University Teaching Faculty: A New Job Opportunity
By Rebecca Swanson
Rebecca Swanson
To paraphrase one of my mentors, Erica Flapan, there are many different ways to be a mathematician. Many of us are familiar with the standard tenure-track path that emphasizes both teaching and research (to varying degrees) along with service. However, some of us discover our primary passion in teaching students mathematics. While there exist some tenure-line jobs that are teaching focused, non-tenure-track “teaching faculty” positions are becoming more and more common.
In 2012, I left a tenure-track position at a small liberal arts college to become a Teaching Associate Professor at the Colorado School of Mines in a non-tenure-track position. Teaching faculty positions are often not on the tenure track, which I personally found scary at first. While my primary reason for applying to this position was to solve a two-body problem, it also turned out to be a great move professionally. I get to focus on teaching, I have the time and energy to learn about pedagogical strategies and implement different classroom models, and I moved away from traditional mathematics research toward pedagogical work. In my case, I reap most of the benefits of a typical faculty position, and, although I cannot be granted tenure, my position feels secure. As an added benefit, I didn’t have to deal with the stress of the tenure process. That being said, teaching faculty positions vary greatly in duties, expectations, privileges, security, culture, and salary, among other aspects.
What are teaching faculty positions?
You might see such positions advertised as Teaching Professor, Lecturer, Instructor, Professor of Practice, Clinical Professor, or something similar. The common thread is that teaching is typically the primary duty. In my position, I teach 5 or 6 semester-long classes per year. However, I know of other teaching faculty with loads of 8 or more classes per year. The types of courses can also vary from general education mathematics courses to upper-level major courses. Additional duties can include service to the department/institution and/or research, either pedagogical or mathematical.
Beyond the day-to-day duties, there are many other aspects of teaching faculty positions to consider. Hanna Bennett, a Lecturer at the University of Michigan, and I created the following list for an AMS Notices* article in 2020. I have added some comments to these, but want to emphasize that what worked for me and what I valued may not be the same for you! Think of these items as topics to ponder if you are considering a teaching faculty role, share a department with teaching faculty, or are considering adding teaching faculty to your department.
Culture: Do teaching faculty routinely interact with other faculty? Are teaching faculty valued by the department? By the institution? How big is the department? What proportion of the department is teaching faculty? What is the breakdown in the numbers of teaching faculty versus tenure-line faculty?
In my case, I wanted to be at an institution that values teaching and teaching faculty. I desired to be part of a community and not a second-class citizen. It was also important to me that there exists a critical mass of other teaching faculty that I could work with and who cared about teaching.
Duties: What sort of control do you have over your time? What are the department’s expectations? Is this vision reasonable? How many classes will you teach? How many preps should you expect at a time? What duties do you have outside of teaching? How much input do you have in shaping your position?
I wanted to be at a university where I would have the ability to teach a variety of courses and my teaching preferences were valued. Some departments expect a teaching faculty member to teach or coordinate the same course or courses every year. In contrast, others might expect such faculty to primarily teach or coordinate one course, but also teach a variety of other classes.
Service expectations can range greatly too. In my case, service is not well-quantified, which means that I often contribute more than might be expected. At the same time, I prize the ability to select service activities that I value, rather than being assigned less interesting duties.
Governance: Are you allowed and welcome in faculty meetings? Will you have a vote in departmental/institutional decisions? Will you serve on departmental or institutional committees? Are you represented in the faculty senate?
A friend of mine, and a former teaching faculty member at another university, did not have voting rights attached to her previous position. After working for nearly a decade in the same mathematics department, she had the misfortune of attending a faculty meeting during which her tenure-line colleagues voted to increase the teaching load of teaching faculty across the board, without input from the very people whom this issue would most impact. So, being able to vote at department meetings and having a say in such matters can be crucial!
Position Title: Teaching positions go by many names. Does the title matter to you?
It doesn’t have to! Having “professor” as part of my title mattered to me, because I feel that the title is one sign that a university values and supports its teaching faculty.
Promotion/Review: Is there potential for promotion? What are the expectations for promotion? Are these expectations reasonable?
Even without the possibility of tenure, there are many different promotion structures. At my institution, three different teaching ranks exist: Teaching Assistant Professor, Teaching Associate Professor, and Teaching Professor. Other universities may use the titles of Instructor and Senior Instructor, or Lecturer and Senior Lecturer, among many others. It is worth knowing both what is expected for promotion and the benefits of being promoted.
Salary/Benefits: Is the salary and benefits package reasonable for you? Is there a union? What expectations should you have for raises?
Salaries for teaching faculty positions can vary from abysmal to excellent. I received one offer after finishing graduate school that would have been barely above my graduate school stipend. (And I did not have an unusual graduate student stipend!) However, there are also many places that value teaching faculty and pay a fair wage. For instance, in my department there are Teaching Professors whose salary is on par with tenured Associate Professors.
Scholarship: Is publishing valued? Required? Looked down upon? Are certain types of scholarship valued over others? (Maybe teaching-related scholarship is valued, but subject-area scholarship is not.)
In my case, scholarship is not a requirement of the job, which makes it much less stressful. However, it is still valued for promotion. Some teaching faculty positions require at least some level of scholarship, but pedagogical research may be more valued or less valued than subject matter research.
Security: Does the job seem secure? Are there contracts? How long are contracts? Are there rules about how much advance notice you would receive in the case your position was terminated?
When I accepted my current position, I agreed to a one-year rolling contract. I wasn’t too concerned, because I had been told that no teaching faculty members had ever lost their job at my university. Eventually, teaching faculty were granted two-year rolling contracts. Other institutions may utilize contracts that vary in length anywhere from three to five years (or more). While it isn’t tenure, these contracts can establish a reasonable level of job security.
Support: Do teaching faculty have access to travel funds? Is there a sabbatical program? Do you get start-up funds? Is there paid parental leave?
In my department, every faculty member receives the same travel allotment, regardless of title. This can, of course, vary widely! In my experience, sabbatical programs are exceedingly rare in teaching faculty positions, but Mines actually began one a few years ago. As with any other item on this list, parental leave is only valuable if you plan on becoming a parent. I didn’t know that I would need such a benefit when I began my position and felt lucky to find that, upon combining medical and parental leave, I would be able to step away from teaching for roughly one and a half semesters to care for my newborn baby.
In summary, teaching faculty roles vary widely (probably more widely than tenure-track lines!). If you are considering such a position, it is important to know what aspects you individually value. If your department or institution plans to create a teaching faculty track, this list can be a good starting point as you think about what roles you want your teaching faculty to undertake. In any case, being a teaching faculty member is one great way to be a mathematician.
Rebecca Swanson is a Teaching Professor at the Colorado School of Mines where she teaches a variety of courses, implements flipped learning, and serves her department and institution in multiple ways, one of her favorites being as co-advisor to the Society for Women in Mathematics. Additionally, she is involved in a variety of roles in the MAA, the newest of which is as a member of the editorial board for Math Values.