Questions Regarding 18 Graduate Credits to Teach

Discussion in 'Online & DL Teaching' started by Notiswas, May 13, 2013.

Loading...
  1. Notiswas

    Notiswas New Member

    I am a bit in the dark about the golden rule of assuming 18 graduate-level credit hours in a given subject to teach. I had just completed my master's degree in December, and, much to my dismay, realized that a solitary class potentially throws off my count in the PSC prefix to 15 graduate credits. The following are courses toward the Master of Science in Administration with a concentration in Public Administration through Central Michigan University. The courses in bold are those courses that I had completed:

    Required Core (18 hours)
    •MSA 600 Foundations of Research Methods in Administration
    •MSA 601 Organizational Dynamics and Human Behavior
    •MSA 602 Financial Analysis, Planning and Control
    •MSA 603 Strategic Planning for the Administrator
    •MSA 604 Administration, Globalization and Multiculturalism
    •MSA 699 Applied Research Project in Administration


    Required Courses (15-18 hours)
    Select five or six from the following:

    •COM 665 Seminar in Communication and Negotiation in Employee Relations
    •ECO 515 Collective Bargaining and Labor Law
    •MGT 646 Labor Relations Issues
    •PSC 514 American Public Policy Making
    •PSC 522 Regulatory Processes and Administrative Law

    •PSC 561 American State Government and Administration
    •PSC 563 Politics and Policy in Urban Communities
    •PSC 565 Managing Modern Local Government
    •PSC 566 Intergovernmental Relations in the United States
    •PSC 610 Foundations of Public Administration
    •PSC 711 Public Personnel Administration Practice
    •PSC 713 Public Budgeting and Finance
    •PSC 714 Program Analysis and Evaluation
    •PSC 774 Strategic Planning for Public/Non-Profit Organizations
    •PSC 775 Organization Theory in Public Administration
    •PSC 785 Strategic Leadership

    Note: Only one of the following may be used to fulfill concentration requirements: ECO 515, COM 665, or MGT 646.

    Questions:

    1) Notice how I have 18 credit hours of the required core courses with the "MSA" prefix. Does this limit me to teaching general administration courses, or can I branch out into teaching human resources, business admin. courses, etc? I notice after a bit of digging on the subject, several MBA grads, too, are curious about what subjects they are qualified to teach as their curriculum is often a piecemeal cocktail of different disciplines.

    2) Would the "PSC" designator/prefix, (which I clarified as referring to political science on the website), imply that 18 of such graduate level credits would yield the possibility to strictly teach political science, i.e.: other "PSC" courses? What is strange is that these PSC courses comprise the other half of the curriculum which is all Public Administration both in content and in course nomenclature. Are the fields of public administration and political science so interchangeable in the community college setting that the PSC prefix is really a trivial concern on my part?

    3) I took one course, MGT 646, to satisfy 3 credits out of the required 18 in the concentration. Now I am worried that I might have to go back and take another "PSC" course just to satisfy the coveted 18 credit-hour status, but truthfully, I would rather not if I can really help it.

    Perhaps I am looking too hard into this, which should be enough concrete evidence to show that I learned a thing or two in graduate school over many a cup of coffee. ;) I want to be as versatile as possible in academia, and so the omission of a mere 3 credit hours that would otherwise keep another door open bothers me a tad bit.
     
  2. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    It's really hard to give a general answer.

    On average, having everything with the same prefix is the optimal scenario, but credentialing decisions will vary depending on the institution, the evaluator, and his or her mood.
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It's in the eye of the beholder, of course. While the OP surely knows this, let's remind other readers (since this 18 credit thing arises frequently) that this minimum is not something that qualifies you to teach. It is the absence of it that disqualifies you. If the school wants you to teach, they'll want these credits. But having the credits isn't going to make you a more attractive or qualified applicant for a teaching spot.

    It's the same idea behind degrees. A B.A. or M.A. or Ph.D. doesn't get you in the door. Your relationship with the prospective school or employer does that. But lacking an appropriate degree will keep you out.

    If you're starting with gaining the minimum qualification for something, you're a very long way from actually achieving it, even after getting said minimum qualification. It's way more complicated.
     
  4. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Most schools will go with your major. If your degree has a concentration in Public Administration, then you probably will be more likely to find something in PA even though you might have 18 credits in HR, Finance, or whatever.

    It is not as simple as saying that you completed 18 credits for a school to consider you for a field. Let's say that I wanted to teach accounting but all I had was 18 credits but no CPA or CMA and not professional experience in accounting, then most likely nobody would hire me in spite of the 18 credits.

    I know some people want to get as many fields in their transcript to qualify to teach as many fields they can but it is not as simple as saying that you have 18 credits so now you can teach it, you need to probe that you are committed to the field and not just barely made the requirement to be able to attract the attention of an employer.
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    College teaching is not my area so I'm just expressing what I've learned from others. I think that Rich has made some good points. I would only want to emphasize that the 18 credits is the MINIMUM qualification. It might be the thing that keeps your resume out of the circular file for a minute or two while other resumes are reviewed. People with PhDs are having a hard time finding teaching jobs (depends a bit on the subject) The chances are you'll be competing against people who have both more education and experience. Don't be discouraged but make yourself ready for some rejection.
     
  6. Notiswas

    Notiswas New Member

    Thank you for your responses. This is most insightful.

    It is as I expected that in truth one would be in a better competitive position by coupling the education with experience, or vice versa. I would imagine that several factors would be considered with varying levels of priority depending on the institution and how the faculty itself gauges competence.

    On to the next level! :reporter:
     
  7. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    From my experience - WHERE you want to teach also plays a factor. For instance, at a rural community college, someone who has 2 concentrations of 18 hours could be a godsend; however, the same candidate at an urban location could be at a disadvantage over a candidate with a graduate major of X.

    Shawn
     
  8. foobar

    foobar Member

    Looking at SACS guidelines for Faculty Credentials:

    see the Faculty Credentials document at this link

    With the word administration in the degree title, I'm not sure that you need the 18 hours. Others with specific experience dealing with SACS may have something to add or see this differently.
     
  9. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    That's the way I interpret it. If a school really needs someone to teach public administration, the instructor does not need 18 graduate hours in the subject as long as the school can justify that the person is qualified to teach the subject. One school in the Southern Association explicitly says that prefixes do not determine whether someone is qualified to teach a subject.

    http://www.aug.edu/institutional_effectiveness/credentialing_procedures.pdf
     

Share This Page