5.7 SUMMARY: QUESTION THREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The interviewee’s indicated that their colleges did not have in place a policy to offer professional development for their faculty. Once again, the interviewee’s expectations were that these faculty come to the college already owning the appropriate credentials and are up to date through their constant exposure to the field. They are expected to be highly trained and skilled in their craft. They are also put through a simulated classroom demonstration during the hiring process to indicate to the college hiring personnel whether or not they can teach. Interviewees indicated that they look for teaching experience first, but commented that WFD faculty often learn the institutional culture and how to teach through their interactions with their teaching colleagues and counterparts within the community college. The interviewees indicated that unless the professional development offered to the faculty is directly related to their field, WFD faculty would not be interested. Interviewees indicated several times throughout the interviews, that if WFD faculty were to sit through common community college professional development sessions they would be bored to tears.