Working Conditions for Online Faculty Salary, Workload, and Best Practices

Brick-and-Mortar Classroom  Average class size: elementary 20 secondary 23.4  Typical workweek: M-F, 8:00-4:00, with some additional prep time  $47,100 to $51,180 per year (public)  Health insurance, retirement, as per union and state contracts  Certification: BA,teaching cert, HQT status

Online Educator (general)  Average class size: varies by program – 60 to 120 for monitoring/advisory teachers  8:00-4:00 M-F, “minimal” after-hours prep  Salary – per state or district schedule for public schools, varies widely in national/for-profit programs where only part-time positions are offered  Health insurance, retirement, as per union and state contracts, some flexibility in working hours and location  Certification: BA,teaching cert, HQT status, familiarity with tools of on-line content delivery

Online Educator - Discreet Course(s)  Spectacular variation in class size – from 5-10 grad students to hundreds – no set standard at most institutions  Hours – variable and somewhat flexible. Prep time % greater – at least 10 hours for each hour of instruction  Salary usually identical to traditional but does not reflect additional prep time, salary may be based on enrollment  Benefits – not usually counted towards tenure  Advantages – Meets market demand for flexibility, allows great teacher control, can be very personalized

“Cash Cow” Issues Institutional Goals  Customer satisfaction  Maximum enrollment with minimal overhead  Same course – same teacher – less cost?  Adjunct faculty are “cheap”  Automated courses?  Minimal facility costs Faculty Reality  Size vs. quality/profit  Necessary technical support  Time commitment  Large sections may require graders, assistants, release time  Additional course design and delivery work not recognized

Best Practices (none of which save money)  Automated programs detract from the educational experience  Class size:  Larger classes subdivided into groups to allow for social presence, with assistance from graders, assistants, instructional designers  More student postings equals better learning  Available tech support  Time management: set office hours, automated grading, group projects, frequent opportunities for direct communication  Automated programs detract from the educational experience  Compensation: FTE/Credit adjust, merit pay, tenure, promotion consideration  Cooperation between faculty and admin. In setting on-line policy