Interview 2: Adjunct at an Undergraduate Institution

Samantha Schlachter For my second informational interview, I was interested in learning more about adjunct teaching at primarily undergraduate institutions and community colleges. I have often heard that this is one the best ways to gain hands-on classroom experience, especially for those who haven’t done much teaching. To learn more about this profession, I spoke with Dr. Patricio Mujica, an adjunct professor at Lehman College. Dr. Mujica explained that there are a number of pros to being an adjunct professor, most notably for novice teachers, because the curriculum is usually well defined and already established. He also emphasized that the flexible schedule for adjuncting is a great way for graduate students to “test the waters” even before they complete their thesis work. Background: Dr. Mujica is a recent graduate of Rutgers University. He obtained his doctoral degree under the direction of Dr. Walter Durán and studied the mechanisms of vascular hyperpermeability during inflammation. During his time at Rutgers, Dr. Mujica gained teaching experience (in addition to experience he had in the classroom prior to enrolling in graduate school), as a Teaching Assistant for the Introduction to Biomedical Science course. Following his doctoral work, Dr. Mujica went on to accept yearlong post-doctoral fellowship at Albert Einstein University, studying the cellular mechanisms of vesicle trafficking and epithelial polarity. He recently returned to Dr. Durán’s lab to finish up some work for an upcoming publication and also preparing for a full-time job in academia. He hopes to transition into an academic position that contains some component of a research project in addition to teaching. His extensive molecular research experience coupled with exposure to teaching in the classroom setting has recently earned him a position at Lehman College as an adjunct professor of Anatomy and Physiology. Steps to prepare:   Job search: For Dr. Mujica, searching for an adjunct position was not too difficult. An advanced degree is sufficient to qualify to teach at most community colleges/undergraduate institutions, and teaching experience is not always required. These types of positions are posted approximately 3 months before a new semester begins (so plan accordingly!). Since adjunct professors are viewed as non-permanent there is often a high turnover. In addition, adjuncts are less expensive to hire compared to a full-time position so the demand is fairly high. Searching through individual institution hiring web pages is one of the best places to start. There are also some broader websites available for adjuncts looking at public/private institutions such as HigherEdJobs, which can streamline the job search. Once you identify a position that is of interest, the application process is not too lengthy or difficult. In a very short window of time, Dr. Mujica was able to submit a CV, schedule an interview, and receive a notice of hiring and a class start date. Typical day: Working as an adjunct gives you a great deal of flexibility with your schedule, ideal for either graduate students or for people who wish to supplement the income. You can, for the most part, dictate the schedule of teaching by determining the number of course/lab sections you are willing to take on. The main exception to this flexibility is that the university dictates the course offerings per semester. Most adjuncts seek to teach evening and weekend hours, therefore, it is often challenging to find an available course offering in the most sought-after time slots. Many people seeking adjunct positions will teach at multiple colleges to fill their availability and make the most money. Dr. Mujica teaches a lecture and laboratory course for Anatomy and Physiology leaving himself time during the weekdays to work on both course preparations (which is quite demanding!) and the necessary experiments in the lab.

Parting advice: To graduate students considering teaching, don’t wait – start adjunct teaching ASAP to get some teaching experience on your CV!