Date of Award

8-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education and Human Development

Committee Chair/Advisor

Luke J. Rapa

Committee Member

Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens

Committee Member

Sarah K. Ura

Committee Member

Michelle L. Boettcher

Abstract

Higher education faculty are a central part of the workforce which educates our country’s citizens. The landscape in which they work is ever-changing and overwhelming, leading many to exhaustion and burnout. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore how higher education’s largest faculty group, part-time faculty, experience vitality at one institution by examining part-time faculty using the most current and comprehensive model of faculty vitality (DeFelippo & Dee, 2019). More specifically, this explanatory sequential mixed methods study aimed to discern how and in what ways the individual, departmental, and institutional aspects of faculty vitality shaped and explained the experiences of high vitality in a nested part-time faculty sample.

A questionnaire and interview protocol previously used to study faculty vitality (DeFelippo, 2014) was modified for a part-time faculty audience and through an Appreciative Inquiry lens (Cooperrider & Srivastav, 1987). Study participants were recruited from the 413 part-time faculty at the designated institution, yielding a questionnaire sample of 77 part-time faculty; interviews were then conducted with six participants who were identified as having high vitality. Analysis on the quantitative strand of data included descriptive statistics as well as validity measures. Qualitative data analysis included rounds of deductive then inductive coding to look for known faculty vitality components and to explore the data for emergent concepts.

Quantitative findings showed moderate overall levels of vitality in the 77 questionnaire respondents. Qualitative results from the six high-vitality interviewees revealed elements from all components of DeFelippo and Dee’s (2019) faculty vitality model, with three new aspects emerging from the coding process. Across both data strands, the study showed that part-time faculty reported notable vitality-oriented attitudes, dispositions, and behaviors, where their vitality was bolstered by their prior experiences at the institution, relationships with students, the additional support and opportunities they received from their departments, the institution, and from the part-time faculty union. Results reaffirmed the relevance of the selected faculty vitality model in this new faculty group, while noting interactional effects and recommending further exploration around the linearity of the model. Additionally, four recommendations are offered for consideration in expanding the model around nuances found in the results and from the emergent themes.

This mixed methods study provides an initial exploration into the experience of faculty vitality for part-time faculty and addresses a gap in the faculty vitality literature. This study also offers practice implications for the institution where the participants work; those working in other institutions might also carefully consider how findings from this study might apply to the context of their own institutions and their part-time faculty population. Ultimately, supporting vitality in higher education’s largest faculty group, part-time faculty, will help foster a stronger teaching and learning environment for all students.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5126-2843

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