College professors? Any advice?

[casualmadness]

Anyone here teach in college? I'm finishing up a master's degree this year and teaching at the college level is something I've thought about getting into. I've thought about it on and off for a few years but I've never pursued it. But I think I might seriously be interested in pursuing it. Though I don't want to do it full time. I would like to do it maybe as a supplemental career. Maybe I would teach a few classes online or in junior college or something like that. Do I need an educational degree? Do I need any sort of license or credentials beyond a master's degree? I was told by a relative that in order to teach in a certain subject at the college level, I would need a minimum of 18 graduate hours in that subject. Anyone know if this is correct? Any advice from those who know is welcome.

 

[theshadow2001]

Well I think to be any way respected as a lecturer. You should work in your chosen field for a good number of years first. What they teach you in college is always just the tip of the iceberg. I don't lecture by the way.

 

[fdeck]

What's your field?

There are basically no formal requirements for college teaching. You don't need an education degree or teaching certificate. I taught college math and engineering at a major state university with no graduate hours in either subject.

With that said, the market determines what the requirements are based on the applicant pool. In other words, if you are competing with applicants who all have PhD's and Nobel Prizes, then you need those things too.

Two of my friends taught electronics at the local 2-year tech college. One just retired. They both have Masters degrees. It varies from one state to another, but the tech college jobs are pretty desirable because they don't require certification, but the teachers are unionized state employees.

Any tenure-track position requires a PhD of course. Many fields also require spending several years beyond the PhD, to develop a strong track record in research. Again, this is determined by the applicant pool. In my field, the number of applicants dwarfs the number of open positions. When I assessed my realistic prospects for a professorship in my field, I bailed out of academia and got an industrial job.

Part-time teaching positions can be had at most big universities. I got my math position by showing up a day before the start of classes. An advantage is that they provide benefits, but give you the flexibility to do things like consulting. Or playing music.

Definitely surf the web and look up openings to find out what the requirements are like.

 

[casualmadness]

What's your field?

There are basically no formal requirements for college teaching. You don't need an education degree or teaching certificate. I taught college math and engineering at a major state university with no graduate hours in either subject.

With that said, the market determines what the requirements are based on the applicant pool. In other words, if you are competing with applicants who all have PhD's and Nobel Prizes, then you need those things too.

Two of my friends taught electronics at the local 2-year tech college. One just retired. They both have Masters degrees. It varies from one state to another, but the tech college jobs are pretty desirable because they don't require certification, but the teachers are unionized state employees.

Any tenure-track position requires a PhD of course. Many fields also require spending several years beyond the PhD, to develop a strong track record in research. Again, this is determined by the applicant pool. In my field, the number of applicants dwarfs the number of open positions. When I assessed my realistic prospects for a professorship in my field, I bailed out of academia and got an industrial job.

Part-time teaching positions can be had at most big universities. I got my math position by showing up a day before the start of classes. An advantage is that they provide benefits, but give you the flexibility to do things like consulting. Or playing music.

Definitely surf the web and look up openings to find out what the requirements are like.

I'm doing a master's in cyber security. I definitely am not interested in a tenure track as I don't want to be a professional teacher. I just think that I would like to teach a couple classes per semester at a community college or even an online school. My undergrad is in Mass Communications and I work in Logistics. So...I'm kinda all over the place. But I just think that it would be a fun way to make some extra cash. But I'm not looking to start a new career.

I've done some web surfing but haven't really found any good information about requirements. I've found lots of info for tenure track; but nothing for a part time wanna be.

 

[fdeck]

I'm doing a master's in cyber security. I definitely am not interested in a tenure track as I don't want to be a professional teacher. I just think that I would like to teach a couple classes per semester at a community college or even an online school. My undergrad is in Mass Communications and I work in Logistics. So...I'm kinda all over the place. But I just think that it would be a fun way to make some extra cash. But I'm not looking to start a new career.

I've done some web surfing but haven't really found any good information about requirements. I've found lots of info for tenure track; but nothing for a part time wanna be.

The part time jobs are sometimes listed separately from full time. For instance the University of Wisconsin differentiates between "faculty" and "staff" last time I looked.

 

[jive1]

I taught at a community college in Denver for a little while, and it was just a couple of classes. I didn't require any certification or graduate studies to do it.

But, the pay wasn't very good, even for supplemental income. And at the CC level there is competition among the instructors to get enough credit hours to make a living. I'm lucky I wasn't one of them.

 

[Folmeister]

There is a lot of part-time work in higher education these days. Almost every college I know of is cutting costs by not replacing full-time, tenured positions. In the community, junior, and vocational college systems, a completed master's degree is the minimum qualification. Most like to see at least three years experience, but circumstance often leads to opportunities such as lazy department heads, sudden retirements, and surges in enrollment. I have taught the last ten years in these institutions. Your subject area is also a consideration. Math and the sciences often have greater openings while social sciences have fewer. Sometimes you just get lucky, though.

