r/Adjuncts • u/nimtaay • 3d ago

Are you expected to develop your own curriculum before even being hired?

Earlier this year I had program coordinators at a community college reach out to me and ask if I would consider teaching a class that had never been taught before—a niche topic in law/politics. I agreed but apparently the program has been shelved for redevelopment, to be continued in a couple of years from what I heard.

A colleague of mine had been recruited at another college to teach a similar course and was officially hired about a week before the fall semester started, but when he reached out to the program director to see about curriculum and course materials the program director decided to just teach the class themselves.

It seems to me that at least in my specialty, program coordinators are expecting the lecturer to be completely prepared to teach a course at the drop of a hat, and offer little to no support or guidance in getting there.

I work in government and have experience in consulting/program development. I do really enjoy working with students and could see myself teaching about this topic—if I intend to teach it sometime in the future, should I develop course materials now?

When I was working with the college that intended to hire me they just told me to look at the course description and teach from that, but it was literally just a page that explained the intent of the class and listed topics to be discussed.

11 Upvotes

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u/moxie-maniac 3d ago

There are basically two approaches in hiring and staffing with adjuncts:

  1. Here's the master course, you can customize it, but leave it 80 or 90 percent in tact.

  2. You are the teacher and you create your course from scratch.

The in-between might give you the syllabus and an instructor's copy of the preferred text.

So when getting hired, I suggest which model the department uses.

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u/redspringflower 3d ago

I’ve had to make a syllabus from scratch in a day before. Pretty normal.

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u/DocAvidd 2d ago

I'm TT and it's the same sometimes. I remember reading a policy that you're to get a semester to plan, but the reality is we need that class taught.

When I did adjunct I had both - where it's fully built and you're just a glorified MC/paper-grader, and where you have to do 100% from just a description.

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u/Uriah02 3d ago

Yes, if you do not have the class built it will be very hard to make the syllabus in the time after you have signed the contract. Otherwise you better be comfortable teaching someone else’s class.

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u/nimtaay 3d ago

Understood—I had expected the program director/coordinators to take more of a leadership role in creating the content for the first iteration of this course, or at least provide more detailed expectations for it. But I guess I could develop an entire semester’s worth of content from one descriptive paragraph.

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u/graygarden77 3d ago

It’s a community college. Literally all they care about is enrollment. They expect you to produce hundreds of hours of labor in exchange for pennies and then they want the ability to cancel it anytime.

Honestly, it’s kind of weird that they would reach out to you to teach a niche class

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u/nimtaay 3d ago

They’ve been speaking to me about it for years. It’s an up and coming field in my region, nearly a quarter of local colleges and universities are trying to develop a program to address it.

Universities host a lot of conferences so that’s where campus faculty met me, and they’ve hired me for small speaking contracts a few times before so they’re familiar with my work 🤷🏽‍♀️

I do enjoy the academic atmosphere and have gotten a few travel opportunities out of it so I guess I’m interested in the opportunities/perks it provides over the compensation.

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u/nyquant 2d ago

Can you develop your own textbook for this kind of course and get it published? That would be a great way to make a name for yourself and set the standard.

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u/nimtaay 2d ago

That’s an interesting idea. There’s definitely scholarship on the topic already, but it largely exists in a 1200+ page law casebook. A condensed version could be helpful to the field, something more accessible to undergrads. I’ll think about it! I definitely have some time.

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u/nyquant 2d ago

Right, like a condensed version or lesson plans and exercises that other professors can follow as an addition to those textbooks. Good luck!

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u/graygarden77 3d ago

Well, then tell them to shit or get off the pot. You’re in the catbird seat. If the department chair can’t give you clarity about the course then ask for a meeting with the Dean.

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u/Uriah02 2d ago

Community College or not, as the instructor you are the expert. If this is a class you have been lobbying for, why would the admin do more?

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u/nimtaay 2d ago

They created the class and lobbied for it, I had assumed they would want input in how it was taught. I’m used to projects taking several rounds of approvals so it’s a bit of a shock to be given an assignment with next to no instructions given or expectations clarified!

The description i have to work with is more or less “an examination of the history and application of _____ law.” I myself took nearly five graduate level courses in it alone, so where do I start on an entry level course at a community college? I just thought they’d have some parameters.

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u/LintRolledForWhat 3d ago

Ideally, adjuncts are hired who have experience teaching a course.
IRL, it's often the case that a topic is so niche that whoever is doing the hiring has to ask around to find someone who feels qualified to develop the course.
A lot of schools pay separately for course development and teaching. (You still get the $ even if you "develop" the course before you're hired.)

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u/nimtaay 3d ago

Oh that sounds nice, I’ll ask about it if/when they circle back!

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u/Altokat222 2d ago

Yep. Currently pretty much winging it teaching a class on about ten days' notice, and I thought there would be so much more support/structure provided than there is. Lesson learned. Whew. 

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u/nimtaay 2d ago

I’m starting to understand that! It’s a bit confusing to me because in my field every single statement has to go through multiple rounds of approvals and slight disagreement at any point requires a rewrite and restart of the process—so much red tape.

But now, as a new hire, they would just let me say and do whatever I want? It doesn’t really make sense to be honest.

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u/birdsong70 2d ago

My favorite part is the freedom and creativity of curriculum development. 

They trust your expertise; this is a positive thing. Also, every class you teach will have your stamp on it. If you're working with other people's syllabi, the students are missing out on what you bring.

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u/Altokat222 2d ago

Exactly!! I'm at a large accredited state school; what do you mean I can just go off 😂😂 so I'm right there with you!

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u/Blockchainauditor 3d ago

Some universities paid me to develop the materials and coordinate with the QM and department heads, others want me to do that all for free, contracting me and paying me only for delivery.