The Osceola Center of Southwestern Community College (SWCC) is looking to expand class offerings with the help of experienced professionals in Clarke County and surrounding communities. With plans to add courses as well as increase face-to-face instruction, campus administrators are confident that Osceola and Clarke County have the ideal candidates to help. Individuals are encouraged to join the SWCC team as adjunct instructors on the Osceola campus.
As adjunct instructors, professionals from a variety of fields can bring their years of knowledge and experience into the Osceola center classrooms, helping students get a start on their own paths to success.
“We see great potential for bringing in talented and motivated instructors from the Clarke county area,” said Terri Higgins, Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management for SWCC. “From manufacturing to professional and executive personnel, the options throughout the area are impressive.”
For those who have ever considered teaching, the requirements to become an adjunct instructor for community colleges provide an easy way to share professional expertise and unique, real-world work experience. For career tech adjunct instructors – industrial tech, welding, auto body, etc. – the requirement is 6,000 hours of recent, relevant work experience with or without an associate’s degree. Arts and sciences instructors – math, applied sciences, language arts, etc. – who will help students get their AA or transferable credit hours for a four year college are asked to have a master’s level degree with 18 credit hours in the field they will be teaching.
The ideal candidates will have a drive to share their expertise with traditional and non-traditional students, teaching face-to-face at the Osceola Center.
“It can be intimidating as a working professional to step into the classroom,” said Sue Stearns, SWCC Osceola Center Coordinator. “Often times, our adjunct instructors have spent time in the work world training and mentoring others, and that’s the kind of experience these students need.”
Don Sheridan has been an adjunct instructor at the Osceola Center for more than twenty years, teaching speech, creative writing, introduction to literature, and Japanese history and culture.
“I love the opportunity to connect with students, seeing them improve throughout the course of the semester,” said Sheridan. “Through adjunct instructors, SWCC offers a kind of smorgasbord to the students. They get a variety of instructors, perspectives, and teaching styles they may not get otherwise.”
Sheridan’s average teaching course load varies between two to four classes per school year, a time commitment that suits his retirement schedule perfectly. Other professors carry class loads of two to three per semester and use the hours as supplemental income or, like Sheridan, as a way to add value to the community and the students’ futures.
“That’s the beauty of being an adjunct,” said Stearns. “Course loads are lighter, but the real-world perspectives and impact they make on our students and our community is invaluable.”
SWCC offers an affordable, local route to higher education, with a wide selection of classes and programs to usher students into valuable and fulfilling careers. The Osceola Center first opened in 1992, adding 8000 square feet in 1999 and expanding course offerings over the years. From welding and manufacturing, to nursing, criminal justice, history, and creative writing, there’s something for everyone.
“There’s been as many as eleven adjunct instructors in the classrooms here in Osceola, but the need is always growing,” said Bill Trickey, Executive Director of the CCDC and SWCC adjunct instructor of Business Management, Macro- and Micro-Economics, and Entrepreneurship. “We know that working professionals in Clarke County are an untapped resource that can make an incredible difference.”