This study focused on the nature and formation of a professional identity for the community college professoriate. In late 2000, a random national sample of more than 1,500 community college faculty were surveyed on their professional practices and attitudes. This survey, which contained over 200 items, revealed that the community college professoriate grew not only more diverse but also more disparate since 1975, when a similar survey was undertaken. Survey data showed that faculty differed significantly on a wide variety of measures according to their personal and professional characteristics, including their instructional practices, levels of professional involvement, and use of professional reference groups. Some groups, most notably full-timers and doctoral seekers, demonstrated higher degrees of commitment to teaching, to their profession, and to their institution. However, these same groups also reported closer ties with four-year colleges and universities, a finding that contradicts the notion that community college instruction has developed as a professional practice sui generis. In conclusion, the community college professoriate has become increasingly differentiated at the same time the community college mission has grown ever more complex; however, it is not clear that the institutional mission and instructor practice have developed with close regard for one another. (Author/NB)