The role of the four-year college in addressing the developmental needs of faculty during middle-age and old-age transition periods

The purposes of this study were (a) to design a model for faculty development that would address the needs of four-year college faculty members during the transition periods of middle age and old age; (b) to see if any colleges were engaged in activities resembling the model to address this issue; (c) to identify and study one college in depth that is doing something resembling the model; and (d) to adjust the model depending on the findings. The model was designed from an extensive review of the literature in faculty development, adult development, and organization development. The colleges surveyed were the 166 level-II, four-year colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as of December 1982. One college was selected for in-depth study based on the approximation of its responses to predetermined criteria taken from the model