Teaching-Another Route in an Economic Recession
The Advantages of Working Part-Time as an Adjunct Professor
Sep 19, 2009
The number of adjunct professors has been increasing for some time, partly in response to decreased funding and the current economic recession. Since adjunct professors are paid less than full-time professors, they help supplement the teaching staff with less strain on the budget.
There are concerns about the way adjuncts are treated, given the relatively lower pay they receive for providing the same quality of teaching as professors, and the lack of benefits. See "New Faculty Majority : The National Coalition for Adjunct and Contingent Equity" for more information on this.
But, while the concerns are real and should be addressed, adjunct teaching, similar to substitute teaching, offers a way to pay the bills for those laid off from their jobs. And until the end of the recession includes job growth as part of the recovery, it's another option for those who need it. Estimates of adjunct pay vary, but the range is about $2,000 to $5,000 per course. $4,500 is what Eliot Spitzer makes as an adjunct professor of political science at City University of New York, according to an article by Jeremy W. Peters and Danny Hakim, September 2, 2009 in The New York Times, "It's Now Professor Spitzer."
Adjunct Professors: What They Do
Similar to "temps" who provide clerical and other types of back-up for business, adjunct professors teach on an as-needed basis. In other words, adjunct professors are part-time instructors who work on a contractual basis. As such, they do not qualify for benefits or tenure.
Qualifications For Adjunct Faculty
The requirements vary, depending on the school, but in general they include:
- A degree in the subject the applicant wants to teach in, or a minimum number of credit hours (from 12 to 18 credits) in the specific discipline.
- Usually a graduate degree, but a bachelor's degree may be all that's required at the associate professor level. Many become adjuncts based not only on their educational background, but also on their expertise in applied settings. So in addition to the cost savings, universities like adjuncts because or their "real world" contact, and because they free up faculty for other things.
Advantages of Teaching as an Adjunct Especially during the Economic Recession
- Flexibility. Because adjuncts teach on the basis of a contract, they can leave after a term, if they are offered better work. Similarly, they can work at more than one college at a time, or work around other jobs or job hunting efforts.
- Teaching is all that's required. Adjuncts are not required to attend administrative meetings or other university events. And in most cases, they are not bound by the "publish or perish" burden of full or tenure track professors. So adjunct teaching is perfect for those who hate the pressures associated with tenure and full-time responsibilities.
- Added value to the resume. Teaching may give one an edge in the marketplace, especially if the subject taught is relevant to the career or desired career. Teaching alone is associated with the ability to guide and mentor others as well as to communicate effectively-skills that are important in many careers.
- An interim solution. Some teach part-time while looking for those elusive full-time professor jobs, often teaching at more than one college at a time.
- For the love of teaching. Even those who are "between jobs" in other industries may find they like teaching enough to pursue it further.
Disadvantages of Part-Time Faculty
The downsides are:
- The relatively lower pay and lack of benefits. As pointed out in "Flying Standby: The Life of an Adjunct Professor Can Be Rewarding But Uncertain," adjunct professors work for considerably less pay than their full-time counterparts, with few, if any, health benefits.
- No job security. Because adjunct professors have flexibility in choosing what courses to teach and whether to stay at the end of the term, there is no guarantee beyond with regard to what courses they are offered to teach, or if they are offered a course at all.
But these drawbacks may be less important for adjunct teachers who do it as a means to an end (i.e., paying bills while looking for work), rather than an end in itself.
As long as one has the right educational background and a willingness to teach at a university level. Although there's no guarantee for finding and keeping them, opportunities for adjunct professors do exist. Adjunct teaching may help put food on the table, while allowing those who have been laid off or fired to find a new beginning for themselves. It can't hurt, and there just may be a local community college or university that can use the help.
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