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[Wondering]

   I'm applying for a position in a community college that is in a neighboring state (though from southern California, it's a long way away).  The ad specifies that those chosen to interview have to pay their own travel expenses.  Should that make me not go, because the school is in financial difficulty, even though public?  Or, would any state school be that way?

[ymmv]

It is my experience that many, even most, CCs don't pay expenses at all.  So I'm not sure that payment for travel is an indicator of the health of the college.

[anon]

Yes, CC's don't pay for your expenses.  In your case, they informed potential candidates, in many cases they don't.  

And also yes, IT IS an indicator of the college's wealth, how much they are willing to pay you, and the general level of respect they have for you.

[CC Dean]

My CC is rich beyond dreams of avarice (really) and yet we only pay half of the travel expenses for candidates we fly in.  

Of course we rarely do even that, because the highly populated area around here is just stiff with overqualified, desperate people to pick and choose from.  

CC's are not looking for scholars or scientists to fill a specialized niche.   There are plenty of local M.A.'s or even Ph.D.'s teaching part-time or working the grill at Wendy's who can teach our lower division courses.

Best regards,

CC Dean

[ccsearchteam]

You might see if you can find out how many applicants they're bringing in.  My CC does reimburse as much as we can, but there's a limit to the $ we get for search expenses each year.  However, we generally bring in 3 candidates for on-campus interviews (sometimes 5 if we have two openings, or if there are enough local candidates that we can fund more of the plane fare for out-of-staters).  I see this as doing the best we can in the situation we have.  For us, at least, it's not always a reflection of our fiscal health as much as it a reflection of an administration that has no clue and is under the impression that the local area is just chock-full of people with graduate degrees who are dying to teach a 5/5 load.  Of course, both of those are problems...but at least in our case, the limited $ for candidates isn't directly correlated with a similar lack of $ for other things.

However...my closest friend interviewed at a number of CCs which didn't cover any travel costs at all.  Even worse, most of those schools brought in anywhere from 8-14 applicants for ONE position.  Kind of a "Heck, if you're willing to pay your way out here, sure, we'll talk to you!" situation.  Every single one of those CCs was in a "desirable" area (Pacific Northwest, NYC area, etc.), so I'm sure they had no problem finding 8-14 people willing to pay their own way to interview, even though the statistics were clearly not in their favor.  I might be willing to pay my way if I had a 30% chance...less so if I had a...well, whatever % being one of 14 candidates would be.  To me, while it's regretful that CCs often don't have the same job search budget that larger schools have (although we still have the need for faculty, so please, no "if you can't pay, don't interview" rants), it's downright shameful to ask 14 people to pay to interview for ONE position.  

So I wouldn't automatically rule out paying your own way...but see if you can find out how many others are interviewing so you can more realistically gauge whether or not it's worth the $.

By the way, my afore-mentioned friends eventually had to file bankruptcy, in large part due to the costs of his job search.

[anon]

As someone who interviewed at several CCs, I can tell you that it's pretty common for them not to pay candidates' expenses.

[Dansuri]

Watch you assumptions!



I work at a CC where interview expenses are never paid (except for the candidate who is eventually hired). Policies related to the hiring process are largely under HR, so it's not something that reflects on the department, or even the priorities/budget of the institution as a whole, and don't appear to go up and down with the larger budget.The people who decide to not pay for interviews have nothing to do with determining salary, travel funds for faculty.

Or more to the point, they don't pay interview expenses here, but the salary/benefits package is quite good. It was definitely worth it for me to shell out my own interview expenses to get here.

[Larry Pesto]

If your criteria for a position is whether or not they pay your fare, I think you do not want the job.  Do not apply.