Tell me about teaching at a Community College

In My Humble Opinion
1

My experience with Community Colleges is limited. I took Geology I my senior year in high school and Spanish at one while in grad school (I lacked the requirement and Iowa required me to take it). In neither case was I really a part of the campus or student body. It was just someplace I went for an hour or so every few days.

But now I’ve been invited to teach an Intro to Mass Media course at Washington State Community College by the head of the department. I was, honestly, just over there doing an intern evaluation on a kid who’s been writing for me and the offer came up.

I’d like to do it. But it’s been one hell of a long time since I’ve been on a campus other than in ‘passing thru’ status. And whatever teaching I did before was of the TA variety way back when.

Anyone want to share experiences and such. How such classes and students would vary from four-year schools and suchlike?

2

My advice is to ask to see some syllabi, navigate around the CC’s website, and maybe visit for a day and listed to students talking to each other in the cafeteria. My experience is that there are plenty of students who are similar to undergrads in their first two years (especially in Western states, where CC is considered a good alternative to the first two years at university), and also many who aren’t. Expect a wider range of skills, experiences, academic preparation, and interpersonal sophistication than in a traditional undergrad program.

3

My sole experience is Adult Evening education instruction for the local CC-if that scenario is applicable, let me know-glad to help.

4

As a point of reference, Brookdale Community College www.brookdalecc.edu pays $600 per credit hour.

This is not a job you get rich at doing, unless you become Associate or Real Professor. On the flip side, it’s a fun side job. Seriously. My Marketing 101 teacher spent the whole time extolling the virtues of Splenda, and related EVERY SINGLE concept to Splenda. He was great. Or the History teacher I had that came in and said we’d learn concepts, not dates. He was truly the best History teacher I had there, including beating the Faculty. I also had a teacher that was so boring, I wanted to roll up those 3x5 index cards she made us use and pop my eardrums just so I didn’t have to hear her whiny voice anymore.
A friend did 3 years as an adjunct at another Community College while she got her doctorate in CompSci. She said the best thing was that they told you what you had to teach, but let you determine how and what ELSE you could teach.

5

Is that per month or Per semester? Cause if it is per Semester, :eek:

6

Well, I suppose it can be fun, but it isn’t neccessarily fun. (OK, my experience was actually at a “career” college rather than a “community” college.) Still, expect to be paid a reasonable to generous hourly rate for hours spent in the classroom with students and nothing for prep work, grading etc.

Some students, particularly adult students, are motivated and excited to be there, some aren’t–especially if the class is a required course rather than something they are interested in. Others may be interested but trying to do too many things–work full or part time, raise 5 kids, and take enough classes to graduate in 18 months.

I had an enormously frustrating drop-out rate despite clear policies that missing too many days of class would cause a failing grade–college wide policies, not my policies.

I also had a lot of students fail because they didn’t complete their assignments, but some of that was the nature of the course–Information Literacy has a high rate of drop-outs or failures because the college fills it to overflowing with expectations and objectives and a huge final project, and sticks brand-new subject-specialist adjunct instructors in it.

It may take some getting used to the culture of the college, which may well be different than the culture of the school I taught at.

It can be enormously rewarding to talk about your passions with interested people and get them involved.

But it can also be frustrating. If you assign stuff which isn’t graded, people often don’t care enough to do it. If you assign stuff which is graded, people fuss because they don’t know what your expectations are. If people lose points on assignments, they fuss about you bringing down their perfect 4.0–which strained credibility more times than not.

Enough. You don’t need a complete list of all the reasons why I’m not mad that I’m not teaching this semester. But you do need to know that it isn’t neccessarily fun.

7

I’d expect that that’s per semester–but many classes are 3 credit hours, so it’s actually $1800 per course.

Still, it’s not over generous–especially if you have a class with a lot of students and a lot of homework.

8

I teach a class part time at a community college, and it’s alright. I’m a web designer by trade and teach web graphics II, so I basically relate the book to real-world experiences and advice. It’s mostly a lab class, so I talk for maybe an hour to hour and a half or so, then let them work on their homework and projects, answering questions if they need it.

My school operates in quarters, so pay works a little differently than if it were in semesters. I get about $1100 per quarter or so. I teach a night class, so it’s extremely flexible as to when I can leave. I only teach one night per week and have so few students, I do basically no preparation or grading during the week.

I think the key is to just enjoy the class you’re teaching and be able to relate to it in real life. It’s a good gig.

9

Thanks for all the input, people. I’m told there’s a book to follow in the course. My teaching style, such as it was, I picked up from one of my old professors (Dr. Elinor Burkett, for those who know her) in that it’s a cover of the material and loads of discussion. I kind hope that style will suffice again.

10

For the Fall semester of the '85-'86 school year, I taught 2 algebra classes 3 nights a week. I was paid $15 per credit hour, or $90 per week. When I figured in prep and grading, I was barely making minimum wage. I do believe that if I’d done this for several semesters, my prep time would have virtually disappeared, making for an apparent raise. But I got a real engineering job, so I only taught the one semester.

Except for one memorable student, it was great. They were in college because they wanted to be, and most seemed to be motivated. My one problem child was taking beginning algebra for the third time :eek: and he wanted me to give him a passing grade because it was his third time. He never came to me outside of class for help - he wanted to pass on longevity. He didn’t.

And, as a matter of fact, I just put in an application to teach at the local community college. I figure if I like it, it’s something I can carry into retirement. And if I don’t like it, no big.

Pay increases with teaching experience at CSM. The chart below gives the current pay for many credit courses. One hour of class time per week equals one load equivalent. According to the chart, someone teaching a course with a three-load equivalent for the first time would receive $1,563, while someone teaching the course in the seventh semester would receive $2,166. TYPICAL CREDIT COURSE

of semesters taught at CSM — Dollars per load equivalent

0-3 ---------- $521
4-6 ---------- $621
7+ ---------- $722

11

I taught English at colleges and universities in Ontario. Teaching at universities was a blast – bright, curious students. Teaching at colleges was depressing – the students tended to be a bit dim, and had the curiosity of sea slugs – for the most part they were kids who were passed on through high school and now needed to learn (but did not want to learn) basic literacy skills so as to get a job.