Full time faculty positions for Master's Level instructors- do they exist?

Discussion in 'Online & DL Teaching' started by mdwolfsong, Aug 25, 2011.

Loading...
  1. mdwolfsong

    mdwolfsong New Member

    Are all the full time online teaching jobs in higher education only for people with 'terminal degrees'?
     
  2. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    I wouldn't think so in most cases...possibly with an MFA because it is considered the terminal degree in creative writing.
     
  3. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    No - I have been full-time at APUS for the last couple of years and only received my Doctorate about 6 months ago. However, one of the reasons I landed the FT gig was that I was pursuing a Doctorate at the time.
     
  4. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    The FT instructor at the one school I adjunct at has a MS and a MEd but he has been there over 10 years. It is possible that they exist but I would doubt newly opening positions would only require a masters.
     
  5. mdwolfsong

    mdwolfsong New Member

    Thank you for the replies! It is good to know there exists the possibility of finding a full time position without the doctorate, albeit a slim one.
     
  6. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    In theory, it is possible to get a full-time teaching position at a community college with a master's. A doctorate is not usually a formal requirement.

    The problem is that full-time teaching positions, even at community colleges, have become very competitive. In practice, people with doctorates are often very interested in such positions. The master's degree -- while adequate in theory -- may not actually be enough, if there are lots of other applicants with doctorates.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 26, 2011
  7. cdhale

    cdhale Member

    Most people at my community college have Masters. A few have Doctorates.
     
  8. mdwolfsong

    mdwolfsong New Member

    Do they work online?
     
  9. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    I think CalDog is correct. Technically, you can get a FT job with a master's but the reality is that the doctorate holders will beat you out. This is due to the fact that there are more doctorate holders than there were a few years ago and since supply is high, schools can be selective and choose a majority of doctorate holders over master's holders. You might stand a chance if you had extensive experience in the field you will be teaching in. It is possible that an individual with extensive experience and a master's could prevail over a doctorate holder with little experience. Just my opinion there.
     
  10. mdwolfsong

    mdwolfsong New Member

    That makes sense SurfDoctor and thank you for the input.
     
  11. cdhale

    cdhale Member

    One of my colleagues was just offered a full-time online gig, but I don't know if she will take it or not. Several of us teach p/t online, but work full time on campus.

    As an aside, I made as much money adjuncting p/t last year than I did in my full time on-campus job.
     
  12. mdwolfsong

    mdwolfsong New Member

    Good point cdhale. I adjunct at 4 schools currently in order to get a full time salary. I take care of my 3 small children and, based on where we live, I would be spending my whole paycheck just to put them in daycare so that I could go work out of the home; thus, I work online. I stress a bit about the fact that I do not have benefits or retirement. I've been teaching online since 2008, so I have come to that point in the professional road where I feel like I need to solidify things a bit more. I could just continue on with the adjuncting at various schools, but it is a bit precarious in terms of enrollment. I might not get a course next month if enrollment is down. This doesn't seem to happen to the full time folks.
     
  13. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Of course, community colleges hire people with only a master's degree. In fields with high demand like accounting, it is common to see people with only Master's teaching as full professors.

    However, it looks like the PhD is becoming the norm. More than 50% of the faculty members had a doctorate in my last community college gig and 80% of the full time faculty hold doctorates in the University where I work now.

    It is quite normal to see people with PhDs in social sciences, math, etc teaching at community college and some even at the high school level. So it depends a lot on what you want to teach.
     
  14. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    For us it is as much an accreditation issue as anything. Like most institutions, we have a combination of regional and specialized accreditation, some of which require that a given percentage of faculty in the discipline possess the doctorate. Also, our graduate programs tend to grow a bit faster than our undergrad programs, which generates the need for more doctorate-possessing faculty.
     
  15. Jeff Walker

    Jeff Walker New Member

    I'm on my second full-time job with a masters only. The first lasted 4 years when I voluntarily left for the second. Both were/are year-to-year contracts, but there is no requirement to get a doctorate and there is no time limit on the jobs, as long as I keep teaching well. It helps that I am in a field where I could make significantly more money in private industry than the colleges are willing to pay full-time faculty (and as a result, they have a hard time attracting PhD holders in the field). I also doubt I could get a full-time job in a larger city.

    One area where masters-only degrees is relatively common, from what I've seen is accounting. They'll expect a CPA, but they typically don't expect a doctorate (except at larger schools).

    Edit - and ANthony Pina brings up an excellent point - with only a masters, I can't teach graduate courses. It is no surprise then that both colleges I have taught at did not have graduate programs in my field.
     
  16. mdwolfsong

    mdwolfsong New Member

    Thanks for the info Jeff. It does give me hope that I might be able to find a full time online teaching job at the undergraduate level without the PhD.
     
  17. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    On ground might be feasible but I don't know about online. The only schools that I know that hire full time online faculty are Kaplan, AIU, Walden, South, Capella and TUI and all ask for a PhD even for undergraduate teaching.

    I think what Jeff is referring to are Universities or colleges located in small cities or rural areas where they have a hard time attracting PhD holders but it is not the case for metropolitan areas where PhDs are a dime a dozen.
     
  18. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    While most of our full-time faculty who teach online live in proximity to one of our three campuses, we do have a few full-time online faculty and, yes, we look for those with doctoral degrees.
     
  19. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Prof Pina, thanks for sharing this. What are salaries like for full time online faculty at Sullivan University if it is possible to share this with us? Most full time online faculty positions would pay between 50K to 70K for starting positions and most have year to year contracts with teaching and administration duties. Most schools would expect you to teach 5 classes per term during 4 times a year.

    Many online faculty members have expressed at some online adjunct forums that is better to teach as an adjunct with a Master's degree for multiple schools that having to do a doctorate and teach full time for one school. As there are no tenure track positions for online faculty yet, both adjunct and full time seem to share about the same risk when it comes to job security so some question the value of the doctorate for this position.

    Although it is quite possible to make a living as an adjunct today with only a master's degree, it seems that this might change in the near future so the best bet would be to do one if one would want to stay in the teaching business.

    I believe that the investment for an online doctorate is considerable so if a person would want to stay competitive with a doctorate, I would consider the SA doctorates for an online teaching career given their low cost and flexible format.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 3, 2011
  20. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I never got a straight answer on how much South University pays for the fulltime positions but it is something like $65K and you teach 3 classes per term (8 terms). The killer is that you could not adjunct for anyone else if you are full time with them. While I could make more then that being a "full time adjunct" the security is missing. My goal (at some point) is to give up my day job, teach full time online and enjoy life.

    The SA dcotorates are a great low cost option. If my PhD was not covered by tuition assistance I probably would have explored that more. I know people see NCU, UoP, and Capella as over priced doctorates but my NCU doctorate cost me less then a SA one.
     

Share This Page