Chronicle article about online adjuncts

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by oxpecker, Apr 30, 2004.

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  1. oxpecker

    oxpecker New Member

    For Online Adjuncts, a Seller's Market

    If the Chronicle web site wants a password, trying going in through Google, which seems to provide a back door: news.google.com

    The article profiles Ruth Achterhof. She has a PhD from Baker College, and earns $90,000 per year as an online adjunct at Baker College Online, Jones International, Davenport University, and the United Nations Development Program. She doesn't disclose how many courses she teaches.
     
  2. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    I don't know if she's overextended but, like many others, I've often wondered how much work I might be able to do if I could be left the hell alone to do it.
     
  3. DL-Luvr

    DL-Luvr New Member

    Adjuncts

    Interesting article Ox - I'm sure she isn't the only adjunct who is working for multiple institutions. Not easy but she seems to be having fun.

    Her doctorate is actually from Capella University:
    http://www.achterhof.com/degrees.htm
     
  4. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    $90,000 a year! I'm in the wrong line of work.

    Hmm, $90000 a year at $1500 - $3000 a class means 30 - 60 classes a year. I am curious how much attention she is able to give to the students (grading papers, providing feedback, monitoring message boards, responding to e-mail, etc.) If she can do it, more power to her.

    Honestly, I love reading the success stories of the handful of adjuncts that have managed to turn it into a successful career. I read so many stories that are about adjuncts that are bitter and burnt out that it is refreshing to read the occasional success story.
     
  5. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Wow! I teach for two universities (online classes at one, face-to-face at the other) and I thought that they paid fairly well...where do I sign up? (Just kidding) :)

    Tony
     
  6. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member

    First, you have to be willing to work that 60 hours per week.

    I understand why she doesn't want to tell how many classes she is teaching because I have no doubt that her employers would be concerned. However, they wouldn't understand that the time commitment/scheduling is different when teaching online classes. You really can teach more classes because you are the one that schedules your time.




    Tom Nixon
     
  7. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Tom,

    The scheduling flexibility is certainly a plus, but I find that I spend more time per week working on my online courses that I do my face-to-face courses, because of the increased (virtual) interaction with my online students. For me, teaching five online classes would be much more work that teaching five "live" classes (even though I like teaching online).

    Tony

    P.S. My wife and kids are in your neck of the woods today (my in-laws live there) and I am stuck home with a cold! At least I have my friends at Degreeinfo to keep me company :)
     
  8. kobeb

    kobeb New Member

    OU Overseas

    Airtorn,

    I'm guessing you're in the Air Force...Anyway, your signature states: "M.A. International Relations, University of Oklahoma (in progress)". How is OU's outreach programs? Do the send instructors from the Norman campus overseas?

    I have peers that graduated from the weekend MHR program. Interesting program if that's what you want. I'm thinking about it...
     
  9. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    Re: OU Overseas

    Yes, the professors fly over from Norman to teach the classes. They are here for one week - four weeknights and all day Saturday and Sunday. I am four classes into it and like the format. Basically, you get the syllabus about a month out. From there, you do the reading and usually have something due the first day of class. You will have a final exam on the last day. If you are taking the CDR credit also, you will have an additional paper due a couple of weeks later.

    If you get to a base that has the outreach program at it, it is a great deal.
     
  10. Alex

    Alex New Member


    In academia, working long hours is no guarantee of a high salary. Assistant professors working towards tenure will easily spend 60-80 hours working per week, at a salary that may be well under $50,000 per year for those not teaching a field such as business or law. I remember those days on the tenure track, before I escaped academia and started working for a state agency!

    A few years ago the Chronicle ran a series of articles about an on-campus adjunct who was earning a good income teaching huge numbers of classes at various universities and colleges in a large city. She was teaching the same classes she had taught several times before, and she had developed a very efficient system for budgeting time and keeping to her alotted time. (She also had the good fortune to live near a private university that paid adjuncts unusually well.) If I remember correctly (I seldom read the Chronicle these days), she wrote an Adjunct column for a while.

    Alex
     
  11. Denver

    Denver Member

    I too teach as an adjunct and stories abound as to what some of my fellow adjuncts make. I have met two people who have broken into six figures in adjunct work – but both said that after a year online they would never do it again. It is possible to make that kind of money at any job as long as you put in 17-hour days 24/7.
     
  12. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    That was Jill Carroll. She still writes articles for the Chronicle and has published a couple of books on survival tips for adjuncts. For more info, check out http://www.adjunctsolutions.com/homepage.html.
     

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