Faculty qualifications and teaching responsibilities of community college dental hygiene faculty

The purpose of this survey was to assess the current status of community college dental hygiene faculty qualifications in relationship to assigned teaching responsibilities. Data were collected on 508 full-time and part-time faculty from 92 of the 101 community college dental hygiene programs active in the spring of 1977. The majority of faculty degrees were in nondental hygiene disciplines, particularly at the graduate level. The predominant degree was in education. Teaching assignments were generally independent of degree levels and dental hygienists had major teaching assignments in all biomedical, dental, and clinical science areas. Of the dental hygienists serving as program directors, 71% had degrees at or above the master's level. The hypothesis that newer programs tend to have less qualified faculty was not supported. These findings should be of assistance to academic programs preparing dental hygienists for teaching careers by delineating the nature of current teaching assignments in community college settings.