workshops and integrate with the campus community. Creating an online professional learning community will address these challenges by providing information to faculty delivered asynchronously through an LMSbased massive open online course (MOOC) accessible 24-7. The intended goals are to assist adjuncts and new faculty to connect with the campus community, participate in training and development offerings, and be knowledgeable of student success services and interventions. The overarching goal is to help all faculty become more effective instructors in their traditional and online classrooms, with positive impacts on retention and completion. Project Description This online professional learning community is for faculty development and is a dynamic and everevolving resource that all faculty access for teaching/learning strategies, professional development, and community college resources. Included are a video repository of lessons with associated lesson plans, online module ideas, lecture best practices, examples of weekly lesson plans (that cover a full course period), course syllabi, and interactive discussion boards. The goal of the online professional learning community is to encourage adjuncts and new faculty to develop their ties to the school and enhance their instruction and promote student success. Currently, it is open only to our institution’s instructors. Based on faculty participation and feedback we anticipate revising and opening the online professional learning community to other schools in the area. This will serve to expand the video repository and foster cross-collaboration between higher education institutions in our county and neighboring counties. Objectives/Outcomes Identify and implement teaching strategies that will increase student retention and completion Employ active learning techniques that will enhance student engagement Create lessons that are aligned with course outcomes and objectives Discuss topics that relate to teaching/learning (best practices, classroom management, etc.) issues on an open online forum and determine solutions to these issues Demonstrate ties to school by actively participating in school functions and contributing to the school’s