A recent survey of junior college faculty members found that 73% reported that they experience true “joy” in their job and 71% believe that their work is meaningful and provides them with a sense of purpose (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2005). Research has indicated that the majority of students at community college are actively engaged in the learning process in terms of spending more time on homework, working harder to meet the course requirements, consistent attendance, and preparing for the day’s lecture (Engaging Students, 2005).

Career Overview of a Junior College Professor

Several aspects of community college teaching set it apart from faculty at 4-year colleges.

  • Teaching load. Because teaching is central to the role of a full-time junior college professor, the teaching load is typically higher than at 4-year colleges. Most common is to teach fifteen units per semester which translates to four or five courses per semester. Class size may also be larger than at 4-year schools.  According to the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, faculty members at public community college spend on an average of 18.1 hours per week teaching have approximately 431 contact hours with students (calculated as the number of hours spent teaching multiplied by the total number of students enrolled in all courses taught) per week. This contrasts with an average of only 8.1 hours teaching and 287 contact hours per week for professors at 4-year colleges that grant the doctorate degree (Cataldi, Bradburn, and Fahimi, 2006)
  • Teaching Assignments. Specific teaching assignments will be based on the subject area of your specialization. For example, English instructors, can teach courses ranging from basic composition and reading with through comparative literature, creative writing, technical and professional writing, journalism, and well as a specific genre-survey course.
  • Serving as an Advisor. Two year college professors also serve as advisors, including the development of appropriate study habits, one-on-one tutoring, or helping students narrow down the choices of 4-year colleges. Office hours are typically set by union contract with five to ten hours per week the most common.
  • Proficient with Technology. Faculty members are also expected to be proficient with the use of instructional technologies, including such presentation software as PowerPoint, developing supplemental online material for their classes (Web sites, blogs, social media pages), along with the ability to teach distance learning courses, either via the Web or cable television.
  • No Teaching Assistants. Community college professors do not typically have teaching assistants to help with grading papers and teaching introductory coursework of subject areas as do professors in 4-year colleges. Student assistants may be available to help with grading and tutoring and small-group facilitation but this practice varies among colleges.

The Adjunct Position at Junior Colleges

Community colleges also offer opportunities for part-time or adjunct positions. Adjunct teaching provides a viable route to obtaining a full-time position. Others use the position as a supplement to their full time jobs; many adjuncts are professionals in the field in which they teach and bring career expertise to their subject. Adjunct instructors are most often limited to teaching up to 60% of the annual load of full-time faculty. In recent years, as public funding has tightened, community colleges have begun to rely heavily on adjunct faculty members across all subject areas to maintain salary levels at a lower level. Although the minimum qualifications for adjunct and full time faculty are the same, the pay per course for adjunct staff is usually only a fraction of what full-time faculty members earn (Academe, 2006).

Requirements for Becoming a Junior College Professor

A minimum of a master’s degree in the subject area in which you wish to teach is required to become a full time junior college professor, although a Ph.D. is the preferred credential.

The career path of faculty members is below

  1. Instructor
  2. Assistant Professor
  3. Associate Professor
  4. Professor

Ranking is determined by such factors as degree attained, length of service, and teaching excellence. (Cataldi, Bradburn, and Fahimi , 2006). Two-year colleges often fill vacancies for division chair or deans internally, thereby providing faculty members who aspire to an administrative role the opportunity to assume a leadership position while retaining the right to return to a tenured teaching role if they choose.

Junior College Professor Salary Information

The American Association of University Professor (AAUP) publishes an annual survey of faculty salaries.  Below are the results of the 2008 annual AAUP survey showing average salaries for faculty at public two year colleges with ranks.

Table 1: Average Salaries of Faculty at Public Two-year Colleges with Ranks:

    Full Professor $74,933.
    Associate Professor $60,737.
    Assistant Professor $53,427.
    Instructor $46,063
    Lecturer $50,415.
Courtesy: http://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/4041489A-90C4-4312-9BA4-135F82D3CD4E/0/tab4.pdf

The faculties of many public community colleges are members of unions so that salary increases are structured and primarily based on years of service and on title (rank).  This may result in more regular increased than is the case at 4-year colleges, where a number of factors influence salary levels and promotions may not be automatic based on years of service.

Finding a Job as a Junior College Professor

Community college teaching positions may be found through a variety of methods:

  • Niche job boards such as www.HigherEdjobs.com or www.Academicareerss.com can have many job listings across the country.
  • Professional associations also provide career-related guidance and job postings. The American Association of Community Colleges has a Career Center page on its Web site that lists current opportunities.
  • Professional journals also list career opportunities. The Chronicle of Higher Education (online as well as print) lists academic positions weekly and periodically publishes “The Two-Year Track,” a series on a teaching career at the junior college level. For a full list of Higher Education journals visit http://homepages.wmich.edu/~abeach/HEjournals.htm
  • Visit the Web sites of community colleges that interest you, paying special attention to the Career or Employment Opportunities page.
  • Research has shown that approximately 60% of all new jobs (regardless of sector) are obtained through networking, either in-person or online.  Leverage contacts that you may already have and peruse social media sites, such as http://www.LinkedIn.com.

The Hiring Process

The hiring process is often overseen by the college’s governing board, union contracts, and state regulations for public two-year colleges.

The process of obtaining a new full-time line is highly competitive and based on projected college budget and student enrollments. New faculty vacancies may not be posted until late fall semester or early in the spring semester.  It is also common practice to advertise in the summer for full-time temporary positions to replace faculty who have resigned, on sabbatical, or newly retried.

