How Educators Keep Up-to-Date with the Changes in the Field

Abstract

The field of mass communication is constantly changing. In order to remain on the cutting edge of this changing field, higher education faculty must continue to develop their skills and competencies. A two-pronged research study was conducted to generate data about the professional development interests and activities of mass communication faculty and department chairpersons. The information obtained from this descriptive study will provide framework for understanding the importance of and interest in professional development activities to improve the field of mass communication education. Introduction There are many terms which describe the methods that higher education faculty use to update and improve their professional and academic skills. The terms faculty development, professional development, faculty renewal and staff development have all been used to refer to academic and personal growth. Faculty development is term that denotes self-renewing activities for faculty members (Tucker, 1993). Edwin Simpson (1990) wrote that while development usually involves getting more of what one already has, renewal is broader in scope, often resulting in career transitions. Simpson contended that professional renewal may be equally as important as development in the future. For many academics, faculty development encompasses the areas of teaching, research, service or extension, and expertise in particular content area. Mass communication faculty face an additional challenge. Because of the nature of our industry, it is equally important that mass communication faculty continue to develop their skills as member of the mass media field as well as the academic community. Faculty development. While this study concentrated on the development of mass communication faculty in the area of professional development, it is important to explore the broad range of professional and personal challenges facing higher education faculty. These challenges impact faculty and their roles as teachers, scholars and administrators. Former Director of the Institute for Academic Leadership and Professor of Higher Education Allan Tucker presented simple, clear-cut definition for the term faculty development. According to Tucker, faculty development refers to activities and procedures that assist faculty members in acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to become more effective in performing all functions related to professional academic life (Tucker, 1943, p. 267-268). Nelson and Siegel wrote that professional development refers to a faculty member's continuing growth as scholar and contributor to the intellectual community both on campus and in his or her profession (Nelson & Siegel, 1980, p. 7). In 1979 Nelson served as director of the Association of American Colleges' Project on Faculty Development. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the project defined faculty development as encompassing four areas--professional development (scholarship, improved research skills, broadening of scholarly areas); instructional development (pedagogy, improved teaching skills, learning of new techniques); curricular change (preparation for new courses, significant changes in current offerings, development of interdisciplinary courses); and, organizational change (enhancing faculty renewal through alterations in committee systems, reward structures, new campus-wide goals) (Nelson, 1981, p. 15-16). The 1979 Project on Faculty Development of the Association of American Colleges sought to assess the impact of faculty development grants to twenty leading liberal arts colleges throughout the country (Nelson & Siegel, 1981). Researchers discovered that professional development included conventional faculty development activities such as individual study and research projects, attendance at professional meetings, consulting with business or government officials, and research and publication in faculty member's discipline. …