You: search committee for uni instructor. Me: potential applicant

June 3, 2019 4:53 AM

A cool uni teaching job has popped up in my job feeds recently. It's worth thinking about. The description is very broad and super brief. The department's discipline is not exactly mine, but I reckon I can teach/adapt to quite a lot (but by no means all) topics, particularly the interdisciplinary courses the department offers outside their core. Is it okay to contact the department directly and ask for clarification, and ideally some sample syllabi? I'll be researching their catalog as well. Thanks!

FWIW, my impression is that they need someone at short notice, for the Fall.

posted by carter to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Best answer: Definitely contact them and ask which classes this person would most likely be teaching. Having been an adjunct for a while now, my intuition, if they need someone on short notice, is that they probably need someone who can cover at least some of their core courses. But you never know and if you find out it's for the interdisciplinary ones then you know exactly how to tailor your application.
posted by augustimagination at 6:28 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Asking is fine. If this is for an adjunct line, odds are there will not be a search committee of any kind and the chair (or functionally the DUS, maybe) will hire the first acceptable person. OTOH if it were an adjuncting job, odds are there wouldn't be a formal posting anywhere.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:22 AM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Yes, it's totally ok to politely reach out to ask for clarification on the position. They might not provide sample syllabi but should at least be able to clarify the expectations of the position. The ad should provide a point of contact. Based on the timeframe, this sounds like a lecturer/adjunct position. If that's the case, there's a good chance that there is not a search committee. Often for positions like that, hiring is simply at the discretion of the department chair, and they would likely be the point of contact.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 8:23 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all! I contacted the department, and they gave me the email contact for the chair, and I sent them an email.
posted by carter at 8:29 AM on June 3, 2019