Question regarding adjuncting....

Discussion in 'Online & DL Teaching' started by bamafan, Jun 25, 2008.

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  1. bamafan

    bamafan New Member

    I am currently looking at programs that will allow me to add content area I can teach at the community college level. I have examined the MA Interdisciplinary Studies at Western New Mexico University and aside from the lead psychology adviser being somewhat "snooty," I have been impressed with what I have seen. My question however is what does my focus need to be in gaining the 18 hours to teach psychology at the community college/online level? I already have two courses completed called Advanced Educational Psychology and Life Span Development from my first master's. They are willing to allow me to transfer those credits into their program thus meaning I would only need 4 psychology courses. Any advice you guys and gals can provide would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    >>

    Check the FAQs on the WNMU MAIS page- I thought I saw they allowed you to bring in 6 credits in transfer.
     
  3. bamafan

    bamafan New Member

    Yes I understand that. As I stated, they are willing to alow those courses to transfer in. However, I was curious to know if community colleges/online schools were willing to hire someone with a general collection of graduate level psychology courses?
     
  4. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Ok, I understand your question better now. I am attaching an excellent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education that addresses this very question.

    NEW PLAN, it won't attach?? Here:

    THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
    Solving the Credentials Puzzle
    By ROB JENKINS
    Much of my e-mail this time of year comes from people thinking about going on the community-college job market in the fall — or going on it again,
    given that this year's round of hiring has just about ended.
    Their questions often have to do with the issue of credentials: Am I qualified to teach such-and-such at a two-year college? Is a degree in X better than a
    degree in Y? Do I need more graduate hours in Z?
    I answer those e-mail messages personally, but I believe the correspondents represent a large number of job seekers who are equally confused about the
    credentials they need to teach at a community college but are not sure where to turn.
    For example, one woman wrote to ask the following: "My Ph.D. is in neuropharmacology. Most of my course work has titles like 'Advanced
    Pharmacology' or 'Receptor Biochemistry,' which don't seem to be a neat fit for either a biology or a chemistry position. I've been hired as a full-time
    person in both biology and chemistry departments at several [four-year] schools in [a Southern state]. I'm assuming that I'm SACS-qualified to teach [at a
    two-year college] in both these disciplines."
    Well, maybe — and maybe not. Before I proceed, let me explain that SACS refers to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional
    accrediting body for the vast majority of higher-education institutions in the South, where I live. Each region of the country has its accreditor: the New
    England Association of Schools and Colleges, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and
    Universities, and so on. Because all of those organizations have similar criteria, what I'm about to say should apply to most people (although the specifics
    may vary).
    Turning back to the issues raised in the letter, the fact that several Southern colleges have hired my correspondent in the past doesn't necessarily mean
    she is SACS-qualified to teach at a two-year college. Some institutions pay closer attention to accreditation guidelines than others, and four-year
    programs often have different rules.
    Generally speaking, to teach in programs that award associate of arts or associate of science degrees — i.e., to teach at a community college — faculty
    members are required by accreditors to have at least a master's degree and a minimum of 18 graduate credit hours in the subject they are teaching. Read
    Print: Solving the Credentials Puzzle - Chronicle.com http://chronicle.com/cgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/06/200...
    1 of 3 6/23/2008 8:50 AM
    that statement again carefully and note the wording: While you need a master's, you are not required to have one in the specific subject you are teaching;
    you are required to have completed 18 graduate credit hours in that subject. And even if you do have a degree in the subject you hope to teach, that
    degree must have included 18 credit hours in that subject in order for you to be allowed to teach it at a two-year college.
    The e-mail message above provides a perfect case in point. The writer has a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology and no doubt took graduate courses related to
    biology and chemistry. But the true test of whether she will be able to teach biology or chemistry at the two-year college level is not the doctorate itself,
    but rather, if it included enough courses specifically in biology and chemistry.
    Simply put, in order to teach biology, she must have earned 18 graduate semester hours in biology. To teach chemistry, she'll need 18 hours of chemistry
    credits. Without those hours, her Ph.D. is irrelevant. It would only become relevant if she were applying to teach courses in neuropharmacology.
    Sounds a little nuts, I know.
    Department heads and academic deans at two-year colleges deal with this sort of apparent contradiction every day. Because of the 18-hours-in-thediscipline
    requirement, we have medical doctors who "aren't qualified" to teach anatomy and physiology, coaches who can't teach physical-education
    courses, and professional actors who are not allowed to teach theater.
