Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which undergraduate full-time and adjunct faculty members in the health and science programs at community colleges in Southern California utilize the seven principles of good practice as measured by the Faculty Inventory of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. A second purpose was to compare degree of utilization for gender and class size. Methodology. This is a quantitative study wherein there exists a systematic and mathematical assessment of data gathered through the use of a Likert scale survey to process and determine the mathematical model of the use of the principles by the target population of both full-time and adjunct faculty of health/science programs of community colleges in Southern California. Findings. Examination of the data revealed that both full-time and adjunct faculty members of Southern California community colleges perceive themselves a high degree of utilization of the seven principles of good practice. There was no statistically significant data to suggest a discrepancy between full-time and adjunct professors' perceptions among the utilization of the seven principles. Overall, male faculty members perceived themselves as utilizing the principles to a greater degree than female faculty. Data suggest that faculty with class size 60 or larger showed to utilize the seven principles more frequently than the professors with smaller class sizes. Conclusions. Full-time and adjunct professors of the health and sciences in Southern California community colleges perceive themselves as utilizing the seven principles of good practice to a high degree. Recommendations. This study suggests many recommendations for future research, including the degree to which negative economic factors such as budget cuts and demands affect the utilization of the seven principles. Also recommended is a study comparing students' perceptions of faculty's utilization of the seven principles of good practice in the classroom with faculty's self-perception.