Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Fall 2005 Georgia Technical College Administrators' Perceptions of the Future Vocational and Academic Roles of Georgia's Technical Colleges Thomas Ennis Bragg Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Recommended Citation Bragg, Thomas Ennis, "Georgia Technical College Administrators' Perceptions of the Future Vocational and Academic Roles of Georgia's Technical Colleges" (2005). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 306. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/306 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE GEORGIA TECHNICAL COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE VOCATIONAL AND ACADEMIC ROLES OF GEORGIA'S TECHNICAL COLLEGES by THOMAS ENNIS BRAGG (Under the direction of Michael D. Richardson) ABSTRACT In 2000 the Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 1187 giving the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE) schools the right to change their names from technical institutes to technical colleges. This event could have led to a change in the type and method of delivery of course offerings at the technical colleges in Georgia. This study was designed to examine the technical college administrators' perceptions of the future vocational or academic roles of Georgia's technical colleges. A 21 question survey was designed to assess the administrators’ perceptions of the future vocational and academic role of the 35 technical colleges in Georgia. The survey was mailed to the 70 presidents and vice-presidents of instruction at each of the 35 technical colleges in Georgia. Forty-seven responses were received representing a 67% response rate. Two items were found to be statistically significant. However, the overall results indicated that there was essentially no difference in responses between presidents and vice-presidents of instruction, and between rural and urban respondents. The responses indicated an inclination for the addition of academics into the workforce training, which is currently the mission of the DTAE. Many respondents felt a community college system would be better suited for the needs of today's students. 2 INDEX WORDS: Technical College, Name Change, Vocational Training, Community College, Technical School, Technical College Administrators, Perceptions 3 THE GEORGIA TECHNICAL COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE VOCATIONAL AND ACADEMIC ROLES OF GEORGIA'S TECHNICAL COLLEGES by THOMAS ENNIS BRAGG M.M.E., University of Georgia, 1972 B.M., University of Georgia, 1970 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION STATESBORO, GEORGIA 2005 4 ©2005 Thomas Ennis Bragg All Rights Reserved 5 THE GEORGIA TECHNICAL COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE VOCATIONAL AND ACADEMIC ROLES OF GEORGIA'S TECHNICAL COLLEGES by THOMAS ENNIS BRAGG Major Professor: Michael D. Richardson Committee: Lucindia Chance William B. Levernier James M. Smith Electronic Version Approved: December 2005 6 DEDICATION In loving admiration, I dedicate this dissertation to my wife, Lei, for her tireless and successful dedication to her pursuit of the Master of Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner at Georgia Southern University. We have once again been aligned by the stars. JV 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In incalculable appreciation I would like to thank: Dr. Michael D. Richardson, committee chair, for his guidance, encouragement, and knowledge, but mostly for his friendship. Dr. Lucindia H. Chance for stepping in on such short notice to serve on the committee and Dr. William Levernier and Dr. James M. Smith for serving on the committee. Dr. Fred Page for his friendship, unvarying smile and encouragement and willingness to serve on the committee. My wife, Lei, for her steadfast support and encouragement. My wonderful four children and their spouses for understanding and patience. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................7 LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................14 Technical Colleges in Georgia ....................................................................14 Name Change ................................................................................15 Technical College Image ...............................................................17 Georgia Technical College Administrators.................................................18 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................19 Research Questions .....................................................................................20 Significance of the Study ............................................................................20 Procedures ...................................................................................................22 Research Design.............................................................................22 Population ......................................................................................22 Data Collection ..............................................................................22 Data Analysis.................................................................................23 Limitations/Delimitations............................................................................24 Limitations .....................................................................................24 Delimitations..................................................................................24 Definitions...................................................................................................24 Summary .....................................................................................................25 9 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..........................................................................27 Historical Foundations of Higher Education...............................................32 Societal Expectations of Higher Education.................................................33 Mission of Higher Education ......................................................................35 Technology Function .....................................................................35 Academic Function ........................................................................35 Transfer Function...........................................................................36 Name Change ..............................................................................................37 History of Higher Education in Georgia .....................................................39 Board of Regents (BOR)................................................................42 Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE) ...............46 Technical Colleges in Georgia.......................................................46 Tension between BOR and DTAE ................................................48 Technical College Administrators...............................................................49 Politics in Higher Education........................................................................51 Technical College Mission..........................................................................54 Summary .....................................................................................................55 3. METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................57 Introduction .................................................................................................57 Research Questions .....................................................................................57 Item Analysis...............................................................................................58 Research Design ..........................................................................................59 Participants ..................................................................................................60 10 Instrumentation............................................................................................60 Pilot Study ...................................................................................................61 Data Collection............................................................................................61 Data Analysis ..............................................................................................62 Summary .....................................................................................................63 4. REPORT OF DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS .............................................64 Introduction .................................................................................................64 Research Question.......................................................................................64