Many regional universities hire part-time faculty, also.  In fact, 
unfortunately, community colleges teach a majority of their credit-hours with 
part-time personnel, and many people cannot get full-time teaching jobs, though 
more than enough credit hours are taught by part-time to justify more full-time 
positions.

David McNeely

---- "Dixon wrote: 
> Have you tried teaching as an adjunct at a community college?  I got some of 
> my first teaching experience (although I had TA'ed a little before that) 
> doing an evening class at Mesa Community College in Arizona.  It didn't pay 
> all that much, but it did give me real classroom experience.  Many community 
> colleges do hire adjuncts, so you might check in your area.
> 
> I wouldn't think that not teaching would hurt your chances for research-based 
> postdocs.  If you are able to land a postdoc position, you could look into 
> doing some teaching on a volunteer basis or as a part-time instructor.  One 
> good way to gain a little more experience is to see if your major professor 
> can let you do some guest lectures in his/her class or perhaps lead some kind 
> of activity in lab.
> 
> Anyway, just some ideas.  Perhaps you've already tried these.
> 
> Mark D.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news 
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Bodah
> Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 1:04 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Searching for Tips for Teaching Assistant Professorship 
> or Post Doc
> 
> ECOLOGers,
>   I am a graduating Ph.D candidate who had the misfortune of earning my 
> degree through a research assistantship.  I say this because my career goals 
> involve a teaching appointment.  I've been applying for teaching positions 
> and post docs for several months now, but there's not a single one who will 
> consider someone without actual college level teaching experience.
>   Before attending graduate school I taught science in both the Massachusetts 
> and Minnesota state school systems, I have quite a bit of experience teaching 
> students from kindergarten - adult/continuing education level, but I have 
> never taught a college level course as I simply didn't have a teaching 
> assistantship.
>   If even post doc teaching positions will only consider former TAs, how is 
> someone supposed to overcome their lack thereof?  I hold a master's level 
> certificate in environmental education and have taught in 2 different states, 
> yet this means nothing - that was simply wasted, irrelevant time/experience?  
> I don't think my case is extremely rare, there are many students who earn 
> their PhDs through RAs.  I'm a very good teacher, but my PhD was paid for 
> through research.  I've become quite disheartened in the search for a remedy 
> to this quandry.
>   Any help, suggestions, or guidance from the greater ECOLOG community 
> regarding a way to overcome this would be greatly appreciated.
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Brian Bodah, Ph.D. Candidate
> Department of Biosystems Engineering
> Washington State University

--
David McNeely

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