next »

[pablocasso]

I will be starting a Phd program in Florida this fall. I have applied to several adjunct positions at local community colleges.

First, is it possible to joggle Phd, TA, and adjuncting at the same time? I will like to know about some of your experiences. How did you pull it off?

Secondly, when do schools usually consider adjunct applications?

[erictho]

Do you have funding from your department -- you mention TAing -- or other sources? If so, you would be better off focussing on your courses rather than adjuncting. Teaching, especially for the first few years, is a huge time-suck and that time is better spent getting your degree. Some teaching experience when you go on the job market is nice, but far better is a dissertation completed in a timely fashion. Also, if you're TAing, you can pick up needed experience that way rather than throwing yourself into the deep end by juggling your own courses / work, the course(s) you TA for, and being solely responsible for a course / courses as an adjunct.

In a nutshell: save yourself a lot of time, stress and aggravation, and focus on getting your degree.

[kedves]

Yes, it's possible, but it's a really bad idea.  I've done it, but not until I was finished with my coursework.  You absolutely should not do it. 

Earning your PhD represents a huge investment in your time and, even if you are fully funded, in opportunity costs in terms of the income you give up to go to school.  Don't extend that beyond what is necessary.  While you are in it, you have a unique opportunity to do well in your PhD program and to launch yourself in your academic career.  You won't have that chance again.  However, you will have the rest of your life to work.  Why would you want to make doing well at your first priority, your PhD, more difficult?

Aside from these considerations, your PhD program may not allow you to do it.  Many have limits on how much paid work, if any, you can do while they support you.  If faculty members know what you are doing, they may view you as less committed and your professional relationships with them could suffer.  Also, I don't know what you have heard about the community colleges to which you've applied, but my experience as an adjunct was that it would have been hard for me to get hired if I had not had experience teaching my own summer session courses after I received my M.A.

Being a PhD student is your first job, and it's a big one.  Being a TA is a second job.  Combined, that's more than full-time work.  If you need advice about how to make ends meet, and that is why you are considering adjuncting, take a look at the money board here.

This is my opinion.  Other people might have different ideas.

On preview:  What Erictho said.
 

[mended_drum]

I adjuncted while earning my Ph.D. and holding a TAship, but not until after my course work was over.  I don't think I could have managed it during the first couple of years, but it was extremely helpful once I went on the job search as it allowed me to discuss teaching in ways that I couldn't have if I'd had only the TAship.

[kedves]

Okay, yes, Mendeddrum makes a good point.  You need to have teaching experience to get a teaching job.  My university provided that to grad students by giving us summer courses to teach, but if yours does not, then an outside adjunct job a couple of times is a good idea.  But not until your coursework is over!  And then, teach only one course at a time.  My experience has been at the opposite extreme from financial necessity, and that's where my negative views on it originate.

[grasshopper]

It's a delicate balance. Always prioritize your own work. Even just one course can be a full-time job the first time you teach.

If you can, wait until you're done your coursework. Not only will you be more on your own schedule once your coursework is over, but you'll have given yourself a chance to settle into your program. You don't want to have to forgo building personal and professional relationships with your fellow students and the faculty because you're busy teaching. These are people who will be your support system throughout the degree. You will need them.

[systeme_d_]

Many PhD assistantships will require that you agree NOT to take any outside employment.

Some departments will absolutely enforce this.

[watermarkup]

Also, run the numbers. For a $15,000 annual assistantship stipend with a 1-1 or 1-2 teaching expectation, you're earning $5,000-7,500 per course. How much would a CC course pay? $2,000? The most effective way for you to earn more is to look for opportunities around your department or university, like teaching, say, 2-2 instead of 1-2 for a 67% appointment vs. 50%. That opportunity will probably not come right away, though. But adjuncting at a CC from Day 1 in grad school sounds like a recipe for adjuncting at a CC forever.

[grasshopper]

But adjuncting at a CC from Day 1 in grad school sounds like a recipe for adjuncting at a CC forever.

