Examining the Relationship Between Institutional Mission and Faculty Reward for Teaching Via Distance

Distance education is fast becoming an elemental part of the fabric of academic life on many campuses, and this has implications for existing reward structures for faculty at these institutions. In addition, distance education is becoming an essential feature of the outreach mission of a number of departments at college and university campuses. Without adequate and valued rewards for this increasingly important dimension of faculty work, institutions may have little chance of recruiting and retaining highly capable faculty who are willing to teach at a distance. This study focused on a U.S. land grant, public institution of higher education that has been offering distance education courses and programs for over a decade, and utilizes faculty members at all levels for distance education instruction. The intention was to explore how the institution translates its values regarding distance education into reward policy and practice for faculty who teach via distance.The aim of the study was to add to the research on distance education policy and development in higher education. Specifically, it was designed to understand distance education policy from the perspective of internal stakeholders (administrators, faculty, and support staff) in order to inform policy and practice. Further, a thorough examination of the literature produced no findings of a study that specifically examined the relationship between institutional mission and core strategies with reward structures for faculty distance efforts, including comparisons of reward practices at the academic subunit level. What emerged from the analysis of interview transcripts, and relevant policy documents and mission statements, led to the grounded theory components that higher education administrators can use to convey an institution’s commitment to distance education through mission, core strategies, and faculty reward policies and practices. In addition, the deeper theoretical understanding of policy and practice that was derived from this study can form a basis for further investigations in this area