If your passion lies with the education industry and academics, becoming an adjunct professor or a part-time professor might be an answer for you.
What does it take to become an adjunct professor?
The role of an adjunct professor is a bit different from that of a full time professor. The factors of differentiation are that of tenure, responsibility, and pay. Thus, the educator who is hired on the basis of a contract for a particular amount of time, (often semesters) for teaching introductory courses to undergraduates or even a few semesters for a particular academic year is known as adjunct professor.
Although there is not much job security in comparison to that of a full timed professor, an adjunct professor is not responsible for conducting any kind of research, and is not needed to be present for any staff meetings either. Depending upon the institution, the nature of the course and the requirements for the particular job role, you can work in a classroom, or you might have the option of conducting classes online and teach in a virtual environment.
All these factors might make you believe that being an adjunct professor is a cake walk, but in reality, despite of the ease of having lesser responsibility, an adjunct professor still requires an impressive resume to be qualified for the role.
You would want to consider being an adjunct professor as a means of part time earning job while you continue with your work of being a full-time professor. Hence, the position of being an adjunct professor is the stepping stone in your career of being a professor.
Bagging a job and becoming an adjunct professor:
As per the data and statistics procured from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of employment for post-secondary instructors are on the rise. It has been projected to grow at a rate of 15 percent from year 2016 to 2026. Thus, for part-timers, it is also a sector that is growing at a good rate.
Due to the growth rate, the job opportunities are also meant to increase, not only for the full time professors, but mostly part time. Moreover, for a being eligible to apply for the position of an adjunct professor, you need to have a master’s degree, or a doctoral degree. Although there are some of the community colleges who hire adjunct professors who are possessing an undergraduate degree along with relevant experience in the particular subjects, most of the universities and well-known colleges require a master’s degree to say the least. Some of the courses even require teaching experiences along with ample knowledge of course management software programs, for example- Blackboard and CourseWeb.
The irony is, how is one supposed to gather teaching experience if one cannot get into a teaching job? The answer to this dilemma is to get into a graduate teaching assistantship. In this way, you being a student will be able to conduct classes at the institution where you are studying. For those who are pursuing sciences, post-doctoral research is also considered to be a valid teaching experience since you have worked as a research associate at your respective college or university.
The most important thing that you need to keep in mind regarding your journey of being an adjunct professor is to be patient. Patient is the key and it takes a lot of time for one to reach a particular position where you would have imagined yourself to be.
Thus it is always advisable to keep a track of the openings at places of your application whole reminding them about your availability.
Feeling like giving up on your dream of being an adjunct professors?
While there is no denial regarding the challenges that an adjunct professor faces, there are many perks to becoming an adjunct professors.
Since you are free from almost all kinds of administrative works that many professors are often overloaded with, you can actually focus on teaching! It will bring you back the very reason for which you wanted to be a part of the academics in the first place.
Moreover, do not forget about the flexibility that adjunct professors can enjoy since it fits any lifestyle, says Online Knowledge Hub. It is definitely the best way to test the waters before becoming a full time professor since you will be better equipped with the system. In fact, adjunct professors are also able to gain complete access to the conferences held on campus, attend lectures of visiting scholars, and be members of professional association.
For those who simply want to derive joy from imparting education among the youth, want to pass on their gathered knowledge, and thereby become an inspiration for the new generation, being an adjunct professor is the best option available.
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