Did not see an engineering section, so I am posting here. Do any of you know if a Master of Engineering (as a terminal degree) versus an MS thesis degree would be sufficient for teaching engineering technology at a community college? In other words if the CV had: MS Mechanical Engineering or Master of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering would both qualify to teach engineering technology at a community college? thanks!
I've never been on the hiring side at a Community College but I am pretty sure a Master of Engineering degree is absolutely fine. I have a friend with a Master of Architecture who teaches in an Engineering Technology program at a CC. I believe those classes are more in the applied technology camp so faculty can qualify based on professional experience rather than academic alone.
It's not an ironclad rule, but generally, the education requirements to teach at a 2-year college are a graduate degree and 18 semester hours in the field to be taught. I can't imagine a Master of Engineering not satisfying the education requirements, but keep in mind that other factors enter into the equation. All else being equal, if a hiring committee has an applicant with a M.Eng degree, and another with a Ph.D. in Engineering, you can probably guess who will be offered the job first.
In some cases it's not the actual rule at all. The OP posted about Engineering Technology which is primarily considered to be an occupational or workforce subject in Community Colleges. (Engineering Technology | Chipola College Workforce Programs) In the South (SACS) one need not even have a Masters degree to be qualified to teach such "workforce" courses. Here is an excerpt and link to the Official SACS guideline. Faculty teaching associate degree courses not designed for transfer to the baccalaureate degree: bachelor’s degree in the teaching discipline, or associate’s degree and demonstrated competencies in the teaching discipline. http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/081705/faculty%20credentials.pdf Here is what Austin Community College lists regarding this subject. Workforce courses leading to AAS degree Bachelor’s degree or higher in the discipline or Associate’s degree in the discipline plus three years documented work experience in the field Several years ago I was hired by San Antonio College to teach Oracle Database Administration courses in the Computer Information Systems department - a Workforce Program department. At the time my highest degree was an MPA but I was (and still am) an Oracle Certified DBA with 13+ years experience installing, configuring and writing code to various databases including Oracle. I suspect that for Engineering Technology a candidate with a PhD may not even be "qualified" to teach hands-on courses that Engineering Technology students need. Somebody has to actually their hands dirty at some point. LOL. Makes me think of Aaron Tippin's song "Working Man's Ph.D.". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5E34pxzPlQ YMMV.
