Work Activities of Faculty Support Staff in Online Education Programs
An instrumental and collective case study used qualitative research methods to explore the work activities of the professionals who occupy the role of faculty support staff in online education programs. Data was collected from four participants, over a four month period of time, in the form of one demographic questionnaire, two interviews, two site observations, twelve photographs and two Week in Review Activity Logs. Important to the structure and integration of the data collection, management and analysis was the use of QSR NVIVO®, qualitative data analysis software. Results show that the work activities of the participants include the management of the online course development and online course evaluation processes, initiation and facilitation of discussions with faculty about teaching online, building professional relationships with faculty and promotion and creation of networking opportunities among faculty who teach online.
