While many studies have assessed the practices, status, activities, costs, and growth of faculty development programs at community colleges, few studies have examined the impact of these programs from the perspective of the faculty members who participate in them. Accordingly, this qualitative study employed interviews with faculty members at three Illinois community colleges to determine why they opted to participate in faculty development programs and what they perceived the impact of that participation was. Based on faculty interviewee responses, faculty development programs in this study exhibited top-down and bottom-up approaches in the planning, maintenance, implementation, and level of faculty involvement. The top-down and bottom-up approaches were effective at meeting the needs of the institution as well as the needs of faculty and students. Both the top-down and bottom-up approaches were praised and criticized by the faculty interviewees. Generally, faculty interviewees perceived that their time in faculty development allowed them to obtain new knowledge and new skills, increase their collaboration with others across academic disciplines, and apply newly acquired skills in a classroom setting. But only to a lesser degree did the faculty interviewees indicate that they were able to transform their way of thinking about teaching and learning, become more student-centered in their approaches to teaching and learning, or renew their energy for teaching. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]