Teaching experience for apps: commcollege vs. state u?

[JeremiahParadise]

Hi folks,

I've been teaching at a community college about 10 minutes from my home for about a year now. I started because I wanted to see if teaching is for me (it is) and, to some extent (though not much, of course), to develop my CV/resume for PhD apps this fall. Over the weekend, I received an offer from a state university (about 50 minutes away from my apartment) to teach this fall. Now, my question is this:

Assuming there is any app/admission value in teaching experience at all, is it worth driving the extra hour to teach at this state university instead of my current community college?

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

[ktwho]

Hi JeremiahParadise,

I'm interested in how people respond to this because I, too, have experience teaching at both CC's and a UC. This is my third summer teaching at a UC, and I've gotta tell you that the CC where I work during the year doesn't seem to care in the LEAST that I teach at a UC. They want instructors to have experience teaching a student population very similar to their own, which means that they haven't valued my CC teaching experience very much. UC, however, HIGHLY values my CC teaching experience. It's really strange of this CC. So, in my opinion, I would think that the PhD program would value your teaching experience from any higher ed. institution. That said, which one would pay more and how much do you like commuting? I have a terribly long commute to the UC, but it pays significantly more than the CC, so it's worth my while. Also, my colleagues at the UC are awesome, so I'd also consider the people you'd be working with.

Lastly, I see you wrote "instead," but is there any way you can do both? What are your goals after you finish a PhD? CC's will most likely require CC teaching experience, so I'd consider that, too.

[homeric_voice]

As far as the application process goes, I'd say your CC teaching experience will be a positive all on its own. I have CC teaching experience, and I definitely think it was a positive, especially given the fact that I'm expected to teach during my first semester in the Ph.D. program. I don't feel like teaching at a four-year university would have put me in at any department where I was rejected.

As far as applications to Ph.D. programs go, my opinion is that it's not worth it if you're not making quite a profit driving all of that distance. I'll be surprised if a lot of people disagree.

On the other hand, teaching at a four-year university (besides the one where you get your degree) may be *very* valuable experience to have once you have the terminal degree and are officially looking for a T-T job.

[lolopixie]

I agree with homeric. The teaching experience at a CC will benefit your applications, and I'm not confident that teaching at a state school would give any additional benefit. If you teach at a state school, you may make some good contacts though. This could come in handy when looking for jobs, or even if you decide to try to place into a position EBD. You might even be able to go back to that school. I would inquire about the possibility of you working there and, even though there are no guarantees, if you may be able to come back after your program if a spot is available.