Other Institutional Eff ects on Instruction and Innovation

Abstract

In this working paper we examine five institutional issues linked to resources and funding: 1. the influence of the course as the basic unit of educational provision; 2. the importance and form of professional development; 3. the crucial role of adjunct faculty, and their isolation from the rest of the institution; 4. the role of institutional research with limited capacity; 5. the community college as a laissez-faire institution and some policies that move away from this model toward more coordination, centralization, and understanding of mutual responsibilities among both faculty and administrators. These institutional influences make it difficult for individual faculty or even departments to make much change on their own. These also imply a large agenda for change — some of which require additional funding in obvious ways, and are therefore impossible in periods of fiscal decline, but some of which * This is the ninth of 10 working papers based on research undertaken with funding from the Hewlett Foundation, with additional funding from the David Gardner Chair in Higher Education; see the Appendix of Working Papers 1 and 2 for details. Please send comments to W. Norton Grubb at