Adjunct without a PhD

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Randell1234, Mar 19, 2005.

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  1. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    If I dropped out of the PhD program, how would that effect my chances of getting an adjunt DL position if I have some experience?

    I am trying to figure out my ROI not in dollars but in opportunity.
     
  2. jugador

    jugador New Member

    It depends on what your field is. Mathematics or engineering? -- chances are excellent. Art history? -- forget it.
     
  3. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Management / Business/ Information Tech Mgt
     
  4. jugador

    jugador New Member

    I would say pretty good.
     
  5. salami89

    salami89 New Member

    Which Institutions

    What are some of the institutions that will accept adjunct faculty in management, marketing or business? Are there notable and reputable ones of good standing?
     
  6. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    No offense to those in the hinterlands but I believe that there's a geographical factor as well. For example, in the Boston area, where there are so many colleges (producing so many PhDs every year) you can not get even and adjunct position without a PhD and substantial experience. It's less competitive in other areas. Boston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, etc. must be more difficult areas for adjunct employment.
    Jack
     
  7. salami89

    salami89 New Member

    View

    I can only assess the situation as rather bleak especially with the rising costs of education, falling population rates and enrolments with universities and cutting costs. What hope is there for adjunct faculty hopefuls like myself? It is a situation which is prevalent even here in Asia.
     
  8. Messagewriter

    Messagewriter New Member

    Randell,

    Is your conideration of bagging your program have anything to do with NCU?
     
  9. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Re: Re: Adjunct without a PhD

    Nothing to do with NCU...just looking for a balance in life.
     
  10. nobycane

    nobycane New Member


    what about someone in the Earth Sciences???:confused:
     
  11. dis.funk.sh.null

    dis.funk.sh.null New Member

    I had to make make that decision a year and a half ago, and decided to drop out of my PhD... so far, I haven't had to regret it. I will go for a PhD later nonetheless!
     
  12. Oherra

    Oherra New Member

    Randell,

    If you happen to have technical or community colleges in your area I would check them out. I'm currently adjuncting at a community technical college and I find it to be a richly rewarding experience, and the pay's not too bad either.

    The community/technical college level tends to only require a masters degree, and in my case, because we have a hard time getting qualified instructors in the rural south, I was able to start with just my bachelors degree and current graduate hours.
     
  13. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Randell,


    I have worked as online adjunct for 4 years with my Master's degree. The issue is not PhD or not PhD but timing; 5 years ago the IT business was booming and only few people were willing to do adjunct work since the IT industry had plenty of oportunities. The present situation is not the same, I have a friend with a PhD in IT from a top University that is not able to land an online job since the IT programs have dropped enrollments dramatically.

    I would think that a PhD in IT now is not very useful if you are planning to teach IT or ITM in the curent IT economy, so you could easily wait for few years without having to worry about the PhD or not PhD dilema. However; things could change in the future.
     
  14. salami89

    salami89 New Member

    Comment

    Doctoral programs can be overated in the employment market and I find some headhunters are averse towards PhDs and their equivalents. Infact, in having one it can work against you in getting a good job. However, it does keep the universities running and profitable and the academics paid, without some giving any or minimal supervision especially if they are distance learning ones.
     
  15. spmoran

    spmoran Member

    The numbers for IT students in Washington (home of Microsoft, EBay, Amazon.com and a bunch more high tech companies) have dwindled to almost nothing. My wife teaches at the community college I went to and her SQL class (which was about 30 people) has dropped to 4 people. All of the numbers, with the exception of tech support students, have dropped to the same levels. That said, at the CC's in WA, experience and a Masters will get you pretty much the same as a PhD.

    I've read your earlier posts about dropping your program at NCU. It sounds like it is an immense amount of work. My question to you would be: Do you really care enough about IT to get a PhD in the area? I remember starting in this business all raring to go and wanting to learn anything I could. I worked at Microsoft, Boeing, Weyerhaueser and several other large high tech companies and loved it. Then, all of a sudden, I stopped loving it. Now I tolerate it, but only for one more year. Then I'm going to do something entirely different, and I suspect it will pay a lot less. I don't know about you, but I decided not to go beyong a B.S. in computing, and that was only because it is the fastest way for me to jump through the 4 year hoop and perhaps teach part-time (remember, I know people at the schools around here). The idea of graduate studies, especially a doctorate in something I don't care about, seems like hell on earth.

    Sean
     
  16. Jake_A

    Jake_A New Member

    Easy now. Let us please go easy on the hand-wringings and dismal PhD employability predictions.

    An industry by industry analysis and comparison would be appropriate here.

    Market saturation or lack thereof (as in good 'ol supply and demand economics) comes into play as with any product, service, or needed expertise.

    In my estimation, PhD's and their equivalents will almost never be overrated, outmoded or deemed unnecessary in most teaching, research and knowledge-producing and publishing activities of accredited schools and/or research or policy analysis and formulation organizations, groups or companies.

    C'ependant ........... is a PhD necessary for one to herd goats on a farm or supervise machinery workers in an auto assembly line or become reporters for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times or Newsweek?

    "Me think not."

    Thanks.
     
  17. carlosb

    carlosb New Member

    Re: Re: Adjunct without a PhD

    Is MIS\IT interchangable? If you have 18 credit hours at the grad level in IT can you teach MIS courses?

    Is MIS a better route than IT at this point in time?
     
  18. little fauss

    little fauss New Member

    At the CC where I teach, there are only 4 out of 20-some FT professors (they call them instructors at the CC level) who have PhDs. The great majority have Masters only or are ABD; one FT instructor here doesn't even have her Bachelor's yet! Believe-it-or-not, she just has an Associate's, but will finish her Bachelor's in night school this semester. She does teach in a very applied sort of program, though: radiography.

    So to make a long story short, I can't imagine that there aren't ample adjunct opps out there for one sans a PhD. Hey, at many small colleges, particularly sectarian liberal arts, the Masters is almost normative for a FT prof, much less an adjunct.
     
  19. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: Re: Adjunct without a PhD

    Hi,

    Computer Science or Engineering graduates teach in MIS programs but MIS graduates rarely teach in Computer Science / IT programs.

    As for your questions, 18 credits of MIS can be acceptable to teach IT if they are technical courses rather than pure management.


    MIS and IT are the very low end at this point so there is not much difference; however, a PhD in business in MIS can be useful to teach general business courses or to teach another business area if you complete a certificate or another credential in a different field.
     
  20. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    My PhD would be in Business Administration / Management. I don't really care for IT that much
     

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