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THE MANAGERIAL FUNCTION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF SELECTED PROGRAM DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATORS IN DIVISIONS OF CONTINUING EDUCATION
Abstract
The major purpose of this study was to examine the administrative tasks, the relative perceived importance of these tasks, and the concomitant professional development needs of program department directors in divisions of continuing education at the university level. The secondary purpose was to determine which specific tasks were generic to this level of administration, how they related to the degree of job satisfaction, and their relationship to selected demographic data. The study was based on a 1983 survey of selected program department directors in divisions of continuing education employed by land-grant universities in Regions IV and V as identified by the National University Continuing Education Association (NUCEA). It was found that research literature was relatively devoid of data concerning the various tasks performed by directors at this level as well as their need for professional development activities. In addition, it was determined that the position of director is important to the quality of the overall effectiveness of the department and, thus far, too little direct assistance has been provided toward developing a comprehensive position description and the management skills required to meet these expectations. A questionnaire was mailed to 117 department directors directly responsible for educational programs in a division of continuing education at the university level. The major findings for this study indicated that the majority of the population possessed either a master's or doctorate degree and had between five and twenty years of experience in the current position. All specific tasks were perceived to be part of the director's responsibility but the majority of the respondents indicated that little, if any, professional development was perceived necessary for most tasks. Data applied to Getzels' social systems model indicated an important, if not compelling, dissonance among respondents with respect to how they felt about the tasks included in their positions. It would seem, therefore, that directos desired an expansion of their position to encompass additional or at least more important tasks than was the case at the time this study was conducted.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
HUBKA, LAWRENCE WAYNE, "THE MANAGERIAL FUNCTION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF SELECTED PROGRAM DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATORS IN DIVISIONS OF CONTINUING EDUCATION" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8412307.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8412307