I. Student Preparedness and Complex Needs
This is consistently a top concern for community college instructors. They face a highly diverse student population with varying levels of academic readiness, often exacerbated by "COVID-era learning loss" and lack of foundational skills. Students may also be dealing with a complex web of non-academic challenges, including:
- Academic Unpreparedness: Many students arrive with significant gaps in their knowledge and skills, particularly in core subjects like math and English.
- Socioeconomic and Personal Challenges: Instructors often see students who are juggling work, family obligations, financial insecurity, and housing or food instability. This makes it difficult for students to focus on their studies.
- Mental Health: There is a rising concern about student mental health, with instructors often being the first to hear about these issues.
- First-Generation and Underserved Students: A large percentage of community college students are first-generation college students, who may lack family support or knowledge of how to navigate the higher education system.
These factors may present instructors with challenges they are not specifically trained to address. As the first point-of-contact with students (on the front-line), faculty encounter and absorb a set of diverse student needs.
II. Workload and Changing Job Demands
Even while confronted with the demanding needs of students, faculty (especially part-time faculty) need to take care of themselves and their families.
- Increased Responsibilities: Instructors are spending more time on online course setup, creating engaging content (videos, articles, etc.), and communicating with students outside of class.
- Multiple Modalities: The shift to online and hybrid learning models has forced instructors to adapt quickly and manage different teaching modalities, which is cited as a major challenge.
- Administrative and Non-Teaching Duties: Many instructors take on significant service roles on committees and spend time advising students on non-academic issues.
- Lack of Support Staff: Staffing shortages, particularly in areas like student support, advising, and IT, mean faculty often have to pick up the slack, leading to burnout.
In this environment faculty "development" devolves into faculty "survival."
III. Compensation, Job Security, and the Plight of Adjunct Faculty
This is a critical and long-standing issue, especially for adjunct instructors who make up a significant portion of the teaching staff in all domains of higher education, but particularly in community colleges.
- Low Pay and Job/Pay Insecurity: Adjunct faculty often struggle to make ends meet, balancing teaching at multiple institutions to earn a reasonable income. Many do not know their teaching status until just before a semester begins.
- Lack of Support: Adjuncts report a lack of institutional support, particularly when it comes to training for online instruction, and are often not compensated for time spent on professional development.
- Unequal Treatment: The reliance on a large pool of adjuncts creates a two-tiered system where full-time faculty have more stability and benefits, while adjuncts are left with precarious employment.
- Diminished organizational identity: part-time faculty are necessarily less invested in the affairs of the institution. Often, they may be working at multiple colleges throughout the region.
IV. Institutional Support and Resources
Instructors are concerned about the level of support they receive from their institutions, especially given the increasing challenges.
- Underfunding: Community colleges often operate with limited budgets, which impacts faculty salaries, professional development opportunities, and the availability of student support services.
- Lack of Professional Development: While instructors recognize the need for professional development, especially in areas like technology and culturally responsive teaching, there may not be sufficient time, resources, or compensation for them to pursue it.
- Faculty-Administrator Divide: A lack of joint support from faculty and administrators can hinder the successful implementation of policies and practices aimed at improving student success.
- Staffing Shortages: The loss of experienced faculty and staff due to early retirements and departures for higher-paying jobs has left remaining employees with heavier workloads and a loss of institutional knowledge.
V. Student Retention and Success
While this is a mission-driven priority, it is also a major source of concern for instructors, who see the high attrition rates firsthand.
- Low Completion Rates: Instructors are troubled by the low completion rates, with many students dropping out due to academic, financial, or personal reasons.
- Lack of Student Engagement: The transient nature of the student body and reliance on part-time faculty can lead to lower levels of student engagement, which is linked to lower retention and graduation rates.
- Stereotypes and Stigma: Instructors are concerned about the societal stereotypes and stigma surrounding community colleges, which can affect student morale and institutional funding.