Date of Graduation
1997
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
This study was designed to identify the role expectations, reporting hierarchy, years in role and trends in human resource development (HRD) as reported by the person responsible for HRD in small, private colleges and universities within the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) geographic area. The population for this study was all the four-year, small, private schools in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states (N = 200). Each institution in the sample was mailed a copy of the HRD Roles Survey, an instrument developed for the purpose of this research. The survey was based on data from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) delineations as outlined in the Models for HRD Practice (McLagan & Suhadolink, 1989). The total return rate for the study was 72% (n = 143). Of the respondents, 69 institutions (48%) indicated that they assigned a person to the human resource development role. The HRD administrator provided data as to whether each of the 11 human resource development roles was expected of them, and the percentage of time that the administrator spent performing the selected roles in the last 30 days. In addition, respondents were asked to provide predictions as to how human resource development would change on their campuses by the year 2000. Frequency distributions, percentage calculations and emergent category analyses were performed to analyze the data. Results of the study found that the time spent performing HRD roles varied greatly by the role. Time spent in individual roles did vary according to the number of years in the HRD field and according to the reporting hierarchy for the HRD administrator. Regarding future trends, the HRD administrators predicted that there would be an increase in training and development, and that in general human resource responsibilities and staffing would increase on their campuses. In summary, current human resource development efforts at small, private colleges and universities are minimal. This study will provide baseline data from which to assess the role of HRD in higher education and will seek to fill the void in research on how to utilize human resources to improve the effectiveness of colleges and universities.
Recommended Citation
Triplett, Beth Ann, "Role expectations and predictions of trends for human resource development at small, private colleges and universities within the Southern Regional Education Board area." (1997). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9912.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9912