Need some advice. I have completed the University of Missouri's Master of Public Affairs (with a specialization in public/nonprofit management) and now would like to teach as an adjunct instructor. However, in my geographic area and even online, there do not appear to be many opportunities to teach as an adjunct in the public administration arena. Plus, I am assuming with the Mizzou MPA that I am academically eligible to teach as an adjunct for undergraduate public administration or public management courses!? However, it is my understanding that I can potentially teach undergraduate political science/government courses (which appear to be more available) with an additional 18 graduate credit hours of political science coursework. For those additional hours, as long as they are prefixed POLI, does it really matter what the political science course title or content happens to be? I am trying to figure all of this out and what my options are for teaching with my master's degree and/or with additional graduate credit hours. Thank you!
Consider that being academically eligible for a teaching position and being competitive for it are two different things. In a lot of cases you'll be up against multiple applicants who have a PhD in the discipline in question and teaching experience to boot. It's not something that most people want to hear, but at this point, the market is such that for most people earning credentials for the sole purpose of breaking into adjunct teaching just doesn't pay off.
Thanks for your feedback. I understand what you are saying about the competitive nature of adjunct instructor positions. However, I’m still curious about my educational requirement questions.
Depending on where you go, it is not competitive at all. Some community colleges are needing. It may depend on where you live. I am not sure there will be a strong need for political science adjuncts at undergraduate level, but it is possible. That really does not strike me as an area where there would be a strong need for adjuncts. Perhaps you have somehow identified a local need. I would think online positions for that discipline would be filled by someone with a master's or Ph.D. typically. I cannot answer your question regarding the MPA since I am not familiar with it. You might try asking over at chronicle.com at their forums, or you could inquire at a school. My gut instinct is if that is the appropriate master's degree for those courses, then yes, you are. Typically a master's degree in the subject area or master's degree and 18 credits in the subject area. With regard to your second question, the answer is yes, as long as it is political science prefix, and that could possibly vary from school to school (the exact prefix). If you are hoping to teach basic introductory courses, it probably would be wise to have coverage of some of those types of courses, rather than off the wall ones.
I agree but I find that you current experience has an important weight in the equation. If the OP wants to teach political science, the 18 credits would work provided that he is a strong candidate because he works in a political science job (e.g. government job and international political analyst). Many online programs would rather have a person with a MS and strong professional experience than a PhD with little or no work experience.
