Recap of May 11 panel discussion on Careers at Community Colleges

On May 11, the Graduate Division hosted a virtual panel discussion on careers at community colleges. (You can read more about the event here.) This article contains information and resources from this panel discussion.

To access the recording of this event, click here. Additionally, a summary of the written Q&A from the session is included below. To view the most recent version of the minimum qualifications for faculty and administrators at California Community Colleges, click here. To view job postings and more information on the California Community Colleges Registry, click here.

Additionally, below is a copy of the written Q&A from the panel that may be helpful in your exploration of careers at community colleges. Answers from multiple panelists are included, where applicable.

Q: Do I have a hope of getting a full-time job teaching Math at a CCC if I master out of my PhD program? Does it help if I have 5 years of teaching experience?
A1: Yes, and yes. Some disciplines most often hire PhDs over MS, but math frequently hires MS/MA.
A2: The minimum requirement for teaching Math at a CCC is a masters degree.

Q: What about courses that you've taught/designed as Instructor of Record in grad school? Will those work in your favor, re: which courses you can teach?
A: Totally those will help! A) more teaching experience is better, but B) that experience might be the exact courses you would teach at the CC.

Q: I am in Education and have a lot of experience teaching Psychology. Does having an Education PhD make me less likely to be hired in Psychology? Is applying for equivalency a separate process from applying for a job?
A1: Not necessarily. The equivalency process was just discussed, but you would need to show competencies/training in the discipline you apply for. Yes, equivalency is different, but most applications will ask if you intend to apply for equivalency.
A2: Applying for equivalency is a separate process. It depends on your courses and experience but it should not discount you from teaching psychology if you are granted a equivalency.

Q: What does the tenure process look like in CCs? For example, in my field, in the vast majority of cases a prof gets tenure only after they publish a book; in CCs is tenure more based on publication, or teaching/service?
A1: Broadly, tenure is based upon teaching, service, and scholarship. This last category is not really applicable to CC faculty, as you aren't assigned workload for scholarship. Service can be to the college and/or to the community, but the most heavily weighted category at CCs is teaching. You need to be current in pedagogy and practices, both in education in general and in your specific field. Hope this helps.
A2: Tenure is traditionally a 4 year process. You are evaluated each year on your teaching or other assignments. You are also evaluated on your committee service. Your team often includes your dean and one or two faculty members. It often includes a class visitation, a self evaluation and student evaluations.
A3: That really depends on the institution. If you want to work at a UC, scholarship will be very important to that school. The other end of the spectrum are CCs, where teaching is the most important work you will do (Service to college, too). CSUs or 4-year institutions can be mixed on that. Scholarship will be important for tenure, but you will also have a heavy teaching load. Can be a tricky balance to maintain. Almost no schools will award tenure without evidence of effective teaching.

Q: I have been interested in teaching at CCC for a while... I believe in the past equivalency could be shown by taking 18 units of graduate level course work in the subject (is that correct?). I'm looking at the handbook now, and it looks like that way of showing equivalency had changed. Is that right?
A: I'm not aware of the units needed for granting equivalency, the 2021 handbook does address the most recent and up-to-date changes implemented.

Q: If there is a specific class you want to add to the catalog at the school (like Psychology of Music), what's the process like for that?
A: This is a GREAT question to ask at your interview! It shows the growth mindset. That said, the curriculum process can vary from school to school. BTW, sounds like a great class. Good idea.

Q: Can you "bank" your regular courses by overloading a given quarter (for example, teach 20 credits in Fall, 20 credits in Winter, and only 5 in Spring?)
A: Yes, if your Dean/VP will allow it. There are contract limits to how much overload you can teach in most cases.

Q: Even though research is not emphasized at community college, as a community college student I was really interested in research. I would want to open a Psych experiment lab if I am hired at CC. Do you think something like that is possible at the CC level?
A: I do. How that experimental lab works for the college AND the students might mean you need to modify your initial vision for that lab. CC students typically are not on campus all day, every day. They may have jobs or kids to get home to. So finding a way to infuse your school with these opportunities are great, but make the project mostly for them. Less about your scholarship.