Interviewing

An initial screening committee is formed to represent the entire college, not just the discipline related to the open position. The committee is composed of 5 to 10 members including faculty from the discipline and related fields, staff from other college departments, one or two students, a college administrator, and a representative from the human resource department. There could be two or three hundred applications for the ten to fifteen interviews that will be scheduled.  If you are selected for an interview, you will likely be contacted by a department administrator or the human resource department to arrange an appointment.  The following are some suggestions to increase your chances of being selected for an interview.

  • Respond in full to all questions on the application and those of any required essay. Ensure that you complete and submit all required letters and official transcripts in a timely manner. The community college CV will emphasize teaching experience on the college or university level.
  • Compose your cover letter carefully.  This 1-2 page letter should value add to the information on your CV, not repeat it. Keep in mind that the committee is looking for evidence that you can communicate effectively in writing.
  • If not precluded by the application instructions, include material that provides evidence of your teaching ability, such as evaluations and letters of reference.

Preparing for the Interview

  • Research the college, including its history and mission, last accreditation, future plans, student body, and campus setting. This information will be easy to obtain from the college Web site and catalog.
  • Arrive to the interview early to give yourself enough time to speak with students on campus.  Note the student demographics but be aware that this mix may change between day and evening classes. Make notes on what you have observed and discuss during the interview.
  • Be prepared to discuss your unique background qualifications and how these serve to differentiate you from other candidates and make you the right candidate for the job.
  • Consider how you will respond to common interview questions. For a listing of 100 of the most common interview questions visit: http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/100-potential-interview-questions/article.aspx. For a listing of common interview questions for college faculty, visit http://www.tamiu.edu/adminis/ohr/goodintquestfac.pdf
  • Be prepared to demonstrate your teaching skills as part of the interview process.  Candidates are often asked to teach a short lesson, sometimes on an assigned topic. Ask ahead about time limits, teaching aides, and audience before you arrive on campus. If you have the opportunity to choose your subject, choose a topic that will permit you the opportunity to showcase your skills in teaching a well-defined, concrete, and structured lesson as committees are most interested in our presentations skills. Make eye contact with each member of the committee, ask questions and engage your audience in the lesson.
  • Prepare a list of questions to ask during the interview. Committees expect questions and are not impressed by those candidates who fail to ask any. Questions indicate your interest in the position and can be based on such areas as the administrative hierarchy of the college, the reappointment, promotion, or tenure process, any specific challenges facing the college, and opportunities to participate in faculty committees. Do not ask about salary and benefits during an initial interview as both are topics for later in the process (unless the college schedules only one interview).  For a list of questions you can ask during a faculty search committee interview visit erc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/careerprep/jobsearch/interviewquestions.html#comm
  • Be aware of the time limits of the interview and ensure that your answers are delivered in a concise, yet upbeat manner.
  • Your attire should be business-like but not overly conservative. Men can wear khaki pants with casual blazers and a tie. For women, either khaki pants or skirt with a nice blouse is fine.

The First/Screening Interview

The screening interview will last from one to two hours.  Interview questions are often compiled by the human resource department and administrators before being delegated to specific screening committee members by the chair. Each candidate will be asked the same questions, usually in the same order though follow-up questions may vary depending on your response.

The Final Interview

Once first-round interviews are complete, the screening committee ranks candidates and presents three to five names of the most competitive candidate to administration for further review. The final interview is usually held with the department dean or vice president.

If you are selected for the position, some colleges will arrange a third meeting with the college president for a final stamp of approval and negotiation of placement on the salary scale based on your prior teaching experience. At some public community colleges you will only be “officially hired” once the governing board meets and approves your selection (usually biweekly or monthly).

Additional Junior College Career Resources

The Chronicle of Higher Education (both online and print version) provides a weekly listing of academic opportunities. It also publishes a series of articles in “The Two Year track’  by Rob Jenkins on teaching in the two-year college. The Chronicle also hosts an online job forum at chronicle.com/forums/

The American Association of Community Colleges provides much information about two-year colleges and publishes a compendium called National Profile of Community Colleges: Trends and Statistics, which provides comprehensive information on community colleges.

The ERIC Clearinghouse for Community College provides  a database of journal articles and documents regarding community colleges across the country.

The League for Innovation in the Community College is an international organization and contains information on member colleges as well as hosting job information and hosts a “jobnet.”

Many states post notifications of open community college listings. See, for example, the Web site of the California State Chancellor’s office, www.cccco.edu.

Works Cited

Adelman, Clifford. “Executive Summary: Moving into Town–and Moving On: The Community College in the Lives of Traditional-Age Students.” US Dept. of Educ. Office of Vocational and Adult Education. Feb. 2005. 19 Oct. 2006 <http://www.ed.gov/print/rschstat/research/pubs/comcollege/index.html>.

American Association of Community Colleges. 2006. 15 June 2006 <http://www.aacc.nche.edu/>. Path: About Community Colleges; Fast Facts.

Cataldi, Emily F., Ellen M. Bradburn, and Mansour Fahimi. 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF: 04): Background Characteristics, Work Activities, and Compensation of Instructional Faculty and Staff: Fall 2003. US Dept. of Educ. Natl. Center for Educ. Statistics. Dec. 2005. 19 May 2006 <http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch>.

“The Devaluing of Higher Education: The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession 2005-2006.” Academe Mar.-Apr. 2006: 24-105.

Engaging Students, Challenging the Odds. CCSSE: Community College Survey of Student Engagement. 2005 Findings. Community College Leadership Program, Austin: 2005.

Pierce, David. “What You Need to Know about Two-Year Colleges.” Peterson’s Two-Year Colleges 2006. Lawrenceville: Thomson Peterson’s, 2006. 3-5.

“Views and Characteristics of Community College Professors.” Chronicle of Higher Education 28 Nov. 2005: B10.