Adjunct Teaching and Graduate Assistant A Positions
Obtaining an Adjunct Teaching Job Through the Internship Program
CUNY Colleges Participating in the Internship Program
The Practicum (ENGL 79000 ["Teaching College English"])
Adjunct Pay Rates, Limitations on Teaching, and Benefits
The Procedure for Obtaining a non-Internship Adjunct Teaching Job in CUNY
Graduate Assistant A Positions (Grad A)
Adjunct Teaching and Graduate Assistant A Positions [top]
Most students in the English Program get training as adjunct instructors in CUNY college classrooms. Graduate students in English usually teach composition, though they are often invited to teach literature as well. At many CUNY colleges composition courses bear more credits than do literature classes, so adjuncts, who are paid by the credit hour, can earn more by teaching them. Please note that these adjunct teaching positions are not Financial Aid awards; they are positions created and paid for by the colleges where the student will teach.
Obtaining an Adjunct Teaching Job Through the Internship Program [top]
Departments of English on individual CUNY campuses make all decisions in matters of faculty hiring. Students are chosen by - not "placed" in - a department; they may apply directly and independently for teaching positions anywhere in the system. For well over a decade, however, the Ph.D. Program in English has tried to assist its students by locating such jobs largely through the Internship Program, directed by Professor Ammiel Alcalay (DEO). Students who have not taught at CUNY before are not required to join the Internship Program in their first year of study; they may do so anytime before they advance to candidacy. The Internship Program seeks to provide four specific services:
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To give inexperienced students an opportunity to teach one or two courses per semester as an Adjunct Lecturer at a CUNY college, with the understanding that this position will remain available for at least three years, so long as the student/department relationship is mutually agreeable and the CUNY budget allows;
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To train new CUNY teachers through a practicum (ENGL 79000 ["Teaching College English"]);
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To advise students with teaching-related questions;
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To assist experienced adjunct teachers in finding information about positions as Graduate Assistants (A and C) and Writing and Technology Fellows.
All the CUNY colleges have participated in the Internship Program in one way or another during the past decade. In Spring 2002, some 165 English Ph.D. students (and over ten students in other programs) were teaching via this internship network at a CUNY college.
The Practicum (ENGL 79000 ["Teaching College English"]) [top]
Most CUNY colleges have a practicum (ENGL 79000) that is tailored to that campus's student body and composition philosophy. It is taught by a composition specialist at that college. Participants discuss theories of teaching composition and their actual experiences. Readings and course requirements vary, but all students are trained in writing pedagogy. The practicum carries four credits which count toward the Ph.D. degree (letter grades are assigned). It is a requirement for all students in the English Program who are first-time instructors at a CUNY college. Students who accept a teaching position at a second CUNY college are not expected to enroll in a second practicum.
For budgetary reasons, practicum courses are offered only during the Fall Semester. Students should take this into consideration because, without formal pedagogical training, they will find it difficult to get a job. Thus, teaching for the first time within CUNY during a spring semester or a summer session is generally not an option.
Adjunct Pay Rates, Limitations on Teaching, and Benefits [top]
CUNY adjuncts are paid according to a scale based on an hourly rate. The hourly pay rate is multiplied by the number of credit hours a course carries (which varies from three to six), then multiplied again by the number of weeks in the college's semester (14 or 15 weeks at all but Kingsborough and LaGuardia Community colleges).
In any given semester, adjuncts may teach as many as three courses totaling no more than nine credit hours at one CUNY college; they may also teach one course, for no more than six credit hours, at a second CUNY college. Most students in the English program find that teaching two courses per semester, in addition to their responsibilities taking classes, preparing for exams, or writing a dissertation, keeps them very busy.
Adjuncts who teach at least six credit hours within CUNY for each of two consecutive semesters are eligible, after the second semester, for health insurance benefits. This provision does not apply to students employed as a Graduate Assistant A.
The Procedure for Obtaining a non-Internship Adjunct Teaching Job in CUNY [top]
Once a student has gained teaching experience (even before your matriculation into the Ph.D program), students may apply for jobs directly; the APO can provide you with a list of CUNY English department chairs. Students may also ask Prof. Alcalay for assistance. Please note that summer jobs are much more difficult to secure.
Graduate Assistant A Positions (Grad A) [top]
Grad A positions are available in limited number only at Hunter and Queens colleges, ordinarily for a nonrenewable period of three years. Students apply for them by sending a letter, with a curriculum vitae, to the appropriate chair of the Department of English, stating specifically that they wish to be considered for this position. Applications should be submitted in the Fall Semester, usually for review during the spring and possible appointment the next academic year. The pay scale begins at $16,616 for teaching two courses per semester, which may not total more than 240 hours per academic year. Graduate Assistant A positions are almost always filled by continuing students.