My life of late has been spent working. Even though I thought that teaching three sections of English this summer instead of four sections would be less hectic, that assumption hasn't been the case. I am still as busy as I was before.
Most recently, I finished grading resumes and letters of application. I submitted my own letter of application earlier in June for a full-time teaching job. My wife and I are hoping that I get an interview at this particular institution this time. My previous applications came to naught. At one other time, as I discovered from an inside source, my application was rejected because of my age. The faculty on the hiring committee wanted someone young.
Sometimes I wish I had followed my intention to earn secondary certification after I had earned my MA in English. It would have required taking additional courses, including Advanced Composition and Educational Psychology. Instead, I got sucked into adjunct teaching at the University of Kansas. It has occurred to me that colleges and universities learned long before other industries what advantages come with hiring only part-time employees to fill an immediate need. Barbara Ehrenreich makes an excellent point in one of her posts about the plight of adjunct faculty. It should be a warning to anyone thinking of entering the academy after earning a graduate degree.
I'm a fairly recent graduate of an MFA program, so I'm having to deal with the adjunct track right now. I'm looking at it as a resume builder, though it's been difficult at times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I have to agree that working as an adjunct provides valuable experience. Generally, it's best not to continue working part-time for more than a year or two because it becomes difficult for employers to take you seriously--those outside of the academy think you'll return to teaching; those within the academy will see you as a part-timer, someone of little consequence when a full-time position becomes available. There are always exceptions, of course.
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