Those Who Can't, Teach

Once the in-your-face pressures of teaching is done, I take the time to contemplate what it is I do, and what I'd like to do from here. Have you ever thought about teaching college? Do you wonder what it takes? Do you wonder if you have what it takes? Here's what this job really looks like, and what you need to do it.

First of all, to teach at a college level, you have to an advanced degree. Although, in very rare cases, you may be able to teach basic level courses, such as Intro to Writing, Intro to Reading, Basic Math, etc., with a Bachelor's degree, it is almost impossible to find even an adjunct position, and completely impossible for full-time positions. A Master's degree, at the minimum, is required with at least 18 credit hours of graduate work in the field you want to teach. Most community colleges are fine with just a Master's degree. Some 4-year colleges and universities will allow an instructor with a Master's degree and some teaching experience to teach 100- or 200-level courses, but unless you are in a PhD program, they often will not let you teach upper level undergraduate to graduate courses.

Once you have the education level down, some teaching, or in my case, training, experience is an additional requirement. Computer skills are a must, especially if you want to teach online.

So, you've accepted the challenge, you want to teach. In reality, here's what it will look like. First, after applying an interviewing, you'll probably have to give a presentation or teach a topic, usually chosen by the employer. Once you pass that, you will become an adjunct instructor.

What's an adjunct instructor (also called visiting instructor at some universities)? An adjunct is a part-time, offerred employment on a semester-by-semester basis. On the plus side, you get to decide which classes you'll teach and which ones you don't, you'll rack up lots of teaching experience, and you can work at multiple colleges. On the negative side, you're last to choose classes (full-timers first), no benefits, the pay sucks, hard to find work in the summer, and you often HAVE to work at multiple colleges to make enough to live on.

How long do you have to work as an adjunct in order to get promoted to full-time? That's a much harder question to answer. Are you willing to move, and to where? Is your school experiencing an enrollment increase, and do they have the money to open more full-time positions? What do you teach? I've heard of people who wanted full-time positions but couldn't move, so they ended up waiting years, 10 or more in some cases, before getting a full-time position.

How long was I an adjunct before I got a full-time position? I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but only one semester. I had the luck of starting as an adjunct at a new campus of Ivy Tech, worked 6 days a week (if you can call that luck) to show my dedication and willingness to do whatever it takes to get things done, and teach a subject (communication) that is a requirement and had no full-time instructor at that campus.

Because it is so odd to get a full-time position so quickly, I have worked really hard to make them grateful for choosing me over my more experienced colleagues. I took positions on two statewide committees, numerous region committees, became involved with on-campus activities, and brought new communication courses to our region.

In future posts, I'll talk more about the actual experience of teaching college. Everyone's experiences are different, so if you interview for a school, you'll want to talk to an instructor from that school, but some things, like whiny students and administrative decisions that make your life harder, seem to be pretty universal.

This job is not for someone with thin skin. It takes an ability to let things slide off your back, patience (as any change, good or bad, takes forever to happen), and a good sense of humor. Still interested?