Abstract
In California Community Colleges (CCC), faculty will be responsible for implementing the integration of academic and vocational education (integration); a key element of California's School-To-Career Reform (S-T-C). However, faculty planning involvement has been minimal. This study's purpose was to describe faculty opinions regarding integration, assess differences between academic and vocational faculty opinions, and obtain recommendations for success. Faculty chairpersons from departments with 70% of CCC enrollments were surveyed (population 2,625). A stratified random sample of 270 was drawn, modified to 253 for combined departments, and yielded 186 responses (73.5%). The results were analyzed based on frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and variability, and t-test of differences at the.05 level. The study found that both academic and vocational faculty consider the reform important and feasible, but feel time is not currently available to address it Vocational faculty believe more strongly in the reform. Primary reform supports are faculty expertise in curriculum and instruction. Primary deterrents are faculty released time and financial resources. Faculty's top recommendation is more interdisciplinary collaboration. The researcher concluded that attainment of S-T-C goals may be at risk because faculty have inadequate S-T-C knowledge to plan. Also, Academic faculty opinions are inconsistent with S-T-C tenets for integration and articulation with high schools. Additionally, faculty interdisciplinary communication and collaboration, and resources of time and money may be inadequate to support integration goals. It is recommended that organizational theory be used to facilitate communication, collaboration, and change. Faculty should be trained in S-T-C principles and related research findings. Also, steps should be taken to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue and planning, and to address culture, climate, and resource issues which deter integration. Recommendations for further research are to compare the models for "General Education" and "Integration," and examine CCC pilot integration projects and Learning Communities. Additionally, training needs for interdisciplinary work should be examined, and cases of successful integration should be studied.