Many universities have regional campuses that distribute academic programs across large geographical areas. At one time, the advice commonly given to job applicants was that they avoid teaching at such locations. The primary concern was that for tenure-track positions, it was almost impossible to achieve tenure without either “face-time” at the main campus department (which would one day vote on the bid) or with the higher-on-average teaching loads that regional campuses tend to have. A secondary concern was that regional campuses tend to be more enrollment-sensitive and that positions might be more volatile in terms of permanence.
Administrators at regional campuses seem to have common concerns about applicants as well. Do prospective faculty members understand the role and scope of the campus? Are they merely using the position as a stepping stone to another position elsewhere? Search committees at regional campuses tend to employ very particular kinds of scrutiny toward applications; like any search committee, they have little patience for applications that have not been tailored specifically for their openings. Many regional-campus positions also carry administrative responsibilities that may call for unique combinations of teaching specialties and leadership abilities.
What advice would you offer candidates who are considering applying at regional campuses?
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3 Responses to Branch Applications
tuxthepenguin - September 17, 2010 at 1:27 pm
It’s better than working as an adjunct. That’s the best I can say.If you can’t find a better TT job, go there and leave as quickly as possible, for the reasons mentioned above.I’ve seen candidates who were boasting about interviews with great universities. Then I found out that the interview was with a branch campus. They were daydreaming about how awesome it would be to work in a TT job at a high-powered research university. In reality, they’d be 100 miles away, teaching so many classes they would have no time to do research or even attend presentations on the main campus.Job candidates really do need to understand the nature of such a job. Outside of the name, they would be at a completely different university from the main campus.
11182967 - September 17, 2010 at 4:36 pm
My first full-time teaching position was at one of the two branch campuses of the Big Ten university where I was finishing my Ph.D. While this was a temporary (though 5 years) position, it had real advantages–the teaching load and benefits (if not quite the salary) matched those at the main campus. The main campus and its library and other facilites were less than an hour down the freeway. At the time the campus was small, but it grew and is now a substantial institution with good facilities. Colleagues from those days who remained at this campus have become tenured senior faculty–with greater ease, I suspect, than would have been the case at the main campus (the salary of a full professor at the branch may match that of a tenured associate prfoessor on the main campus). Institutions which began as branch campuses in growing areas–Oakland University, UNC-Charlotte, UAB, etc.–often thrive with new facilties, community support, and, sometimes, what turn out to be better locations than the main campus. They are also often very good places to teach. A branch campus can have some of the best of both worlds without some of the drawbacks. They can be good choices for someone not overcome by the snobbery attached to being at the main campus. John Tee
11274135 - September 18, 2010 at 12:12 am
I have worked for the last 15 years in developing “branch” campuses of a large university and have become a student of the phenomenon. It is very hard to make generalizations about such places as there is very little consistency in the development of such institutions. There is a lot of reinvention of the wheel. Also, the mission and scope of “branch” campuses tend to evolve, often to the surprise of the faculty and just about everyone else at the campus. But it is critical to understand exactly the current and anticipated relationship between the originating campus and the extension. There is usually a great deal of “family drama” here that faculty get caught in the middle of.