Pilot+Study+Information

** Context of the Study: **
ENGL 1101 (Composition I) and 1102 (Composition II) are required of all CSU students, fulfilling two of the three Area A Essential Skills requirements. Although they are housed in the English department, these courses typically have an interdisciplinary focus and are tasked with preparing students to succeed in courses across the university curriculum. As a result of a recent Board of Regents mandate, CSU students must now complete both ENGL 1101 and 1102 by 30 hours of coursework. Thus, the courses are increasingly populated by incoming students who are in the early stages of negotiating a university environment and its academic curriculum.

During the Fall 2012 semester, the English Department staffed 46 sections of ENGL 1101 and 18 sections of ENGL 1102, serving more than 1,500 CSU students. During the Spring 2013 semester, the section totals shifted, with the English department staffing 20 sections of 1101 and 41 sections of 1102. From a university-wide standpoint, then, ENGL 1101 and 1102 are essential first steps for increasing overall student success and improving student retention and progress toward graduation. It is therefore important that professional development mechanisms are put into place to ensure program coherence and rigor across the many sections.

Historically, however, instituting effective, sustained professional development activities for CSU composition faculty has been difficult. Of the 64 sections offered during the Fall 2012 semester, 40 were taught by part-time faculty, and 14 more were taught by temporary full-time lecturers. In total, 84 percent of the first year composition courses at CSU were taught by non-tenure-stream faculty. These faculty members do not often receive professional development funding. They are not required to hold pre-scheduled office hours. Nor do they often participate in faculty meetings at the department, college, or university level.

Put bluntly, English 1101 and 1102 are taught largely by temporary and part-time faculty who receive low wages, sporadic professional development opportunities, no clear voice in curriculum development, and only cursory oversight within the existing Composition Program and English Department structures. This Pilot PLC program was designed as a pragmatic, targeted intervention into this context that would work to systematize professional development opportunities and engagement among part-time faculty.

**Participants:**
During the Fall 2012 semester, Dr. Bentley and Dr. Livingston contacted all contingent faculty members in the English department, inviting them to participate in the pilot PLC program. Eight faculty members initially signed up, indicating their willingness to participate in f ive one-hour collaborative meetings and to complete a Pre-Survey, a Post-Survey, and a Reflective Portfolio.

Of the original eight participants, one held a temporary full-time position, while the other seven held part-time positions. Of the part-time faculty members, six taught two sections of first-year-composition in a face-to-face environment, while one taught both sections in an online format. Four of the part-time faculty members were in their first year of teaching for CSU, one was in her second year, and two had been teaching at CSU for three or more years. Over the course of the semester, three participants dropped out. One participant who chose not to complete the PLC cited family illness and an inability to commit time to the project, while the other two faculty members indicated that their teaching responsibilities for multiple campuses left them with too little time to devote to ongoing professional development activities at CSU. It seems notable that the two part-time faculty who dropped out of the study chose not to teach at CSU in subsequent semesters.

**Financial Compensation:**
As originators of the PLC program, Dr. Bentley and Dr. Livingston requested and received funding from CSU's Center for Quality Teaching and Learning to encourage faculty participation and to compensate participants for their time. Each contingent faculty member who participated in the PLC program received $50 per workshop they attended. Those who attended every meeting, received the full $250 stipend. Those who dropped out or missed a meeting, received stipends for the meetings they did attend, but not for those they did not attend.