Factors affecting the implementation of distance education initiatives in the Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education

Abstract

This study investigated the attitudes and perceptions of faculty members in a statewide system of higher education with regard to the implementation of distance education in their respective institutions. The Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education (IPSE) is a consortium of eight post secondary institutions with both two-year and four-year institutions represented. These schools provided a comprehensive means of evaluating an entire system. Faculty and administrators in these member schools were surveyed for their perceptions of the factors encouraging and the factors inhibiting participation in distance education. Specific attention was paid to personal and professional impacts. Their perceptions and realities of the rewards and benefits of distance education are examined through the use of an internally developed study (survey included). Higher education has always used traditional methods of rewarding faculty with tenure and promotion, raises, and prestige. The guidelines of “publish or perish” have continued to be the largest contributor to these rewards. In the future, with many other methods of knowledge transfer, this may not be the standard to use. The current perception of faculty members show the standards are not clear concerning distance education and its effects on their careers. This paper will show that the faculty and administrators using distance education have differing views of their perceptions concerning distance education. While faculty members are the ones using the methodology, they are not sure how it affects their career in terms of rewards including promotion and tenure. Administrators overseeing those faculty think reward structures are acceptable, yet they themselves are not sure what the long term effects of faculty using the methodology will be. ^