Can I teach ?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by levieuxnegre, Oct 15, 2004.

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  1. levieuxnegre

    levieuxnegre New Member

    Can I teach one day at the university level with a PhD from Northcentral ?
     
  2. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I am not an expert but I would say yes. A PhD would give you the creditials you need, BUT I would imagine there will be some/most people that look down on a DL PhD that work at any major traditional university.

    I would think you would have a better shot at a community college or working for a DL university. Like I said, this is just my gut feeling and I am not an expert.
     
  3. DBA with an MBA

    DBA with an MBA New Member

    Re: Re: Can I teach ?

    I agree with Randell1234. The mindset of B&M instructors I've talked with lately is that a DL degree isn't of the same caliber as their traditional degrees. However, that perception is changing as more schools start to offer DL options.

    Change is slow, but eventually the DL stigma will go away. Until then, since I want to teach, I'll pursue the local community colleges route to build some street cred. Publishing would not be a bad idea either.
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I agree with the above posts. You will find faculty members at traditional universities with DL doctorates, but I suspect most were already "in the pipeline" and used the DL school to fill a square.

    Also consider the inherent prejudice at traditional schools regarding nontraditional schools.

    Also consider that the nontraditional school isn't designed to get people started in academia. You're not on campus, serving as a T/A, functioning as an apprentice to established faculty, etc. In short, you're not in that "pipeline" I mentioned above.

    Here's an example most of us can relate to: when you take a traditional bachelor's or master's degree, you get on-campus recruiters near the end of your program interviewing soon-to-be graduates. But you don't get that at Excelsior, TESC, Jones International, etc. That doesn't mean you can't change careers on the basis of degrees earned at those schools. It just means that there are no inherent processes built in to facilitate it.

    I agree with the notion that teaching opportunities might be greater at community colleges and/or DL schools. But don't expect them to swoon over your Ph.D. and start fighting over the opportunity to hire you.

    Finally, you might find your way into a school via the adjunct route. That's what I did. They get to know your work from your adjunct teaching, and you're a lot closer when competing for full-time opportunities, whether teaching or in administration.
     
  5. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    The short answer is "yes". I know at least one NCU graduate teaching full time at Devry University, however, the guy has many years of IT and teaching experience.


    If you are looking for a full time position at a "research" oriented university then you are in bad shape as NCU does not have publication requirements. Serious universities won't look at your resume if you don't have a good publication record. If all you can afford is NCU then I would suggest to do a post-doc at a more research oriented university that allows you to build on your publication record. It will also give you the chance to have some on-ground teaching experience as post docs normally teach some courses during their studies. On the other hand, you are required to have at least few publications even to get a Post-doc position so you should publish something even if the University doesn't require this.

    In my experience, most of the academics look at your publication record in order to judge your academic abilities. If the university is not known (e.g. NCU, Capella, Touro, etc), they will probably based their decision on your letters of recommendation and publication record. However, the main problem with DL schools is that students work full time and don't have time to publish or teach part time. In addition, few DL schools require publications for graduation so this makes it very hard for graduates to be considered for full time tenured positions.

    That is why the community colleges are the best option for these graduates as CCs don't require publication records and put more emphasis on working experience. You will find also that salaries with PhDs at the CC level are almost the same as some state universities with the advantage that you are not required to conduct research.
     

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