ABSTRACT
This chapter explains many of the relevant issues regarding for-profit colleges and universities today. It allows for an in-depth investigation of for-profit institutions by focusing on faculty members' perspectives of their roles within the institution. The chapter elaborates on the taxonomy used to classify for-profit colleges and universities. It addresses faculty commitment and areas of conflict between subcultures, then move to a discussion of organizational culture to provide a context from which to view faculty culture. It is difficult to assess where one layer ends and the other begins; subcultures overlap and intersect with one other. Traditional views of the academy are rooted in fundamental concepts that bridge faculty across institutional lines. Disciplinary culture provides a means by which faculty can identify themselves in relation to their work, their field, and their research interests. The typical image of part-time faculty members is that of a dissatisfied group who string together a number of simultaneous part-time positions to earn a living.
