Input in deciding subjects for WNMU's MAIS

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by workingmom, Apr 9, 2015.

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  1. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    It's been a while since I earned my BA at TESC, with the help of this forum. I've moved several times and had many major changes. I've been hired to teach paralegal courses at a career college and I'd like to earn a master's to have more teaching options at the community college level.

    Since we are facing more moves in our future (husband's job) adjuncting might be my best bet, at least until we get to a place I know we'll be staying. I'm looking at the WNMU MAIS, so I'd have 18 credits in two subjects. But I'm trying to decide which two, that I'm interested in, would make me the most competitive.

    Many schools place paralegal and legal courses under the criminal justice umbrella. Plus, I do have background in this field, so I thought this might be a good choice.

    I also have work-related experience that makes English seem like a good choice and I enjoy this subject, especially literary analysis.

    My BA is in psychology and I have some experience in this subject. I enjoy it, but think it might be difficult to find teaching positions, although I think it goes nicely with CJ.

    History is also a subject I really enjoy. And if I was ever going to teach at the high school level, I'd like to teach history. [If we ever settled down in a state and I can qualify to teach secondary social studies]

    I enjoy all four of these subjects, so I'm trying to decide if two of them are clearly better choices.
     
  2. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    I completed the MAIS back in 2011, and I'm currently teaching full-time at my community college. I chose History & Political Science, because at the time I was teaching High School, and the school wanted me to be able to teach advanced courses in those disciplines. I'm glad I did, as it definitely helped me land my current position. That said, I think Criminal Justice would be a good choice for you based on your background. History would probably be a good related discipline, but there are tons of people out there with history credentials. I would actually suggest going the Political Science route, because, at least in my area, there seems to be a lack of adjuncts with those credentials, and it would probably go well with Criminal Justice.

    -Matt
     
  3. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    Thanks for the input, Matt. I usually avoid anything with the world "political" in it :) But it's true that political science includes legal and historical aspects. I remember writing a middle school research paper on outlaws of the Wild West, so I could see combining criminal justice and history. Well, actually I can see combining history and anything.
     
  4. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    As of today, according to the Higher Ed Jobs website:

    Subject Number of Openings

    Criminal Justice 215

    English and Lit 458

    History 194

    Political Science 171

    Psychology 461

    Too bad it doesn't tell me how many people are qualified for each opening. If there are 461 psychology openings, and 400,000 qualified applicants, not so great.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 11, 2015
  5. Paidagogos

    Paidagogos Member

    Working mom, I graduated from WNMU in 2013 with an MAIS degree and concentrations in History and English. So far, since graduating, I have done a lot with my 18 hours in English, in combination of tutoring and teaching at the CC level. There are, after all, a bunch of English/writing classes that students HAVE to take each year. With things like sociology, psychology, and history, there are fewer classes that need to be taught each semester. Our history department consists of two people, and they do everything. While I had originally intended to teach history, I am glad I had my fall back as English because it has turned out well, and I still may circle back to teach history one day, IF a position ever opens again. AND, enough about me!

    Now, with your career in mind, and your background, I would think combinations of History and Psychology might be good. Ultimately, there are typically going to be fewer course offerings in those areas, so employment could be scarce at times, but that can be the case in just about every subject at one time or another. Also, another good thing about picking History and Psychology is that at most CCs, the courses fall under the social sciences, so you could be a versatile asset to pick up a couple of subjects in each area - a truly common thing at CCs - a last bastion for jacks(or Jills)-of-all-trades, and the like.

    Keep us posted! Love to know what you choose.
     
  6. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    Thanks, Paidagogos, I'm glad to hear something positive. I thought the same thing about English, that so many majors/programs require some type of English and/or writing credit. Psychology, I was thinking that even a lot of the allied health programs require some type of psychology credit.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 16, 2015
  7. jumbodog

    jumbodog New Member

    I'll take another angle on this question which is the quality of your experience at Western. When I was there I took courses in several different areas and in my view Psychology is by far and away the best taught discipline. I thought very poorly of the quality of teaching in criminal justice and its complete lack of academic rigor. I never took a history course so I can not give any input on that subject area. English is decent though my experience is colored by the fact that I had a personality conflict with one of the professors--nothing that stopped my graduating but it was a distraction to deal with.

    What I'm suggesting to you is that it's not all about the job market. If at the end of the day you have a credential but didn't learn or grow, maybe it's money not well spent. I had a fine time at Western but I was very focused in what I wanted.
     
  8. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    If you are more interested in teaching paralegal studies than criminal justice, then I would look at what community colleges want. Career schools often have looser standards. I taught criminal justice courses at a career school without a degree in criminal justice or law (or even a graduate degree in sociology), but that wouldn't fly at a community college. Now that I do have more than 18 graduate credit hours in criminal justice, I've looked at several openings for paralegal studies instructors. Most of them (not all) wanted a J.D or degree in paralegal studies. Some programs might accept you based on your experience; but, in those cases, it doesn't really matter what your degree is in just as long as you have one. Honestly, there is really not much overlap between CJ and paralegal studies programs. Most CJ instructors are not qualified to teach anything outside of criminal law.

