Press Release
July 8, 2010
Study Shows Imagine America's Center for Excellence in Education's Faculty Development Program is a Positive Investment for Career Colleges
Washington, DC (Vocus) July 08, 2010
With so many Americans looking for an education that leads to real career opportunities, the instructors who are opening the way to career success must rely on the best-available training for their own continuing education. Now new research shows that The Center for Excellence in Education's Faculty Development training program available to the career education sector of higher education is as effective as it is innovative.
The Imagine America Foundation (IAF) sponsored a research study conducted by the ROI Institute to measure the impact of The Faculty Development Program offered by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE). The analysis was conducted on the Universal Technical Institute (UTI) - Mooresville, NC campus. Researchers set out to validate the program's alignment to performance needs, understand the impact of the program in relation to student retention and course retakes, and ultimately determine the return on investment (ROI) percentage of the program.
The ROI Institute found that The CEE Faculty Development Program was a worthwhile investment for UTI's Mooresville campus. Based on program evaluation surveys, participants reported having a positive experience with the program and 79 percent of the participants considered their teaching behaviors to have improved after going through the development program. The study also showed that there was an increase in job satisfaction, career development and student satisfaction on the UTI campus.
The Imagine America Foundation formed the Center for Excellence in Education through a strategic partnership with MaxKnowledge. The CEE provides turnkey employee development solutions for career college operators with the ultimate goal of increasing organizational performance and enhancing student success. CEE offerings include comprehensive online training and development programs for career college faculty.
"The impact The Faculty Development Program has at the campus level is now more evident with this new research," said Bob Martin, President of IAF. "We've always known that our schools and students benefited from the program, but it was important to us to determine how great of an impact there was on participants. These instructors then go on to touch the lives of countless students."
The ROI of The Faculty Development Program was calculated using the costs of the program for UTI (program cost, participants' time, equipment expenses, evaluation costs) and the monetary benefits the program provided (improvement in student retention and improvement in course retakes). The calculations determined the ROI for UTI - Moorseville to be 517 percent. This percentage does not include the intangible benefits UTI gained, such as student and teacher satisfaction. Regional Director of Education at Universal Technical Institute, David VanWingerden said, "This study has shown that the Faculty Development Program provides wonderful benefits for UTI's Moorseville campus not only in terms of finance, but also in terms of classroom experience."
For more information about The Center for Excellence in Education or the Imagine America Foundation, please visit www.imagine-america.org.
About MaxKnowledge
MaxKnowledge is a leading employee training provider for higher education institutions. We offer a wide range of online professional development and continuing education opportunities for the faculty, staff and administrators of postsecondary colleges and universities. Our mission is to maximize performance of educational operations through effective employee development solutions. For more information, visit: www.maxknowledge.com.
About the Imagine America Foundation
The Imagine America Foundation (IAF), established in 1982, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing scholarships for education, research and training support for the career college sector. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided over $40 million in scholarship and award support for graduating high school seniors, adult learners and U.S. military personnel attending career colleges nationwide through its award-winning Imagine America® programs. The Foundation also publishes vital research publications for the higher education sector, honors achievement in career education and offers faculty development training. For more information about the Imagine America Foundation's programs, please visit www.imagine-america.org.