We've all seen it happen - the people who never end up finishing their degrees because they take on too many adjunct gigs. Their coursework and research and writing drags on and on. They don't have time to publish or present at conferences, so they don't get any of the good external fellowships. They make no contacts in their field because they're too busy with course prep and grading. And then, before they know it, they've hit the deadline for submission, and only have half a dissertation done, and what they do have written is based on research that is no longer current.

It's very sad. Don't be an example of what not to do.


I think that for grad students, especially new grad students, the opportunity to teach is very seductive, not just for the money, but also for the prestige, the honour of being a University Professor. I know I felt that way. It was very exciting, and I was thrilled to be able to perform this new role. But it's a shortlived honour. Best to keep your eye on the prize.

[erictho]

You might check out this link:

http://chronicle.com/jobs/blogs/onhiring/624


which discusses the problems some ABDs face when they take tenure track jobs, problems which range from falling way behind your cohort in publishing, etc., to being denied tenure because of not publishing enough (many of these come up in the comments to the article). A lot of the dangers are similar to those faced by a PhD student taking on too much teaching (which grasshopper clearly sets out).

Check back in and let us know what you decide to do. 

[grasshopper]

Thanks for the link!

A lot of the dangers are similar to those faced by a PhD student taking on too much teaching (which grasshopper clearly sets out). 

Grasshopper speaks from experience. Thankfully, I caught myself in time before I'd wreaked too much damage on my professional life, and decided against taking on more adjunct gigs this year so I could focus on the diss.

The only good diss is a done diss.

[larryc]

But adjuncting at a CC from Day 1 in grad school sounds like a recipe for adjuncting at a CC forever.

We've all seen it happen - the people who never end up finishing their degrees because they take on too many adjunct gigs. Their coursework and research and writing drags on and on. They don't have time to publish or present at conferences, so they don't get any of the good external fellowships. They make no contacts in their field because they're too busy with course prep and grading. And then, before they know it, they've hit the deadline for submission, and only have half a dissertation done, and what they do have written is based on research that is no longer current.

It's very sad. Don't be an example of what not to do.


I think that for grad students, especially new grad students, the opportunity to teach is very seductive, not just for the money, but also for the prestige, the honour of being a University Professor. I know I felt that way. It was very exciting, and I was thrilled to be able to perform this new role. But it's a shortlived honour. Best to keep your eye on the prize.

Listen to Grassy, she speaks wisdom.

[king_ghidorah]

I adjuncted at a local CC in the latter stages of the prospectus.  It does look good on the CV I've found - shows that you can work with non-traditional and, eh, problematic students.  Tends to get questions.  I found that I spent a good deal of time on these classes as the students took a lot of attention. 

Go with the advice - wait for a while before pursuing the job.

[jerseyjay]

Yes, it probably could be done. But my question is, why?

I only half mean that rhetorically. I am not sure why anybody would want to subject himself to that, but if he or she really needed to do this for economic reasons, I might think long and hard about whether it would be realistic to enroll in the PhD program in the first place.

(There are various other practical matters. I am not sure a CC would hire somebody who is just starting a PhD program [do you have a master's?]. I also found the first year of the program the most difficult--not in terms of the work I had to do, but in the adjustment from undergrad to grad, and also the tremendous amount of reading. There is also the scheduling question: presumably your classes, and the classes that you are TAing for, are already set. It could be a pain to try to integrate other classe(s) for adjuncting into this schedule. Plus all the other considerations everybody else has raised.)

[mandywoetzel]

It depends on the program.  Ask if it is common/acceptable to do so.

The program I attended made me sign a statement affirming that, by accepting their TAship, RAship and/or grants/fellowships, I won't be accepting any other employment. In fact, no one worked outside of what the Univ provided.

The program in which I currently teach, by contrast, does not provide sufficient funding and most of the doctoral students are part-timers anyhow. So, most have FT employment.