    If you are interested in teaching CJ, then there will probably be more opportunities in that field than in the legal studies field.
     
  9. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Choose the ones you're most enthusiastic about, because 18 credits plus an exit requirement and then landing a job in that field are all going to be torture if you're not enthusiastic about the topic. Being an adjunct can be a little thankless, and I can tell you if I had to teach history at my CC, I'd probably stab myself in the eye. (sorry Matt) So really, it's YOU that has to feel excited about the curriculum, not so much the job trends.

    If your BA from TESC is in psychology (not social science) then you've already good a good deal of knowledge telling you what to expect. Just with more writing lol.

    For sure, English, history, and psychology will be taught in a transfer curriculum while CJ may (or may not) be taught in an AAS curriculum. If you have a master's in an AAS program, you're going to be competitive while in English-history-psych you're starting to see more doctorate degree holders teaching at the CC level!

    English, as others have pointed out, is really the easiest field to land a job- but it could likely be in non-curriculum as well. Continuing ed, adult ed, GED, tutoring, etc all want English degree holders (and most will take you with a BA).

    Good luck to you!
     
  10. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I think everyone has pretty well covered a number of issues I would have raised.

    That said, I really like the WNMU program. If I were in the market for a graduate program at this stage of my life I would probably seriously consider it.

    While the 18 credit issue is important, I feel it worth noting that, firstly, WNMU allows 2 - 3 subjects (either two 18 credits or one 18 credit plus two 9 credit). Because the CC world is hardly uniform, there does exist the possibility of three concentrations and it still working out well for you. I think it would work best where you can make the whole darn thing work together.

    For example, if you combined English, Psychology and History your degree, at first appearance, is going to just look like some of the older MALS programs (i.e. just random LA grad credits all thrown together).

    But, if you combined say History, Political Science and Criminal Justice AND you published even a single article or thesis which seemed to draw upon these three subject areas, I think you would have a pretty strong package to offer a CC because you may well develop a research interest which touches upon these three areas. You may be in a position where you are teaching a history course, a CJ course and a political science course all with a common thread.

    It would depend, of course, on what your CC requires of adjuncts and what sort of course offerings they have. At my last CC they were a bit more vocationally focused. So they had fewer offerings in more academic subjects. Departments were often combined. We didn't have a separate history department, for example. We had a "liberal studies" department which covered pretty much everything that wasn't technical (and was pretty small, over all). At my current CC, it is a SUNY school is generally regarded as a feeder into the SUNY 4 year schools. As a result, my CC has a political science department, a history department and a CJ department (among numerous others). We have a professor in our history department whose graduate degree is an MBA. He has no graduate coursework in history. He started in the business department twenty years ago. Then, at some point, he began teaching an "American History of Commerce" course. Over time he just sort of gradually slipped into History. That said, all of his history courses have some connection to business (he did a really interesting course on commerce and trade in pre-currency societies, for example).

    But, I recognize not all CCs function like mine.

    Still, I think you should study the areas that are of interest to you. I think that the point of an interdisciplinary MA is that you are taking courses in (seemingly) unrelated fields and making them relate. An Interdisciplinary MA in English and Writing is certainly possible. But if you looped Psychology into that mix you might be well positioned to offer a writing course focusing on exploring the human condition. You can look at the MA at WNMU as an alternative to an MA in a particular subject. Or, as I would recommend, you can use it as a means to set yourself, and your research, apart.
     
  11. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    Thanks for your input, this is really valuable information. I wonder if I could convince them to take the Psychological Perspectives of Literature out of English only and allow it as a Psychology credit. Then I can get a hint of English with my Psychology and History. Plus, if I go the History and Psychology combo, I've been toying with the idea of doing something along the lines of a psychobiography.
     
  12. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    Thanks, Cook. I am getting a taste of teaching students who don't want to be there, so I appreciate this advice. My actual BA from TESC is in psychology. I have an AS for paralegals, but before that I was taking the police science program at a CC, and my experience covers both. I also have a general ed AA. I enjoy many aspects of the law, but I don't think I could make myself more competitive than I already am in this area, considering the number of JDs out there. Any master's degree would likely help, but it's not an area I think I want to limit myself to.

    I wouldn't mind teaching adult ed, or ESL, especially if I could also teach a course in history, or psychology. I've applied to teach a part-time GED class, but haven't heard anything. I also wouldn't mind working in a writing center, which seems to be the fallback for English. Right now I'm trying to decide on English (which seems the most versatile) with History, or Psychology with History.
     
  13. workingmom

    workingmom New Member

    Thanks, Neuhaus, good points. I can think of multiple interesting projects for the concentration combos. My problem is making up my mind which road I want to go down. I like this MAIS so much for the flexibility it affords.
     

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