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[twistedjewel]

Hello all,

I've been an adjunct instructor at the same school for about two years. They have been good to me as far as the treatment of adjuncts goes-- offering me the courses and time slots that I prefer. I am currently teaching a summer class for this school.

Today I found out I've been hired as a full-time, tenure-track instructor at another school! Yippee!

I'll be starting at the new school in the middle of August, and would ideally move there at the start of August to get settled in and prepare for the new classes. However, the current class runs until the end of August.

I don't want to burn any bridges with my current school, and, as excited as I am for the new job, I will feel terribly about putting my current school (and students) through a difficult situation.  Do you have any advice on how I can best approach this?

[The distance between the two schools will be too far to commute-- as in, out of state. I do not have a contract with the current school; there is just an "offer letter" every semester that lists the course title and salary.]

[seniorscholar]

I've seen this done by people in more or less comparable situations several times over the years: (1) talk about the situation with the person in charge of summer staffing or whatever person is in charge of the department for the summer (2) talk about the job, the opportunity [almost all faculty members I know would be very pleased to have one of the department's adjuncts land a TT position] and ask what you can do to make the transition possible (3) suggest that you might be able to find someone who would be available and competent to teach the last four weeks of your class (4) volunteer to provide all the materials you have prepared and all the information needed for a good transition (5) and point out that of course your salary for the month will be freed up for the replacement.

In one case, at least, the department chair, who would have two children in college during the following year, decided to teach the last four weeks since s/he had to be on campus the month before classes start anyway, had taught the topic long ago as a grad student, and figured out how to get paid at a higher rate because of rank. At other times, grad students who had not been able to get adjunct work during the summer were happy to pick up the four weeks.

So -- think about what you can propose and how you can put it, and go see the chair/supervisor as soon as possible. And congratulations!!

[zharkov]

If SS's good suggestions don't pan out, another approach would be to complete the last month of the course online.

[larryc]

Go see the person who hired you for the classes right now and tell them that you have to leave August 1st. This is not your problem. If they want stability they should hire full-time people to teach.

[gekko]

Agree with larryc, but just do it as soon as possible.

[twistedjewel]

Thanks, everyone.
Hopefully the final contract will come through this week.
I talked with a colleague/friend "off the record;" she also recommended offering some options to the deparment chair, such as teaching the final lectures online, or arranging for a substitute.