    That can be frustrating for administrators but even more so, I know, for applicants.
    Two other fields in which the 18-hour requirement often creates havoc are business and education. With recent fluctuations in the economy, two-year
    colleges are seeing a number of M.B.A.'s applying to teach full- or part-time. Once again, the problem is that, in most cases, their degree programs
    include course work in many different disciplines — nine hours in marketing courses, six in accounting, 12 in management, and so on.
    No doubt the intent is to produce a broad base of business knowledge. But as beneficial as such a degree might be in the private sector, it poses problems
    for someone seeking a teaching position at a two-year college. If a community college doesn't offer upper-level business courses, what can an M.B.A.
    teach there? Very often the answer is "nothing," unless he or she happens to have 18 credit hours in a specific discipline such as accounting.
    Education degrees can put job seekers in a similar fix. Of course, many two-year colleges do offer education courses, which can be taught by applicants
    with master's degrees in education. But often we'll get an application from someone with a degree in English education, for instance, seeking a faculty
    position in English.
    The question becomes, How many graduate hours in English did that candidate actually complete? How many of the courses had an "EDUC" prefix,
    rather than an "ENGL" one?
    At that point, the transcript-review process can become even more confusing. Some two-year colleges, in evaluating whether applicants have enough
    credit hours in the field in which they want to teach, will allow only courses with ENGL prefixes to be considered. By contrast, other colleges might
    allow courses with education prefixes to be counted if they use words like "language," "literature," or "composition" in the course titles.
    As a department head, I frequently argued for such "exceptions," often submitting catalog-course descriptions in support of a candidate. Which brings us
    back to our e-mail correspondent. Is she qualified to teach biology or chemistry at a two-year college?
    Now you know the answer: It depends on how many of her graduate courses had "BIOL" or "CHEM" prefixes — or on the number of pharmacology
    Print: Solving the Credentials Puzzle - Chronicle.com http://chronicle.com/cgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/06/200...
    2 of 3 6/23/2008 8:50 AM
    courses for which a supportive department head or dean could make a case that they should be counted as biology or chemistry courses.
    And what if the candidate just doesn't have the hours? Say her transcript has been thoroughly evaluated, the department head has made a good pitch to
    hire her, but she's still been turned down for a biology teaching position because she doesn't have 18 hours in biology. Then what?
    If she wants to teach at a two-year college, she will have to go back to graduate school and pick up the additional credit hours she needs. After all, she
    might be only two or three courses short; she needn't begin a new degree program. Then she should apply again, highlighting the fact that, along with her
    Ph.D. in neuropharmacology, she does indeed have 18 graduate semester hours in biology (or chemistry, or whatever). I think most committees would
    find her a fairly attractive candidate.
    So if you're thinking about going on the two-year market next year, you might want to double-check your transcript to make sure you're qualified
    (according to the accrediting agencies) for the position you want. And if you were turned down for jobs this year because you weren't qualified, consider
    going back to graduate school.
    That way, during the next round of hiring, your application will find its way into the "qualified" pile from which the eventual interviewees will be chosen.
    That's still no guarantee you'll get an interview, but if your application is tossed onto the "not qualified" pile, I can guarantee you won't.
    Rob Jenkins is an associate professor of English and director of the Writers Institute at Georgia Perimeter College. He writes occasionally for our
    community-college column. If you would like to write for the column or have a topic to propose, send your ideas to [email protected]. For an
    archive of previous columns in the series, see http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/archives/columns/the_twoyear_track
    Copyright © 2008 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
    Subscribe | About The Chronicle | Contact us | Terms of use | Privacy policy | Help
    Print: Solving the Credentials Puzzle - Chronicle.com http://chronicle.com/cgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/06/200...
    3 of 3 6/23/2008 8:50 AM
     
  5. triciaski

    triciaski New Member

    It might vary from school to school, but in my experience, the 18 graduate credit requirement can be an assortment and can even come from different universities, so I don't think you need to worry about transferring credits; you can simply supply transcripts from the various schools. My 18 grad credits of English come from three different schools and have qualified me to teach English subjects at a community college.

    If you have a particular community college in mind, your best bet would be to confirm their expectations and requirements.

    Tricia Schodowski
     
  6. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    My academic dean sent the link to this to all our faculty, explaining the "why" behind hiring decisions. So, to teach at a CC = masters degree in anything, with 18 hours in the field you are teaching,

    My academic dean also gave a thumbs up to the WNMU program, and encouraged our Assistant to the Dean to enroll at WNMU. His concentrations are English and Education. (He wants to teach English).

    Shawn
     

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