18 Credit Hours to Teach College?

I have been browsing college instructor and adjunct instructor jobs because I am interested in one day teaching CJ to undergrads part time or even full time should the opportunity present itself. This leads me to some questions though to those who know.

1.) I see lots of positions at junior colleges that specify 18 graduate hours in the concentration in question, is this typical or only because they have shortages in those subjects? I see them frequently.

2.) Do they count the actual hours or is the degree preferred? For instance, NCU has a MBA in Criminal Justice that has 18 hour concentrations, but it’s an MBA. This would technically qualify one to teach, but is it less preferable than an MSCJ? What about the Fort Hayes MLS in Criminal Justice? Does this qualify one to teach both Liberal Arts and Criminal Justice?

Do you guys have suggested websites to read or books?

 

I would say that all colleges accredited by the regional accrediting agencies require a master's degree of some sort with 18 hours concentration in the subject in which you wish to teach. That is an accrediting rule and not necessary a school rule. I've seen a lot of the community colleges desire to have instructors with doctorates but the reality is most of them are only able to recruit adjunct instructors with a masters. The rules are somewhat more relaxed when you get into schools that are accredited with the national accrediting agency (ACICS).

With an MBA, you have to watch and make sure you reach that 18 hour concentration. When I decided to work on my master's degree, I decided to avoid the MBA and instead do a MA. The MBA at my school had concentrations available. The only problem was there were a lot of general requirements which led to a smaller number of hours in my core concentration. This allowed me to have the 18 hours in my management concentration.
Now that I have my masters degree with the concentration in management, I'm considering obtaining a graduate certifcate (containing 18 hours) in accounting so I can teach accounting.

Best of luck as you continue your education. I'm a huge believer in life-long education.

ProfTim

 

NCU (Northcentral University) has an MBA with an option to take 4 management courses core 12hrs...18 focus credit hours, such as homeland security and 2 electives...making those management as well would give me 18 management hours and 18 homeland security hours. So technically I would qualify to teach either/or.

Unless I misunderstand.

 

Most RA colleges require a minimum of 18 graduate level credits in the field that you want to teach. As the Masters market continues to grow, it will become harder to teach with just 18 graduate level credits. If you live in a retirement state where everybody and his brother has a doctorate and is looking for a little bit of part-time teaching, it will be nearly impossible to teach with just 18 graduate level credits.

 

If you want to teach CJ, then I'm not sure that it matters if your Masters is in CJ or is in another field with a concentration in CJ -- simply having the degree is worth 2 points extra (figuratively).

An MBA in criminal justice sounds odd, but so does a DBA in criminal justice. I recently saw an MBA in public administration, which also seems rather odd.

 

Actually, I like the Homeland Security Concentration, but I don't really see any Homeland Security Degrees out there, not RA at the Graduate level. I still plan on an MSCJ....doubtful I'll ever have a doctorate, but if I decided to, the NCU would be my first choice.

 

Hi Friend-

Here's what I've learned:

Requirements to teach varies on what the college wants, what the accreditation requirements are and what the state requirements, if any, are.

For Community College, most require a Masters but you may or may not need the 18 hours in the concentration. See this for California http://www.cccco.edu/divisions/esed/aa_ir/psmq/min_qual/min%20quals%20%20revJan122006.pdf

You could teach Comm College in CA for example, economics with a Masters in Economics or an MBA with a B.A. in Economics. Other states may not have these exact rules but it's close.

For undergrad you most likely need the Masters + 18 hours concentration but some exceptions are made for lower division (fresh-soph level) classes. But some colleges don't like to hire this way because it limits their flexibility in class assignment.

To teach at the grad level, most require a PhD or DBA or extensive experience.

Anyway, these are from my research and experience.

Try Chronical of Higher Ed jobs http://chronicle.com/jobs/ for more current listings. Browsing these gives good info.

Happy Hunting!

 

I'm not sure if you're looking for DL Masters in Homeland Security, or B&M, but there are programs out there:

University of Denver
http://www.du.edu/gsis/programs/ma_professional_homeland_security.html

The Naval Postgraduate School (I don't think you have to be in the Navy to take this program)
http://www.chds.us/public.php?masters/overview

Nova Southeastern offers a Masters in Education with a specialization in Homeland Security.
http://www.nihap.org/masters_deg_prog.html

San Diego State University offers an Interdisciplinary Masters in Homeland Security:
http://homelandsecurity.sdsu.edu/68d_full.html

Tiffin University offers a Masters in CJ with an emphasis in Homeland Security Administration, entirely online.
http://www.elearners.com/online-degree/6734.htm

Northcentral University offers an MBA in homeland security
http://www.elearners.com/online-degree/6468.htm

 

NCU looks to be the best for me. I can't do a residency and I don't get $upport from my employer for an HS degree, but for an MBA I do.

Go figure.

 

I work in SACS country. SACS is known for being the most stringent of the RAs. If you fulfill the SACS requirements, then you should have not trouble finding work.

The basic requirement is a) a regionally accredited Masters degree in your subject, or b) a Masters degree in Basket Weaving, and 18 graduate credits in the subject that you are teaching. For example, if you earn an MBA that has 12-credit concentrations, you will need to take two more 3-credit courses to fulfill the educational requirement.

If you are undecided, I would recommend that you consider Homeland Security. It is a new area, and there are effectively no holders of appropriate degrees to teach this subject. If you showed up on my doorstep with the necessary credentials to teach HS, my Legal Studies department chair would be able to put you to work immediately.

Another of the department chairs who works for me is finishing her DBA at NCU. She speaks very highly of the place. Check with others, before you make your final decision, but it could be just the thing for you.

I encourage you to consider staying on for a Doctors degree in Criminal Justice or Homeland Security, if this is your area of interest. If you do, then there is a fair chance that you could go straight into semi-retirement. There is a hopeless shortage of Doctors in both of these subjects, and the student demand is already large and heating up.

 

I agree...the HS field is sorely lacking right now. There are little to no online options. Thanks for the advice.