University work usually requires a Ph.D., but sometimes you can get lucky there also. Check with private colleges as they often are not as strict on the Ph.D., but they may want ABD post-graduate work.

A great introduction to the work is to be a TA for one of your graduate instructors. That allows you to network and adds something to your resume. Knowing someone is a great advantage, so knocking on doors can be beneficial, especially in the community college system. You may show up at the right time and place. Again, you might get lucky.

 

[CrashBang]

Private institutions are the way to go. They set their own standards.

You also have to take into consideration what you have done in the field. Though he never finished his degree, what university would not hire Bill Gates as an adjunct professor?

Good luck, there's nothing like teaching people that actually want to learn what you have to teach.

Al

 

[Pilgrim]

I've been in higher ed for 28 years. For community college, your Master's is enough. No training in education or teaching is required (isn't that silly?) but aptitude is something they will try to assess.

Also, many institutions use adjuncts for online courses - and in that case, you don't have to even be in the same country to teach. If you're into cyber-security, I'd think you would be attractive to institutions with Computer Science programs, although you may do better at 4-years.

The thing with 4-year colleges is that you usually need a Ph.D. to teach at anything other than the undergrad level. If you have industry experience, that may help in a field like cyber-security.

All you can do is start checking websites - and if institutions have both campus and continuing education websites, check both. In some cases the continuing ed operations hire separately, but in most cases they don't - all regular and adjunct faculty are hired through one HR department's listings.

 

[ImaStupidBaby]

look for universities that are hard up for teachers.

I'm an undergrad, and I've been offered jobs teaching chemistry I and II labs. If you're a grad student in chem at KU, you're pretty much going to be a teaching assistant (you run labs and proctor tests).

AFAIK community colleges usually only ask for a master's in the subject.

 

[birdxofxprey]

part time teaching jobs at 4 yr universities are often available and rarely advertised. universities don't require national searches for part-timers, and part-timers are in good supply generally because a masters is often sufficient.

it's common (and fine as far as ettiquette goes) for people to contact a department to inquire about part-time teaching positions even when none has been advertised.

beware, part-timers are exploited at nearly every university. if you get $3,000 (before taxes) for teaching one semester long 3 credit course, you'll be paid very well for a part-timer. you'll never have a guarantee of returning to teach in subsequent semesters, and don't count on any benefits like health insurance, etc.

good luck!

 

[casualmadness]

Thanks for the responses so far. I have another question...
My master's is in cyber-security and my profession is logistics. So would I be limited in the subject I could teach? For example, I have pro experience in logistics/transportation but no education in that area. Could I teach an introductory logistics course? Or maybe even an advanced class? And with cyber-security: my master's is in that field but I have no practical experience. I'm sure there are 15 year old kids out there who spend 18 hours per day on the computer who could crack my network in about 15 seconds. I get the overall theory of network security but I'm certainly no guru. And of course, I'm also a musician. I'm a BIT graduate and have some pro music experience as a performer. Could I teach music classes?

 

[birdxofxprey]

for whatever college or univ. you want to teach at, find out what classes they already offer in your area. then, if possible, take a look at a syllabus or two for those classes just to get a feel for how they approach the material, what texts they use, what kinds of tests are used for grades, etc.

make up a syllabus or two of your own according to how you'd like to teach the class(es), and get them to the chairperson in whose department the classes will be taught (mail them with a cover letter and a cv and request information about available part-time teaching positions, and request an interview - call as a followup if you don't hear anything back after a week or two).

the qualifications required to teach classes vary widely from one institution to another, so i really couldn't say whether or not you're qualified. but if you're not qualified, a decent dept chair would tell you that without wasting your time on an interview.

hope this helps.

 

[Pilgrim]

My master's is in cyber-security and my profession is logistics. So would I be limited in the subject I could teach? For example, I have pro experience in logistics/transportation but no education in that area. Could I teach an introductory logistics course? Or maybe even an advanced class?

Yes. Once again, teaching in college is not like teaching K-12. You can teach anything that you and the institution mutually agree you're competent to teach. If you have either professional experience or a related background in X, you can probably teach X.

And with cyber-security: my master's is in that field but I have no practical experience. I'm sure there are 15 year old kids out there who spend 18 hours per day on the computer who could crack my network in about 15 seconds. I get the overall theory of network security but I'm certainly no guru. And of course, I'm also a musician. I'm a BIT graduate and have some pro music experience as a performer. Could I teach music classes?

I still don't see why you can't teach courses oriented to theory, but in a field like that you will need to constantly update yourself - and the hackers will still spend 16 hours a day doing nothing but pounding on systems, which is more time than you can spend.

As far as music - chance are they'll have more qualified teachers than you - but if they want someone to give bass lessons or teach courses and they don't have a more qualified person, it might work. Just be honest about how far your expertise does extend.