An Examination of the Levels and Differences in Organizational Commitmentof Full and Part Time Community College Faculty

Despite the widespread employment of part-time faculty in community colleges, there is little known about the commitment levels of these faculty, or how it compares to their full-time counterparts. The purpose of this study was to determine if the levels of affective, continuance, and normative commitment for full-time faculty differed significantly from part-time faculty in North Carolina community colleges? Analysis of variance (ANOVA), found that mean scores of affective, and normative commitment were significantly higher for full-time faculty than part-time faculty. The nascent dependence on part-time employees in organizations represents a relatively recent trend across the modern landscape of the American workforce. As a result, the relationship between organizations and employees is shifting. Over the past 50 years, there have been a multitude of definitions of organizational commitment to arise from the literature. This variety is derived from the various scholarly conceptualizations of organizational commitment (Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982). According to Meyer and Allen (1997), “common to all conceptualizations of commitment is the notion that commitment binds an individual to an organization” (p. 13). Community college faculty organizational dependence on part-time employees is especially apparent in higher education. Across the United States, the number of part-time faculty members has increased by 79% between 1981 and 1999 (Walsh, 2002). In North Carolina community colleges, the total number of part-time faculty swelled from 9,093 in the year 2000 to 14,375 in 2006, representing greater than a 50% increase in just six years (North Carolina Community College System, 2006). Wallin (2004) suggests these dramatic increases in the employment of part-time faculty are significantly due to the economic recession during this period and concurrent large enrollment of students in college. Wallin (2004) cites Rifkin’s (2000) work when she states: “because [part-timers] are usually employed elsewhere, they may not have the commitment to the college that is more typical of full-time faculty” (p. 380). Problem Provasnik and Planty (2008) report for the National Center for Education Statistics that over two-thirds of community college faculty across the United States were employed part-time (over 240,000 faculty), while one-third of community college faculty were employed full-time. These national statistics mirror the faculty employment data for North Carolina. In North Carolina, 70% of the state’s community college faculty are part-time, while 30% are full-time employees (North Carolina Community College System, 2006). Cohen and Brawer (2003) contend that the explanation for this substantial reliance on part-time faculty is that they cost less; they may have special capabilities not available among the full-time instructors; and they can be employed, dismissed, and reemployed as necessary (p. 85). Frequently, part-time faculty are teaching the same courses and content as their full-time counterparts, while enduring financial inequities in salary, benefits, and professional development (Wallin, 2005). As community colleges’ dependence on part-time faculty