CCU Center for Active Aging and Retirement (CAAR) Faculty Older Adult and Retiree Survey Report Fall 2003

Study Design and Sample Description
In October, 2003, surveys were sent out via campus mail to the 208 full-time teaching faculty at CCU, and an online version of the survey was also put on the CAAR website. When only an approximately 27% response rate resulted, a second mailing was conducted in November asking the non-responding faculty to complete the form. This produced an additional 22.5% surveys being returned, for an eventual total of 101 (49.5%) or almost exactly half of the population being sampled.

Although this was clearly a self-selected rather than a random sample, the response rates by degree, rank, and college affiliation closely resemble the overall distribution of teaching faculty members at the university.

Sixty-nine percent of survey respondents held doctorates, 28% masters, and 3% bachelors' degrees. In terms of ranks, 25.5% were full professors, 17.4% associates, 37.8% assistants, and 19.3% instructors or lecturers.

The sample response rates and actual representation by college were, respectively: Business = 14.6% and 12.5%; Education = 13.6% and 11.2%; Humanities and Fine Arts = 25.2% and 39.2%; Natural and Applied Sciences = 39.8% and 33.1%; and other faculty = 6.8% and 3.9%. Thus, with the exception of a slight under representation by Humanities and Fine Arts faculty, the survey sample closely mirrors the actual faculty population distributions. If this sample is indeed that representative, it increases the likelihood that inferences drawn from the sample will be valid for the faculty as a whole.

Sample Statistics and Results
The survey asked nine basic questions. The first was, how much older adult and retiree-related (OA/R-related) content was being taught in CCU courses? While a surprisingly high percentage of the sample reported that they included OA/R-related content in the regular courses they teach (39.8%), these responses were offset by the high number of faculty who didn't respond to this question or said "Not Applicable" (= 46.6%). Seventeen and a half percent reported no OA\R-related content in any of their courses.

The second question was whether OA/Rs had been used by faculty in any instructional support roles? Only 11.7% of the faculty said they had used OA/Rs as instructional resources, 79.6% said they had not, and 8.7% did not respond.

The third question asked what percentage of the faculty's students were OA/Rs, and the average percentage reported was less than 1% (0.85%). This is consistent with institutional research data that showed only 67 students in the OA/R age range (~60+) registered as CCU students this past year.

Then the same questions were asked about the faculty's experiences teaching continuing education or similar "short courses". With an active Continuing Studies program and Lifelong Learning Society at CCU, the OA/R participation numbers were expected to increase sharply, and they did. While only 24.3% of the faculty surveyed reported having taught a continuing studies short course, and of those only 12.5% said they'd used OA/Rs in instructional support roles, those same faculty reported that over half (53.6%) of their continuing education students were OA/Rs.

Finally, a series of three questions were asked regarding the faculty members' willingness to teach OA/R-related content and work with the CAAR in the future. More than 47% of the faculty indicated they were willing or very willing to incorporate more OA/R-related content in their courses in the future, with only 12.2% saying they were not willing. The remaining percentages of respondents were ambivalent on the subject. Over 3/4 (77.3%) of respondents indicated some degree of willingness to work with the CAAR to provide that OA/R-related content, and almost five in six faculty (81.6%) said they'd be willing to work with the CAAR on other OA/R-related goals and activities.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Based on these results and other factors, three major conclusions seem warranted:

1. With CCU's location on the S. C. Grand Strand, a powerful magnet for local and in-migrating older adults and retirees from other parts of the country and beyond who already number in the 25-35,000+ range in Horry and Georgetown Counties alone, there is clearly enormous potential for growth in terms of the both the quantity and quality of OA/Rs' participation in the university's educational programs. OA/Rs constitute a very large pool of prospective students for both the full credit and continuing studies instructional programs for which the university has only begun to scratch the surface.
2. Today's Grand Strand retirees are significantly different than previous generations in many ways, including the fact that they are younger, more affluent, more active, better educated, and more practically experienced than our grandparents' generation. Thus, in addition to being a vast pool of prospective students, today's OA/Rs are also a potential wellspring of pedagogical resources for the university, not only including emeritus faculty members but also retiree's from careers and professions that could richly supplement the university's undergraduate and graduate curricula. Examples of instructional support roles OA/Rs could play in improving CCU's teaching and learning would include guest lecturers and discussion leaders, lab supervisors, tutors and mentors, interviewees, and field placement guides or supervisors in real world settings.
3. The CAAR is uniquely positioned to serve both as an advocate and impetus for change, and as a catalyst to facilitate matching the university’s needs and resources with the OA/R population’s corresponding needs and resources. Given the relatively low quantity and quality of OA/R interaction with CCU today, and most of the faculty’s stated openness to work with both OA/Rs and the Center in the future, once additional research can be done to identify the most relevant educational and non-educational needs and interests of the OA/R population, all the ingredients would seem to be present for a groundswell of increased mutually beneficial interactions between CCU and its OA/R constituencies in the future. It is to those tasks that the CAAR will dedicate itself in the coming months.