In Search of Community: Faculty Assessment of Its Presence at Three Institutions

Abstract

Boyer (Carnegie Foundation, 1990) defined six broad ideals that define a supportive college community, which can be described as purposeful, open, just, disciplined, caring, and celebrative. The authors surveyed faculty at three different institutions a community college, a public university, and a private college to determine the extent to which a sense of community existed at each institution based upon the aspects of community characterized by Boyer. The respondents at all three institutions documented a substantial sense of community, with statistically significant differences found among faculty for the community ideals of being purposeful, open, disciplined, caring, and celebrative: Faculty at the community college reported higher levels of these elements of community than those at the university, whereas those at the private college reported the highest levels.