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[volatile1]

Hi everyone,
    I've taught comp for years at 4-year universities as a grad student and then a lecturer, but recently I decided to apply for a permanent, tenure track position at several community colleges in the Los Angeles area. I'd love to hear about others' experience teaching comp and lit at community colleges -- what I can expect in terms of the pros and cons of this type of position. Also, does anyone know how many students are in a typical comp class in a community college (rough range)?

[volatile1]

Sorry, I just realized I put this on the wrong forum...

[profh]

Hi,

I teach freshman comp (101 and 102) at a large CC in the midwest.  I have never taught at a 4-year university so I cannot compare, but I can share my experiences teaching at the CC-level.  Personally, I love it.  Due to the college's location, there is a very diverse mix of students.  You will have many more non-traditional students. It seems like there are more because of the economy - people lose jobs and stop by their local CC to brush up on some skills or get that degree they never earned.

101:

1. Class size typically ranges from 24-28.
2. We have something called post-secondary enrollment.  This means that qualified high school juniors and seniors can take college courses.  So, some of your students (about 1/4) will be from high school.
3. About 1/3 of your class may fit (not always, but often) into one of the following categories: 1. I am only here because mommy and daddy said I have to go school to live at home, 2. I am only here because it's a requirement for my degree and I just want a C. 3. I just don't care, and 4. of course my favorite, the mystery student who never shows up, but fails to drop.
4. Students are usually pretty eager to learn about the material.
5. Most are first-generation and first year students so they are pretty excited and nervous about the whole process.
6. They're not majors in your subject, don't expect them to be overly thrilled about it.  Rather connect it to them and what they're doing - college majors, real life issues/concerns, and interests.
7. They love technology - PowerPoint, audio, video, websites - anything that involves media will help to hold their attention and get them involved.

102:

1. Same deal, except we've weeded out many of the ones that shouldn't have been there in the first place - they've failed 101 and either retaken it or dropped out. Overall, a better group.
2. They write better by now, so you'll spend less time lecturing on the art of not writing in fragments and run-ons.

[mj_romo]

I've been an adjunct at several CCs and Us in Los Angeles, and this has been my experience.

Class sizes range from 35-45.  Granted, attrition is high, and you'll end the semester with 20-25 students per class, but the first 3-4 weeks there are many, many students sitting before you.

Your primary class load will be developmental comp courses. At one CC where I've taught, they have 2 developmental comp courses and they offer 3 times as many sections of those courses as they do of 101 and 103 combined.

At many CCs, 102/103 level courses are strictly the purview of TT instructors, and often only TT instructors who have seniority in the department.  Why?  Because for every 102/103 successfully filled, there are 5 developmental comp courses that need to be staffed.  Unless you have a very specific specialization in Lit, it will be years after getting a TT position before you will be allowed to teach a Lit class.  Again, those are the purview of senior TT instructors.

Most students are first-generation college students, but not first-year students.  What does that mean?  You will have a lot of adults in your classes.  You additionally will have lots of young single mothers in your classes and parents in general.   

You may encounter 1 or 2 wannabe English majors, if you're lucky, every couple of semesters.  Those students will generally be a joy, but a rare joy.

There will be significant generation 1.5 and second-language issues to deal with. There will be times when you will feel you would be better off teaching high school. 

That said, I love teaching composition in Los Angeles at CCs.  I actually prefer the CCs to the Us because despite all of the negatives, the students who stick around do so because they are truly engaged and want to better themselves and move on. 

[volatile1]

Thank you for the feedback -- this is very helpful. Quite a disparity, though, between class sizes in the midwest and L.A. -- 45 sounds crazy, especially if you're grading 4 papers per class.
    MJ_Romo, I was just at a CC interview for a TT position that basically confirmed what you just said about not being able to teach lit for a while. I was told the first 2 years are strictly comp, and won't include even the second semester comp class which focuses on lit. Ouch!! The up side was that the course load at this particular school was surprisingly lower than I expected -- 4/4 and then the chance to go 3/3 with 5 hrs per week in the Writing lab after a few years. Is this a normal tenure track course load for a CC in California? I'm new to the area and am used to a CC course load being 5/5.
     

[mj_romo]

Based on that information, I know where you interviewed, and that type of load is specific to that school because they have a very specific Writing Lab program that accompanies their comp courses.  No one else does it the way they do. 

Most places here are 4/4 with an option to do 3/3 if you're selected to belong to some sort of administrative committee or do some sort of administrative job.  So, for example, I have an admin job in addition to being an adjunct, so if I was to be hired TT, I'd automatically be a 3/3 because they'd retain me in the admin job.

Yes, class size is staggering here.  But, as I mentioned, attrition is significant.  We're in week 7 at my campus.  I started with 45 in each class, but they disappeared rapidly, and now I'm down to a manageable 24 or 25 in each class.