I have been reading several online teaching listserves and one of the ongoing themes is "how can I get a full time job teaching online?" Most people think that they would like a full time position for the benefits (if there are any worth having and you have to pay for them), the nice pay check (although usually not that great compared to adjuncting at several schools), the security (not in this economy), and a regular schedule with time off (okay so that might be a good reason).
The full time online faculty I know make between 45-75K depending on the school and expectations for full time faculty. And in several of these schools, signing a full time contract also means signing an agreement that you will not teach for any other school at the time of your full time employment. Now this is not true everywhere, but I know of at least three universities that have this requirement.
On the lower end of the salary scale, full time faculty generally are expected to teach quarters or semesters and have time off between terms. They teach 6 classes online every term (3-4 terms per year) and generally have a few extra responsibilities thrown into the mix that involve committee or admin work, course writing/development, student advising, etc.(all inclusive in the salary -- no extra pay).
On the higher end of the scale, I know full time faculty who have admin responsibilities plus they teach year round, 6 classes per term, have paid holidays (that's a joke in online teaching) and two weeks of paid vacation per year. But here's the kicker with vacation -- there are never two weeks off consecutively during the year. So you are either (1) stuck with taking one week at a time and you also have to finalize classes and prepare new classes to open during that time or (2) you schedule two weeks at another time of the year which means you take time off during a term and so you have to NOT teach that term since you'll be gone one or two weeks. This means that you give up all your classes that term but you are required to teach a certain number of classes so you have to double up in other terms that year.
How ridiculous is that? Seems to me it smacks royally of "taking advantage of online faculty" whether adjunct or full time.
I am adjunct online faculty at three schools at the current time. One major university pays very nicely and I never turn down a class there. All courses are pre-written and all I do is teach. There are NO other responsibilities. It's a dream job for sure and I've worked here for nearly ten years. The work is steady and the pay goes up every year. My hourly pay rate over the years has ranged from $30 - 50. And did I already say "all I do is teach"?
I've worked for other universities that are on 8 and 11 week terms and the classes are also pre-written. The pay is not as good and my pay rate worked out to about 17-20 an hour at one school. Then they started increasing the responsibilities, such as writing lectures to deliver synchronously online, and not increasing pay.When my hourly rate fell to around $10, I left that school. The other school (with 7 weeks) was so intensive that the time I spent each week worked out to about $8 an hour. I left that school too.
My other two schools pay quite a bit less but the work hours quite a bit fewer on a weekly basis. My time works out to about 20/hour at one and 40-45/hour at another.Until recently there were no additional responsibilities other than teaching.
Many adjuncts are finding that they are doing lots of extra work for no extra pay. Recently I received forms and instructions for tasks that would involve about 6-10 hours of time to complete. There is no extra pay for this. When we teach classes that are our own design, we make revisions in preparation for a new term and there is no extra pay for that. When adjuncts are required to do extra work for no pay, it's like they can just say no. So we do the extra work and that cuts down the hourly rate we make per term.
Yet all in all, there are benefits to adjuncting full time. One is choosing when and where to work. The other is a nice pay check if you teach at several schools. Another is tuition-free or reduced classes. All my schools have offered reduced tuition (and even waived tuition in some cases) for adjunct faculty. One school where I teach even offers half tuition for family members.
Some schools now offer substitute instructor services for adjunct faculty in the event of emergencies. I like that idea. Generally online adjunct faculty have two choices: (1) work through the emergency as best you can or (2) take off for that term. I've done both.
The bottom line is that online adjuncting full time (meaning teaching as many classes as permitted at several schools) can be lucrative and rewarding. I like the nice paychecks. I also like the diversity among students and coworkers. I don't mind working on vacations -- the flip side is that I can travel whenever and wherever I wish and am not stuck limited vacation time.
For me, the best part is teaching in different subject areas at different schools. Right now I'm teaching 8 different classes and I can definitely say that one thing's for sure: I never get bored.
The full time online faculty I know make between 45-75K depending on the school and expectations for full time faculty. And in several of these schools, signing a full time contract also means signing an agreement that you will not teach for any other school at the time of your full time employment. Now this is not true everywhere, but I know of at least three universities that have this requirement.
On the lower end of the salary scale, full time faculty generally are expected to teach quarters or semesters and have time off between terms. They teach 6 classes online every term (3-4 terms per year) and generally have a few extra responsibilities thrown into the mix that involve committee or admin work, course writing/development, student advising, etc.(all inclusive in the salary -- no extra pay).
On the higher end of the scale, I know full time faculty who have admin responsibilities plus they teach year round, 6 classes per term, have paid holidays (that's a joke in online teaching) and two weeks of paid vacation per year. But here's the kicker with vacation -- there are never two weeks off consecutively during the year. So you are either (1) stuck with taking one week at a time and you also have to finalize classes and prepare new classes to open during that time or (2) you schedule two weeks at another time of the year which means you take time off during a term and so you have to NOT teach that term since you'll be gone one or two weeks. This means that you give up all your classes that term but you are required to teach a certain number of classes so you have to double up in other terms that year.
How ridiculous is that? Seems to me it smacks royally of "taking advantage of online faculty" whether adjunct or full time.
I am adjunct online faculty at three schools at the current time. One major university pays very nicely and I never turn down a class there. All courses are pre-written and all I do is teach. There are NO other responsibilities. It's a dream job for sure and I've worked here for nearly ten years. The work is steady and the pay goes up every year. My hourly pay rate over the years has ranged from $30 - 50. And did I already say "all I do is teach"?
I've worked for other universities that are on 8 and 11 week terms and the classes are also pre-written. The pay is not as good and my pay rate worked out to about 17-20 an hour at one school. Then they started increasing the responsibilities, such as writing lectures to deliver synchronously online, and not increasing pay.When my hourly rate fell to around $10, I left that school. The other school (with 7 weeks) was so intensive that the time I spent each week worked out to about $8 an hour. I left that school too.
My other two schools pay quite a bit less but the work hours quite a bit fewer on a weekly basis. My time works out to about 20/hour at one and 40-45/hour at another.Until recently there were no additional responsibilities other than teaching.
Many adjuncts are finding that they are doing lots of extra work for no extra pay. Recently I received forms and instructions for tasks that would involve about 6-10 hours of time to complete. There is no extra pay for this. When we teach classes that are our own design, we make revisions in preparation for a new term and there is no extra pay for that. When adjuncts are required to do extra work for no pay, it's like they can just say no. So we do the extra work and that cuts down the hourly rate we make per term.
Yet all in all, there are benefits to adjuncting full time. One is choosing when and where to work. The other is a nice pay check if you teach at several schools. Another is tuition-free or reduced classes. All my schools have offered reduced tuition (and even waived tuition in some cases) for adjunct faculty. One school where I teach even offers half tuition for family members.
Some schools now offer substitute instructor services for adjunct faculty in the event of emergencies. I like that idea. Generally online adjunct faculty have two choices: (1) work through the emergency as best you can or (2) take off for that term. I've done both.
The bottom line is that online adjuncting full time (meaning teaching as many classes as permitted at several schools) can be lucrative and rewarding. I like the nice paychecks. I also like the diversity among students and coworkers. I don't mind working on vacations -- the flip side is that I can travel whenever and wherever I wish and am not stuck limited vacation time.
For me, the best part is teaching in different subject areas at different schools. Right now I'm teaching 8 different classes and I can definitely say that one thing's for sure: I never get bored.
