Factors and Solutions Affecting Success of Development and Improvement Programs for Faculty Members

Investigating factors and solutions that affect development and improvement programs for faculty members could influence the effectiveness of these programs and improve the quality of higher education services. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify the effective factors and solutions that play an important role in development and improvement programs of faculty members. The present research was conducted with the qualitative content analysis method. The research participants included faculty members of universities and higher education institutions in Tehran and 15 individuals were selected as the study sample and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The participants were selected by purposeful and criterion sampling and the data were analyzed with Thematic analysis method. According to the findings of the research, 6 effective factors and 20 solutions were identified, including: background factor (including: providing facilities, creating and strengthening growth centers, persuading managers and attracting professors' participation), planning factor (including: adjusting the workload of professors, revitalizing and strengthening all kinds of methods, using all kinds of teaching delivery methods and scheduling), the content factor (including: providing practical content, the communication of educational topics and the regulation of all-round promotion and development) the communication factor and cooperation (including: creating learning styles, creating opportunities for cooperation and participation, and improving communication between planners and professors), motivational factor for development (including: salaries and wages, providing training and development incentives and persuading professors), support factor and follow-up (including: supporting training in practice, continuity of development and evaluation programs). Attending to the factors which determine the level of success for these programs and using the solutions presented in the current research could lead to higher effectiveness and improvement of the programs.