Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Joshua B. Powers

Second Advisor

Bradley V. Balch

Third Advisor

David L. Clifton

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in perceptions among executive and unit level academic administrators in two-year colleges in relation to the importance and the presence of indicators of quality in Internet-based distance courses. Indicators of quality included institutional support, course development, teaching and learning, course structure, student support, faculty support, and evaluation and assessment. Two-year colleges have historically been the most under funded institutions of higher education that have found themselves relying more heavily on the use of distance education to meet the needs of their students. Email invitations to participate in the web-based study were sent to 408 executive and unit level administrators in a twoyear statewide college system. A total of 220 submitted their completed results through the electronic survey (54.7%). This consisted of75 executive level administrators (70.8%) and 122 unit level administrators (49%). Fourteen MANCOVA analyses were conducted resulting in multiple significant findings. Post-hoc analyses were also conducted linking statistically significant findings to several sub-items. The findings resulted in several recommendations that included development of improved communication strategies, assessment of the current state of quality in two-year distance education programs, development of viable strategies within the scope of institutional resources, and funding and implementation of the formulated strategies.

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