Adjunct prof jobs?

[Anonymous]

Go to chronicle.com's forum and look at the "Adjuncting" section. It is not a pretty picture, unfortunately. It's quite an embarrassment to academic, how adjuncts are treated (and paid) so poorly.

[Anonymous]

I read that something like 70 percent of college faculty were adjuncts. How is out possible that they are treated so poorly? Is it better on unionized campuses? And if your campus has a union, do you need to join?

[Anonymous]

I'm a practicing lawyer, and I adjunct one class per year. It's a seminar, so the workload is not huge, and my students generally are a good group that wants to learn. I bring in a lot of guest speakers - mostly lawyers who I know professionally. I make about $5,000/class, which I was surprised to learn is above average. I don't think I'd have the time (or desire) to teach a large section like Torts or Administrative Law. But this is fun, and I think it helps me marginally with my day job (saying that I teach the subject).

But I think it would be impossible to rely on adjuncting for income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read that something like 70 percent of college faculty were adjuncts. How is out possible that they are treated so poorly? Is it better on unionized campuses? And if your campus has a union, do you need to join?

Your statistic is correct--not necessarily adjuncts but not tenured or tenure-track so that leaves room for contract positions such as teaching professors, visiting assistant profs and others who teach on a yearly or slightly longer contract. Some schools are unionized but it also means dues come out of your already meager adjunct paycheck. College tuition is getting crazy expensive but the money goes to facilities and other eye candy that attract students on college tours. More applicants means higher rejection rate which means higher ranking. The American university system is in crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ PS to above. For career advancement, not necessarily in academia, while being a SAHP, it better to have on the resume:

A. adjunct position for one course or sometimes two per semester
B "independent consultant" by just taking very small gig here and there
C both A and B
D a resume gap and enjoy the time with the kids since neither A nor B pays peanuts
?

E. Build an online course in what you're an expert on instead. Since you're ready to give up your income completely, you can take this risk for the higher upside. Record what would've been your lectures and charge for the collection of videos. That way, you can have flexibility to actually enjoy time with your kids.

Agree with one HUGE caveat. Your course must be something for which people will pay without the promise of academic credit or a degree. In other words, they have to buy your course for the actual knowledge you transmit, rather than credit toward an external certification or degree. This isn't always the case, as in continuing education credit courses, but you have the additional burden of getting the state bar or other certification body to grant your online course the requisite credits. There are certain criteria your course will have to meet, so it would behoove you to ensure that it does before you just stand in front of a camera or behind a microphone and pontificate.

Another possibility is signing on with an existing online course provider that will do all the foregoing for you. Most of these companies, however, pay peanuts and will not pay a royalty per student who takes the online course. Most will tell you that the course material goes stale, but this isn't really the case (even if it does, a small amount of updating is often all that's required). Rather, they just want your expertise for cheap, while pocketing $495 per course fees (while paying developers peanuts in India to put the course into online SCORM or other format). Gee, this kind of sounds like universities and adjunct professors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ PS to above. For career advancement, not necessarily in academia, while being a SAHP, it better to have on the resume:

A. adjunct position for one course or sometimes two per semester
B "independent consultant" by just taking very small gig here and there
C both A and B
D a resume gap and enjoy the time with the kids since neither A nor B pays peanuts
?

E. Build an online course in what you're an expert on instead. Since you're ready to give up your income completely, you can take this risk for the higher upside. Record what would've been your lectures and charge for the collection of videos. That way, you can have flexibility to actually enjoy time with your kids.

Agree with one HUGE caveat. Your course must be something for which people will pay without the promise of academic credit or a degree. In other words, they have to buy your course for the actual knowledge you transmit, rather than credit toward an external certification or degree. This isn't always the case, as in continuing education credit courses, but you have the additional burden of getting the state bar or other certification body to grant your online course the requisite credits. There are certain criteria your course will have to meet, so it would behoove you to ensure that it does before you just stand in front of a camera or behind a microphone and pontificate.

Another possibility is signing on with an existing online course provider that will do all the foregoing for you. Most of these companies, however, pay peanuts and will not pay a royalty per student who takes the online course. Most will tell you that the course material goes stale, but this isn't really the case (even if it does, a small amount of updating is often all that's required). Rather, they just want your expertise for cheap, while pocketing $495 per course fees (while paying developers peanuts in India to put the course into online SCORM or other format). Gee, this kind of sounds like universities and adjunct professors!

In the end, you're probably better just starting a side consulting business and charging by the hour.

[Anonymous]

I am thinking of returning for a Master's in Nurse Education as an adjunct retirement job to supplement income. Not my first choice but with 25 years under my belt as an RN, starting over in a new field might not be worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ PS to above. For career advancement, not necessarily in academia, while being a SAHP, it better to have on the resume:

A. adjunct position for one course or sometimes two per semester
B "independent consultant" by just taking very small gig here and there
C both A and B
D a resume gap and enjoy the time with the kids since neither A nor B pays peanuts
?

E. Build an online course in what you're an expert on instead. Since you're ready to give up your income completely, you can take this risk for the higher upside. Record what would've been your lectures and charge for the collection of videos. That way, you can have flexibility to actually enjoy time with your kids.

Agree with one HUGE caveat. Your course must be something for which people will pay without the promise of academic credit or a degree. In other words, they have to buy your course for the actual knowledge you transmit, rather than credit toward an external certification or degree. This isn't always the case, as in continuing education credit courses, but you have the additional burden of getting the state bar or other certification body to grant your online course the requisite credits. There are certain criteria your course will have to meet, so it would behoove you to ensure that it does before you just stand in front of a camera or behind a microphone and pontificate.

Another possibility is signing on with an existing online course provider that will do all the foregoing for you. Most of these companies, however, pay peanuts and will not pay a royalty per student who takes the online course. Most will tell you that the course material goes stale, but this isn't really the case (even if it does, a small amount of updating is often all that's required). Rather, they just want your expertise for cheap, while pocketing $495 per course fees (while paying developers peanuts in India to put the course into online SCORM or other format). Gee, this kind of sounds like universities and adjunct professors!

In the end, you're probably better just starting a side consulting business and charging by the hour.

Yes, if you're in it purely for financial or career purposes. But if you want flexibility and the ability to spend time with your kids, do the online course. Consulting means clients, which means deadlines and meetings, which means a time commitment. In order for consulting to help your resume, you have to play politics and spend time in the field. Your online video course can be viewed by any later employer, and its success can be easily measured by views or subscribers.

[Anonymous]

I'm the pp who asked the multiple choice question above. I had never thought about an online course. Is this something that you've done yourself, pp who suggested it or the other pp who responded? Or anyone else on her ever try this?

I'm actually in the sciences, so I'll research it a bit, but it's hard for me to imagine a big audience who would pay. Maybe moreso in the legal or business worlds?

[Anonymous]

I have been offered an adjunct position at the school at the link below but I am having an issue understanding the pay table below. Can anyone explain what the hours refer to? (Example "Masters 16 hours")

Also if the class in criminal justice, and I don't have a phd (I have a masters and a JD),will I get paid for a masters, not a doctorate?

https://www.ctcd.edu/myctcd/assets/File/Faculty%26Staff/Human%20Resources/Employment%20Services/Recruitment/ExemptPayScale.pdf

[Anonymous]

Adjuncting gives me the flexible schedule I want with young kids, while still staying in touch with a career that I love. However, the pay is really very low, and if I needed to support my family, I would look for different work.

You can look at the Chronicle of Higher Education for job listings.