University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2013 The Impact Of Moving From Sacs Level I To Level Ii Status On Faculty Employment In The Florida College System Christine Broeker University of Central Florida Part of the Educational Leadership Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Broeker, Christine, "The Impact Of Moving From Sacs Level I To Level Ii Status On Faculty Employment In The Florida College System" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2736. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2736 THE IMPACT OF SACS LEVEL I TO LEVEL II STATUS CHANGE ON FACULTY EMPLOYMENT WITHIN THE FLORIDA COLLEGE SYSTEM by CHRISTINE MARIE CAPPS BROEKER B.A. State University of New York at Albany, 1995 M.A. State University of New York at Albany, 1996 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education Higher Education & Policy Studies Program in the College of Education and Human Performance at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2013 Major Professor: Tom Owens ©2013 Christine Capps Broeker ii ABSTRACT The State of Florida legislatively authorizes Florida community colleges to confer workforce-oriented bachelor’s degrees. As part of the legislation, community colleges are required to achieve Level II (baccalaureate-granting) status through Florida’s regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC). When moving from SACS Level I to II, former community colleges need to meet the SACS CS 3.7.1 (Qualified Faculty), which requires that faculty who teach baccalaureate courses hold the minimum of a master’s degree in field. Further complicating matters, as baccalaureate granting institutions, colleges must also comply with CS 3.5.4, requiring 25% of course hours in the baccalaureate degree major to be taught by terminally-degreed faculty. The purpose of this study was to identify what issues related to faculty credentials, if any, have been observed by Florida’s community colleges as part of the process to gain SACS-COC Level II status. Results were analyzed through the lens of Travis Hirschi’s Social Control Theory. The results of this study indicate that colleges have reported changes in faculty employment after implementing the community college baccalaureate. The most common types of changes included requirements for faculty to complete additional graduate coursework and moving faculty to different programs with different conditions for credentialing. Other types of changes reported included faculty terminations and retirements. The study found strong evidence supporting the notion that finding terminally-degreed faculty is a problem for institutions moving from Level I to Level II status particularly in the fields of nursing and computer science/information technology. iii The findings indicate that as Florida’s community college baccalaureate programs continue to expand, colleges will need to find creative solutions to address SACS CS 3.5.4 requirement of terminal degrees for faculty. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my wonderful husband Craig and my three incredible daughters, Cathleen, Meghan, and Christina. You make my life complete and without you this journey would not have been worthwhile. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to my dissertation committee chair, Dr. Tom Owens. Your feedback kept me on track and moving forward. Thanks to Dr. Rosa Cintron. It was because of your enthusiasm that I saw the history of higher education in a new light and because of your wisdom that I understand the reason enduring enigmas exist. Thanks to my former committee chair and current committee member Dr. Tammy Boyd. Without your guidance, feedback, understanding, and support this document would not have been completed. Thanks to my committee members Dr. Frank Albritton and Dr. Thomas Cox. Your feedback has been invaluable and I truly appreciate it. A special thank you to Dr. Elayne Reiss for her expertise in editing and to Dr. Jeffrey Reiss for his expertise in online survey design. Thank you to the academic leadership team at Seminole State College, especially Dr. Laura Ross and Dr. Lisa Valentino. Thanks to my family for helping me keep things in perspective. Mom and Dad, thanks for being my cheerleaders. To my wonderful husband and children, thanks for tolerating all of the evenings and weekends that I was gone because I had to go to class or the family vacations when my head was buried in a book. I am eternally grateful and am blessed to have you in my life. Finally, to the all of the current and future students in UCF’s HEPS program— Altiora Peto! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Background ................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 3 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 7 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 8 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 8 Definition of Terms....................................................................................................... 9 Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 12 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 12 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................................... 14 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 14 Community Colleges .................................................................................................. 14 Community College History ................................................................................. 14 Community College Mission and Purpose ........................................................... 20 Workforce Development ....................................................................................... 21 History of the Community College Baccalaureate ............................................... 23 vii Purpose of the Community College Baccalaureate .............................................. 25 The Community College Baccalaureate in Florida ............................................... 27 History of Florida’s Community Colleges ............................................................ 28 History of Florida’s Community College Baccalaureate Legislation ................... 34 Accreditation ............................................................................................................... 42 Regional Accreditation ......................................................................................... 43 Self-Regulation ..................................................................................................... 46 Levels of Accreditation ......................................................................................... 47 SACS Substantive Change .................................................................................... 47 Faculty Credentials for Purposes of Accreditation ............................................... 49 Florida College System Guidelines Faculty Credentials and Qualifications ........ 52 Theoretical Framework: Social Control Theory ......................................................... 55 Critiques of Hirschi’s Social Control Theory ....................................................... 59 Applicability to Higher Education ........................................................................ 60 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 63 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 63 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 63 Site/Context................................................................................................................