The other day I ran across a blog authored by a very qualified academic who wanted to know if online faculty positions were shrinking in number. There is, of course, no easy answer to that academic’s question. The true answer to the academic’s inquiry about the number of available online faculty positions lies in the definition of the term. By and large, the folks who make the decisions about who gets paid what at universities and colleges across this land have made up their minds about the value of education. This can be observed by the number of earn your degree online advertisements that appear when one throws such search terms as online bachelor degree, online graduate degree or online education degrees into a given search engine. It seems as if everyone is a potential target for higher education, and it should come as no surprise that the real way to make money in higher education these days is to short change those holding online adjunct positions. Let’s face it: higher education has turned into a sweatshop for someone seeking online adjunct income. This probably sounds confusing, and it is confusing, which explains why the qualified academic wondered in the blog if the number of online faculty positions were shrinking in number. It is not that the number is shrinking, but, rather, that the definition has changed from the traditional full time academic position, which is suggested by the term online faculty position, to online adjunct positions, which is what allows those in the administration and those who hold stock in the schools (yes, academic institutions can be owned by stock holders) as opposed to the actual teachers who fill the online faculty positions. Look, the traditional academic position on the education side is gone. What has taken its place is the online academic instructor who appears on the computer screen as a college teacher with one of those shrinking online faculty positions.
Online Faculty Positions Today
The simple fact of the matter is that the vast majority of educated people who hold graduate degrees, and are thus qualified to teach in degree programs online, can be employed for a relatively small amount of money. The days of earning a healthy living teaching in the traditional college classroom are over for good. That is the key to the definition of the term online college faculty positions, by the way. An educated academic can be had for a very small amount of money, and that amount of money will not increase simply because the educated academic is confused about what has happened to his or her worth in the world. Therefore, the key to answer to the question posed by the academic in the blog lies in acknowledging the economic landscape across which the academic must travel as he or she attempts to live the life of an online adjunct and adjust to the reality of having what is known now as an online faculty positions. To survive and prosper as one of the online faculty, a college teacher must accept the task of diversifying their income streams by teaching in online college programs offered by multiple schools. The question is how is this done? It is really simple if you think about it. The online college programs you want to teach for are online, and you must apply time and time again to these academic institutions that offer on line college courses or on line college classes if you want to land a position. Then you must start the search process over again and land several other online adjunct positions. If you are dedicated to the search process, you will eventually acquire enough online classes to teach so that you will create an income that could be considered equal to or greater than that you would expect if you landed one of the many fabled online faculty positions.
Online Faculty Positions Are Out There
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the traditional academic employment situation will improve any time soon. It won’t because there isn’t any profit for the schools in the traditional employment approach. Of course, you are welcome to continue believing that higher education isn’t a business, but in the end you will be disappointed when your expectations are not met by reality. There are far too many people with graduate degrees and college classroom experience on the job market to ever allow the traditional academic approach to hiring full time college teachers to make a comeback. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to fire up your computer, start diving into the web sites of the various colleges and universities, dig out the page that will allow you to submit your application and adjust your expectations of what online faculty positions actually means in this day and age.

September 13, 2009
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