This article appears in the October 2000 issue (volume 8, number 8) of "Concerns of Young Mathematicians," the electronic newsletter of the Young Mathematicians Network.
Applying
For
This
spring I was finishing my Ph.D. in Mathematics at the
I was interested in applying for jobs at community colleges for several reasons: I really enjoyed taking courses at a community college while in high school; I wanted to be at a school where teaching is paramount and there is no research requirement (i.e. no "publish or perish"); I enjoy teaching a diverse student body; and the pay is much higher at many 2-year schools than it is for beginning tenure-track jobs at 4-schools.
The primary way that I found job
notices was by using the California Community Colleges Registry and JobBank, located at https://www.cccregistry.org/jobs/index.aspx.
This free service allows an applicant to search for full- and part-time
positions in any field at 2-year colleges throughout the state, and by
registering one's name, field and contact information on the site, you can
receive in the mail job notices from individual colleges. Also there are CCC
job fairs held in northern and southern California several times a year. I
attended one in Los Angeles, where I met some faculty from several schools,
including one which later rejected my application and one at which I later was
a finalist.
A written application consists of a cover letter, vita, recommendations, and transcripts as usual, and also a school district application form, which usually requires several essays on topics such as teaching in a diverse population and the use of technology in the classroom. Schools contact applicants by phone or mail for a first round of interviews. The school assigns the applicant a time and date for the first on-campus interview, which lasts an hour at most. I was surprised to discover that, in general, there are no reschedulings - if you cannot make the appointment given to you, then you are out of luck. Hiring committees contain approximately 5 to 12 people, and they basically schedule times on one or two days at which they can arrange to come together to screen many applicants. There are perhaps 15 candidates interviewed at this first round for one position, and possibly more candidates if there is more than one position available. A doctorate degree is not required for a position at a 2-year school, only a Master's degree or equivalent state credentials. The pay scale is fixed throughout the district, and is based on the number of years of full-time teaching experience and the number of graduate credits completed, so that instructors with doctorates are at the top of the pay scale.
My first interview was similar to many of the other first-round interviews. When I arrived, I was given one half-hour to review a sheet of paper that contained the questions that the committee would be asking me. All schools asked me what background and experiences I have that enable me to be an effective teacher of a globally diverse student population, and they also all asked about my use of technology in the classroom. Other questions were concerned with the community college system (i.e. "How do you view the mission statement of this college in light of the public school system of this state?"), classroom situations (i.e. "If 50% of your class fails an exam, what do you do?"), etc. Then I was brought before the committee, and we were all seated at a large table. I literally laughed out loud when the chair of the committee began reading from a sheet of paper something along the lines of, "Hello, and welcome. Your credentials are impressive and we are very happy to interview you today." Apparently these schools are required to try as hard as possible to make all the interviews identical, so that no applicant is shown any preference. Then the committee members took turns reading the questions off of the paper, and I gave my responses, and they took notes. It is extremely formal. In general, committee members will nod and smile, but will not ask follow-up questions or comment on responses to the questions. At the start, I was told how long this part of the interview should last (e.g. half an hour), and that I should take that into account as I gave my answers. Some committees even set a clock on the table, right in front of me.
After this part was done, I went to the board to give my previously prepared 10- or 15-minute lecture on a topic of undergraduate mathematics, such as shared work problems (i.e. "If John can roof a house in 1 hour and Jane can do it in 2 hours, how long does it take them to do it together?) (this topic is a hot one), the fundamental theorem of calculus, and linear independence. The topic or choice of topics is given in the packet sent with the interview offer. Usually these lectures are to be prepared as though the audience is comprised of students taking that course. At some schools, committee members may ask questions as instructors, as well as while pretending to be students. During my lecture at one school, one of the committee members asked an innocent mathematical question about something I had written, and the other members immediately yelled out his name, apparently trying to remind him that the interviews must be kept uniform. I found such outbursts and formalism surprising and slightly disappointing, but I don't believe they adversely affected my performances.
After this part was done, there often was a time for the applicant to ask any questions they may have. Since I had done a great amount of research on each school, I had many questions designed to demonstrate my knowledge of the school and department, and also my interests in working with other mathematicians on various creative endeavors. Questions seemed genuinely welcome, although the committees were working on tight schedules, so a couple of times I wrapped up my questions rather quickly, when I could sense that they wanted to move on - as I now know, this is not necessarily a reflection on the candidate.
At some schools, there was an additional 15- or 30-minute part where I was to sit alone and answer an essay question. Usually a computer and word processing program were provided, although one school required me to answer the question with pencil and paper.
From those interviewed, usually three finalists are chosen for a second on-campus interview, usually with the president, a vice-president and the chair of the mathematics department or division. This time there is a bit more freedom with the choice of appointment time, although again they try to have the appointments within a week or so. Community colleges can hire 30 or more tenure-track positions each year, and the president and vice-president (or dean) must interview 3 or so finalists for each of these positions; thus, interviewing is a major part of the job of a president and vice-president during the months of April and May (I would say).
I'm told that when the three finalists are chosen, they already have been ranked by the hiring committee, and that the second interview is designed for the administrators to confirm the first choice of the committee, or possibly decide that they would prefer one of the other finalists. This second interview may be as formal as the first (at one school, a staffmember accompanied me to the interview in order to make sure that nothing "inappropriate" occurred - this was very strange, since I did not know whether I should include her in the conversation or whether she were there simply as an objective monitor), or it may be much more relaxed. Often I was impressed with how familiar the president was with details of my vita and/or application.
Throughout the interview process at nearly all of the schools, there was no opportunity to meet with mathematics faculty who were not on the committee, or to chat informally with committee members, or even to visit the department or tour the campus in general. Clearly this is very different from the process at 4-year schools. I was one of 7 finalists at one community college outside of California, which paid for my travel and arranged an all-day interview that included lunch, a tour and much informal discussion. This was quite an exception.
I often was a finalist, but rarely was offered a position. I am guessing that because I had not taught at a community college before, and that I had not taught full-time before, schools were reluctant to hire me. (I recommend that anyone interested in applying for a full-time position at a community college try to get a part-time job at one first, for the experience.) Fortunately, on the night of my very last interview, I received an offer from the school that was my top choice, Santa Monica College. While I don't know for sure, I believe that the committee was impressed by my letters of recommendation (I had asked my advisor to write a separate letter for community colleges, stressing teaching and very much reducing the amount of space dedicated to my research), and by my having attended and taught at schools with which SMC has special relationships. My having a Ph.D. may have been an advantage, since I was applying for a position with title "Instructor (Cross-Level)," meaning I primarily will teach transfer-level courses (precalculus and higher). This department hires some instructors as Cross-Level, some as Developmental-Level, and others with no restrictions. I think that having a Ph.D. is a double-edged sword: departments and colleges like to boast of the number of their Ph.D. recipients, and yet they automatically will have to pay someone with a doctorate at the high end of the pay scale.
So far I love my job and feel very fortunate to have been offered the position (there were hundreds of applicants). I would appreciate any feedback and welcome any questions.