Survival of Continuing Higher Education: Deans' Perceptions of External Threats

A Profile of University Continuing Educators in Canada

“…Anyone who is familiar with university continuing education is aware that when continuing education positions are filled there appears to be little consistency as to the educational qualifications and/or the amount of experience that candidates should possess. Even though the extant literature is not extensive, it too confirms these informal observations (Egan & Weaver-Paquette, 1994;Hein, 1992;Lawler & Fielder, 1993;Parker, 1994;Pearce, 1992a;Springfield & Hoffman, 1984). Since this was a national • Articles survey, we felt it would be useful to obtain respondents' perceptions of the education and experience requirements for their current positions.…”

“…Since senior managers (Deans, Assistant Deans, and, in many cases, Program Heads) are generally expected to set the academic, programming, and administrative direction for their unit, it would normally be expected that people filling these positions would have considerable experience in the field. University Deans, for example, in general have been in their respective academic fields for an average of 18 years (Pearce, 1992b); however, half of the Deans in this study (52 percent) and two-thirds of the Assistant Deans (64 percent) only had 0-10 years experience. Program Heads had even less experience in continuing education, with 50 percent being in the field 5 years or less.…”

“…The fact that research was third on the list of job responsibilities is somewhat surprising, since both anecdotal reports and other studies (Donaldson, 1993;Hein, 1992;Pearce, 1992b;) point out that doing research is not a highly valued activity in university continuing education units. One explanation may be that respondents equated a number of programming activities (such as needs assessments or program evaluations) with research.…”

“…Although continuing education has a long history in Canadian universities, little is known about who continuing educators are or the nature of their work. The characteristics of continuing education practitioners have received little direct study, and the available information (for example, age, experience, gender, or education) is generally contained in studies focusing on other aspects of continuing education (Egan & Weaver-Paquette, 1994;Hein, 1992;Lawler and Fielder, 1993;Parker, 1994;Pearce, 1992a;Springfield & Hoffman, 1984). These studies reveal few consistencies from group to group with the exception of age; with the majority of continuing educators are being older (over 45 years of age).…”

“…Afin de mieux comprendre qui sont les formateurs en éducation permanente ainsi que le genre de travail qu'ils font, l'étude entre en ligne de compte des éléments importants tels que les questions de genre, rang professorale, âge, niveau d'instruction, et la durée de l'expérience en éducation permanente universitaire. job priorities, and work preferences of continuing educators have been discussed (Brue, 1990;Donaldson, 1993;Griggs & Morgan, 1988;Parker, 1994;Pearce, 1992b;Springfield & Hoffman, 1984); lists of proficiencies have been developed (Knox, 1987; National University Continuing Education Association (NUCEA) 1988(NUCEA) , 1989; and the roles and responsibilities of some continuing educators have been discussed or delineated (Cookson & English, 1997;Donaldson & Kuhne, 1994;English, 1992;Hein, 1992Hein, , 1993bPearce, 1995).…”