If you’ve ever thought about teaching in your field of expertise, consider becoming an adjunct instructor. This option lets you test your affinity for education, and at the same time opens up the possibility of a second or retirement career. All of the region’s universities and colleges employ adjunct instructors or professors.
An adjunct instructor is hired as needed to teach a specific course at the college level. Qualifications for an adjunct position depend on the course. Technical courses and continuing education classes require expertise that is gained thorough employment experience in the specific field and sometimes backed by certification and industry licensure. To teach academic courses transferrable to another institution, adjunct professors must meet college accreditation standards, typically by holding, at minimum, a master’s degree in the field.
“We know there are experts out there, people who have certifications from SHRM or Microsoft, for example. We want to utilize their talents to develop the workforce,” said Rudy Marks, Director of Corporate and Community Education for Texas State Technical College, Harlingen. “We haven’t made that connection between the business community and us.”
Marks is looking for adjunct instructors with real-world experience applying technical theory. “We would like to see people with five plus years of experience in a field. The challenge is that a lot of experts are not available during the day when businesses want instruction for their employees. Part-time or retired technical people are ideal.” Marks’s department has 30 to 40 adjunct instructors who are called as the need arises to teach courses that range from two to 40 hours in length. Most instructors teach only one course at a time for an entry level salary at $28 per hour.
TSTC offers continuing ed courses in areas such as accounting, phlebotomy, workplace ethics, OSHA compliance and foreign language. Among approximately 100 soft skills courses are leadership, professional development and customer service classes. Belinda Tijerina, a self-employed motivational speaker and staff development trainer, has been an adjunct instructor for several years, teaching basic computer skills, English in the workplace and public speaking. “They needed a soft skills instructor. It’s given me a lot of exposure as a whole and has led to other jobs outside of TSTC,” said Tijerina, who also teaches TSTC’s free, monthly 8-hour soft skills training class. “It’s a win-win situation. TSTC is very good about scheduling ahead of time, and that what makes it works out.”
To read more of this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the April edition of Valley Business Report, on news stands now, or visit the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this Web site.