1. A DISSERTATION PROPOSAL PRESENTED BY: CARTER FILE Understanding the Impact Career Paths have on Community College Chief Business Officers’ Employment Satisfaction and Employment Stability: A Mixed Method Study

2. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Conceptual Framework  The Community College Chief Business Officer (CCCBO)  Career Line  Job Satisfaction/dissatisfaction

3. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Purpose of the Study:  The intent of this study is to examine community college chief business officers’ career lines and the phenomena of job satisfaction as lived by the CCCBO  This two-phase, explanatory mixed method study, using the participant follow-up variant, will be used to collect quantitative results from a sample of community college business officers and then follow up, using a qualitative data gathering approach, with a small number of individual business officers selected based on the quantitative data analysis results

4. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Statement of the Problem  The employment background (career line) and satisfaction influences—that is, what leads to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction—of these CCCBO can lend insight to college presidents and boards as they hire, promote, and train these individuals. This information will also be important to individuals who are considering employment as community college chief business officers. The information will allow them to determine the proper career line to seek and if the community college chief business officer position is a good fit for their personal and professional goals.

5. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Significance of the Study  The overall success of an individual in a CCCBO position can be enhanced by the information developed in this study. Both employee and employer can benefit through better understanding of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction experienced by individuals from specific career lines. Both selection and retention of CCCBOs may be improved by the knowledge gained from this study.

6. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Literature Review  Chief Business Officers Roles and Responsibilities  Career/Job Mobility Models and Theories  Discussion of General Career Mobility Model  Career Mobility Studies in Higher Education  Job/Career Satisfaction Models and Theories  Career/Job Satisfaction in Higher Education

7. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Methodology  Rational for the Study  There was very little work in the area of job satisfaction, specifically related to the position of chief business officer at any higher education institution, and no mixed method studies were found which combined career line analysis with the phenomenon of job satisfaction for the community college chief business officer. As this is a critical position to the proper functioning of the contemporary comprehensive community college, the job satisfaction experienced by individuals holding these positions is valuable information to understand. It can help inform boards of trustees and presidents of the steps or actions necessary to improve job satisfaction, and therefore, promote retention of valued individuals in the CCCBO position.

8. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction  Rational for Using the Mixed Method Two Phase Study  Mixed methods research provides more comprehensive evidence for studying a research problem than either quantitative or qualitative research alone. Mixed methods research helps answer questions that cannot be answered by qualitative or quantitative approach alone.  The type of mixed method approach that will be utilized for this study is the Explanatory Design: Participant Selection Model variant. This is a two-phase study in which the first quantitative phase is used to select participants for the second qualitative phase.

9. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction  Overview of the Research Study Process  This is a mixed methods two step process: Step one: gathering the quantitative data will be accomplished by a web based survey tool Qualtrics. A request to complete the survey will be sent to all community college business officers in the central region of the U.S. From this data demographic, career line, and job satisfaction will be complied. This data will be used to select the participants for phase two. Step two: the participants selected in step one will be interviewed to determine the phenomenon of the lived experience of job satisfaction as they experience it. When possible these interviews will be conducted face to face or if not practical using a communication tool such as Skype.

10. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Overview of the Research Study Process (continued) Mixed method section, in this area the quantitative and qualitative data will be blended in such a way as to add insight that is not possible for either the quantitative or the qualitative data individually. Write up and reporting will be accomplished through the use of tables, graphs, and narrative descriptions. The qualitative write up will contain thick rich descriptions of the phenomenon of job satisfaction as the lived experience of the individuals. The final product will be a composite description of the phenomenon being studied, that is the job satisfaction or dissatisfaction of CCCBOs categorized by career lines. There will finally be a composite description of career lines and the lived experience of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction for all CCCBOs.

11. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Questions and Input

12. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Literature Review  Chief Business Officers Roles and Responsibilities  Career/Job Mobility Models and Theories  Discussion of General Career Mobility Model  Administrative  Psychological  Sociological  Economic Internal Labor Market Theory Human Capital Theory Portfolio Theory

13. Career Paths and Employment Satisfaction Literature Review (continued)  Career Mobility Studies in Higher Education  Job/Career Satisfaction  Herzberg Two-Factor Theory  Locke’s Value-Precept Theory  Job Characteristic Model  Situational Occurrence Theory of Job Satisfaction  Career/Job Satisfaction in Higher Education