Anyone worked as an Adjunct college professor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's great- if you don't need money

Like PP said, it works out to about minimum wage.

My DH did it for a while before he got a tenure track job.
The workload is about 2x the hours of the actual class (so if you teach 3 hours per week, you put in another 6 hours of prep and grading)

My Mom and a couple of her friends did it after retiring, just to keep their minds sharp.

I am not doubting PP, but OP and others should realize that it is pretty unusual to be able to transition from an adjunct gig to a tenure track positions. And, if that does happen, it is usually other things -- such as extensive publications - that make the difference, not the adjunct job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great- if you don't need money

Like PP said, it works out to about minimum wage.

My DH did it for a while before he got a tenure track job.
The workload is about 2x the hours of the actual class (so if you teach 3 hours per week, you put in another 6 hours of prep and grading)

My Mom and a couple of her friends did it after retiring, just to keep their minds sharp.

I am not doubting PP, but OP and others should realize that it is pretty unusual to be able to transition from an adjunct gig to a tenure track positions. And, if that does happen, it is usually other things -- such as extensive publications - that make the difference, not the adjunct job.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great- if you don't need money

Like PP said, it works out to about minimum wage.

My DH did it for a while before he got a tenure track job.
The workload is about 2x the hours of the actual class (so if you teach 3 hours per week, you put in another 6 hours of prep and grading)

My Mom and a couple of her friends did it after retiring, just to keep their minds sharp.

I am not doubting PP, but OP and others should realize that it is pretty unusual to be able to transition from an adjunct gig to a tenure track positions. And, if that does happen, it is usually other things -- such as extensive publications - that make the difference, not the adjunct job.

True. I now recall my DH was on a 1 yr contract, just post dissertation, while he was applying to tenure track jobs. You're right, pure adjunct rarely leads to tenure track. Several of his phd classmates never found tenure jobs and have been teaching adjunct for 10 years. Humanities-Not good.

[Anonymous]

Ditto to pretty much everything - low pay, tons of time to prep the first time you teach something, can be frustrating not having a proper office, etc., can't really invest in students or campus life as much as a FT prof.

Plus side? I enjoyed the student interaction. I appreciated the flexibility (I taught both online and "on the ground").

I felt complicit to this horrible adjunct system the whole time - so glad I'm not doing it anymore.

[Anonymous]

I taught a few law related classes at NOVA several years ago and then several law classes online. The pay was definitely not worth it when you looked at how much work I had to put in with grading, office hours, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've taught online courses for 10 years now, bring home about 20k/year doing it. Definitely a time suck in the beginning and not worth the money, but once you have your syllabus and materials fine tuned it's really a good deal!

I agree with this. I worked as an adjunct for @5 years, but in-person, not online. An adjunct was leaving the program and a prof for another class recommended me to the head of the program as the replacement. As others have said, the pay works out to be very low if you count on an hour by hour basis. But it gets easier each year as you have your outlines and handouts better-tuned year to year. I had to mostly create them from scratch though, which was very time consuming. I definitely didn't do it AT ALL for the money -- I did it solely because it was a good experience professionally, both on my record/resume and for the experience standing up in front of a class for 2 hours each week (i.e., public speaking).

[Anonymous]

My husband does it as a side gig, because he likes teaching and it's a nice line on his resume. The first time you teach a class is the hardest, because you have to develop the syllabus. But once that's done, you just have to update it for the next time. He really enjoys it. Much harder to piece together enough gigs to make a living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've taught online courses for 10 years now, bring home about 20k/year doing it. Definitely a time suck in the beginning and not worth the money, but once you have your syllabus and materials fine tuned it's really a good deal!

This is me as well. I'm 6 yrs in. I make about $5K per course as I get a supplement because it's a math course. The nice thing about math is it doesn't change. When I first started, it took an incredible amount of time. Now my course notes are written, my lectures are done, I have a large test bank, and detailed rubrics. As I become a more experienced teacher, I adjust my notes to communicate the material in a better way to the students.

Which institutions do you recommend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did it and it worked out to a minimum wage job. Make sure you're not just counting your teaching time but also the time for prep, office hours, and grading. It's hell being an adjunct and I'm so glad to be tenure track at my current position.

Same here. I did it for five years and never moved beyond adjunct. At one point I was teaching at 4-5 different places trying to piece together full time work. It was stressful for not a lot of money. Between driving all over the place (DC, Glen Echo, Wheaton, Hyattsville) in one week, not to mention the preps for each course/school, it was pretty awful. Also, I was teaching students at every level, from kindergarten-graduate students. Now I have one full time job loosely related to my field within the federal government and while it's not as interesting (and not what I wanted-I wanted to be a professor) it is so much less stress with more money for less work.

OP, if you don't really need the money and are doing it for fun and experience, then go for it. But it can be very difficult to make a living as an adjunct.

Yes. For a part-time gig for a bit of $$ or experience, it's fine. Don't expect it will lead to anything. Don't put in more than one hour outside prep per contact hour (less if you can manage it). Don't expect to be treated well (you won't be a true member of the department, you might not get an email account or parking pass, or even dry erase markers or access to computers / copiers, etc.).

I interviewed at NVCC in Annandale and they seem to have a good system for adjuncts. They had a large office room filled with computers and a copier specifically for adjuncts to use. And the parking is free for faculty there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not doubting PP, but OP and others should realize that it is pretty unusual to be able to transition from an adjunct gig to a tenure track positions. And, if that does happen, it is usually other things -- such as extensive publications - that make the difference, not the adjunct job.

In fact, adjunct jobs are a strike against you as far as hiring committees are concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I interviewed at NVCC in Annandale and they seem to have a good system for adjuncts. They had a large office room filled with computers and a copier specifically for adjuncts to use. And the parking is free for faculty there.

The sweatshop laborers are relatively well treated, yay!

[Anonymous]

I teach several courses a year at a good local university in a department where no faculty have tenure. It's laid back and I always feel welcome, and I am included in staff meetings even as a "lowly adjunct." I am thankful for this beyond measure, as I realize that not all adjuncts are treated nicely. The pay is "meh" but I love it and it's relatively easy now having taught multiple classes multiple times. I can count on low 20s/year, but I have other work too. Would like to move to FT eventually, but there is no rush to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I interviewed at NVCC in Annandale and they seem to have a good system for adjuncts. They had a large office room filled with computers and a copier specifically for adjuncts to use. And the parking is free for faculty there.

The sweatshop laborers are relatively well treated, yay!

They even have their own copier! Talk about perks!

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine used to, and I think still does, teach online classes at University of Phoenix from his house in a DC suburb. Done it for 8-10 years in fact. I assume it says on the school's website how to apply to be an online professor.

[Anonymous]

It's great if you have another way of supporting yourself, or if you put almost no effort into the course. You usually have to work quite hard the first time you teach, and may end up making minimum wage or sometimes less, per hour. After you teach it a couple of times, if you aren't motivated and need the money, you can teach the same course over and over, making sure you give assignments with the least amount of work for you.