what is your job title and what does it mean I'm an Instructor. It means that I am non tenure-track faculty (aka adjunct faculty) at a university.
description of a typical day The neat thing about my job is that, really, there are no typical days. Two days a week I teach classes -- either Freshman Composition, Great Books, or a combination thereof (Great Books is a literature course where you read books, plays, and poetry from various cultures). I'm a member of an oversight committee that meets weekly to make decisions about what we teach in Composition, this semester we meet on the same days I teach. I also have meetings with students. These meetings happen on the days I teach, but also on the days I don't. I spend a lot of time at home reading, grading papers, and planning my classes. I tend to think more in terms of typical weeks rather than typical days. So, usually, Mondays I have open office hours from 11a to 3p. Tuesdays, I have a committee meeting at 10a and then classes at 11a; 12:30p; and 3:15p, and I have a student I meet with immediately after that class. Wednesdays, I have appointment only meetings usually starting around 11a and ending somewhere around 3p. Thursdays, I have an office hour at 10a; and a class at 11a, then open office hours from 12:30p to 3:15p (this is only in the last month of the semester); and Friday I usually do a few appointments with students who just couldn't manage it any other time during the week.
What do you need for training/education/etc., to do this job The current ad for my position says that you need at least a Master's degree in English. Most of my colleagues, though, have PhD's (as I do) or are ABD (which means they haven't finished writing their dissertation [aka big paper]) yet.
Why do you like it? I like seeing the lightbulb go off in someone's head. The moment where they realize that they can write, or that they can read a book and make meaning out of it. I love working with students and seeing them gain confidence and experience that will help them for the rest of their lives in school and out of it.
Why do I dislike it? I don't like the changes that have happened here since we got a new department head. He doesn't seem to care about instructor needs, and that has made all of us have to work harder for what amounts to less money. The students have gotten much more demanding and tempermental. There are days when it feels dangerous to go to work. And, honestly, I don't like the part of the country that this school draws its students from -- these kids are much too sheltered.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job? Well, the computers in the classroom can all fail on the same day. That can mess up a class pretty well. The VCR can eat my videotapes. I can miskey a student's grade and give them the wrong grade in the class (it's only happened a couple of times, really). The copy machine can stop working in the middle of mid-terms. And students can misunderstand what I think is perfectly clear which makes for some miserable exchanges.
What kind of person thrives at your job? Someone who doesn't mind working long hours teaching courses that no one wants to take. It's the end of the semester, so I'm feeling a wee bit negative at the moment. Seriously. You have to really like books, and have a passion for sharing what you know and understand about how reading shapes reality.
Other things about choosing my career You have to go to school for a long time -- we're talking four years as an undergraduate; at least two years for a Master's; and another three to four for a PhD. My job really isn't the goal -- the real goal is a tenure-track assistant professor position (or something like it). To get one of those, you will need to network with other people in your field of specialty; you will need to present papers at conferences (which are nowhere near as much fun as your Mom appears to have had at MiniCon); and you will need to publish articles (for which you don't get paid) and books (for which, basically you don't get paid).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-23 10:21 pm (UTC)what is your job title and what does it mean I'm an Instructor. It means that I am non tenure-track faculty (aka adjunct faculty) at a university.
description of a typical day The neat thing about my job is that, really, there are no typical days. Two days a week I teach classes -- either Freshman Composition, Great Books, or a combination thereof (Great Books is a literature course where you read books, plays, and poetry from various cultures). I'm a member of an oversight committee that meets weekly to make decisions about what we teach in Composition, this semester we meet on the same days I teach. I also have meetings with students. These meetings happen on the days I teach, but also on the days I don't. I spend a lot of time at home reading, grading papers, and planning my classes. I tend to think more in terms of typical weeks rather than typical days. So, usually, Mondays I have open office hours from 11a to 3p. Tuesdays, I have a committee meeting at 10a and then classes at 11a; 12:30p; and 3:15p, and I have a student I meet with immediately after that class. Wednesdays, I have appointment only meetings usually starting around 11a and ending somewhere around 3p. Thursdays, I have an office hour at 10a; and a class at 11a, then open office hours from 12:30p to 3:15p (this is only in the last month of the semester); and Friday I usually do a few appointments with students who just couldn't manage it any other time during the week.
What do you need for training/education/etc., to do this job The current ad for my position says that you need at least a Master's degree in English. Most of my colleagues, though, have PhD's (as I do) or are ABD (which means they haven't finished writing their dissertation [aka big paper]) yet.
Why do you like it? I like seeing the lightbulb go off in someone's head. The moment where they realize that they can write, or that they can read a book and make meaning out of it. I love working with students and seeing them gain confidence and experience that will help them for the rest of their lives in school and out of it.
Why do I dislike it? I don't like the changes that have happened here since we got a new department head. He doesn't seem to care about instructor needs, and that has made all of us have to work harder for what amounts to less money. The students have gotten much more demanding and tempermental. There are days when it feels dangerous to go to work. And, honestly, I don't like the part of the country that this school draws its students from -- these kids are much too sheltered.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job? Well, the computers in the classroom can all fail on the same day. That can mess up a class pretty well. The VCR can eat my videotapes. I can miskey a student's grade and give them the wrong grade in the class (it's only happened a couple of times, really). The copy machine can stop working in the middle of mid-terms. And students can misunderstand what I think is perfectly clear which makes for some miserable exchanges.
What kind of person thrives at your job? Someone who doesn't mind working long hours teaching courses that no one wants to take. It's the end of the semester, so I'm feeling a wee bit negative at the moment. Seriously. You have to really like books, and have a passion for sharing what you know and understand about how reading shapes reality.
Other things about choosing my career You have to go to school for a long time -- we're talking four years as an undergraduate; at least two years for a Master's; and another three to four for a PhD. My job really isn't the goal -- the real goal is a tenure-track assistant professor position (or something like it). To get one of those, you will need to network with other people in your field of specialty; you will need to present papers at conferences (which are nowhere near as much fun as your Mom appears to have had at MiniCon); and you will need to publish articles (for which you don't get paid) and books (for which, basically you don't get paid).
Hope this helps.
Beth