Content area
Academic program coordinators (APCs) play a significant role in the public colleges in Ontario. Their role includes interrelated dimensions with many challenges and complexities that have not been studied sufficiently in earlier higher education research. This thesis investigated their situation at Centennial College to understand how they experienced and practiced their complex role. Using a grounded theory method and interviewing APCs, Student Advisors (SAs), Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members and Associate Deans (ADs), the study explored that while the Collective Agreement (CA) positions APCs in terms of the academic leadership of their programs, their leadership was subtle and in question.
The findings showed that they worked in a loose context for their duties and responsibilities, impacting their workload and compensation. While they took on this combined role of teaching and coordinating, their employment status impacted their role. They faced many decision nodes through an ongoing learning and developmental process, from when they started thinking of the role to when they quit. The role of ADs influenced APC’s role and was crucial to their success and decisions related to continuing in the position. The study found that a group of APCs who were the founders of programs viewed as successful could create dream teams of faculty and were likely to continue in the role for extended time periods.