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satisfaction and productivity. Policies and procedures are needed to insure that faculty members
are available in their virtual office space during business hours or leave appropriate messages to
inform students and colleagues when they will return. Monitoring machine activity and usage is a
common practice in many institutions. Such practices are unpopular and require monitoring
computers which may also contain employee personal correspondence. Faculty need to know
what is expected of them, what the guidelines are, and need periodic feedback. Ultimately, one of
the most effective ways to reduce or eliminate abuse is to develop a culture of mutual trust.
Student Advisement: While academic advisement need not be face-to-face to be effective, faculty
functioning in the virtual office environment must communicate clearly and frequently with
students to ensure that goals and expectations are met. Faculty advisors within the virtual office
setting may have to take on new roles and be prepared to discuss or provide referrals for non
academic related matters (Porter, Hedegaard and Straut, 1997). Communication is an essential
element within the advisement process. Students enrolled in online classes have come to expect
online interaction with faculty members. However, students enrolled in onsite classes may have
the expectation that advisement, like instruction will take place in a face-to-face modality. Many
feel that communication sparked by proximity is at least sometimes very useful if not necessary.
Consistent student advisement processes and protocol will need to be developed to aid faculty
members functioning in the virtual office setting. Developing shared tasks, asking frequent openended
questions to stimulate e-mail dialogue, and sending student status reports will aid in
opening and maintaining lines of communication within the student advisement process.
Employee work environment: Not all faculty members are cut out to work in a virtual office.
Faculty must have self discipline and be self motivated. Creating policies to support a sense of
community and sharing in higher education is one of the more troubling institutional challenges
(Ehrmann, 1999). Working from home day after day is not the same as occasional
telecommuting. There is also the aspect of family members having the faculty member around
the house all day and night, constantly typing away on the computer or talking to students and
colleagues over the phone. The American Association of University Professors (2004) explains
that the work of faculty members is virtually unbounded. They highlight the fact that faculty
members, like anyone else, should not be defined entirely by their professional pursuits. Rather,
they are members of families with obligations to care for and devote time to their loved ones.
Making choices toward the achievement of balance between work and personal life is an essential
component for faculty members opting for the virtual office workplace.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In addition to opportunities and challenges for faculty, this review of the literature yielded several
questions for institutions to consider. How can effective communication between students,
faculty and fellow colleagues be maintained within the virtual office setting? What are the
critical elements within supervisory and management systems to ensure success within the virtual
office setting? What do the accrediting agencies say about the virtual office place for faculty?
To meet the needs and lifestyles of learners, higher education must be delivered in a timely
manner and at the convenience of the consumer. Higher education must compete in the
nontraditional environment if it is to survive (Twigg, 1995). This includes meeting the needs of
an increasingly diverse pool of faculty. Those believing in the responsiveness of the higher
educational system suggest that change will be incremental.
If faculty members do not routinely see students and colleagues physically in the virtual office,
they still must maintain comparably effective communications. Several obvious surrogate media
have emerged from the literature. Email, shared file systems, and the web are mainstays. While
Virtual Office
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