Associate Lecturer Query

Van Doozy

Hi all. Quick query if you'd be so kind.

I see that my local IT advertising for 'Associate Lecturers'. The ad is light enough on detail, and I can't see much info online either when I search.

My understanding is that this is part time work, usually for people who are already in day jobs, teaching the likes of springboard courses one or two evenings a week. I like the idea of doing this, and I would meet their educational and experiential requirements.

Just wondering if anyone here does or has done this work, or has colleagues who are associate lecturers? What would be expected of the lecturer? Is there a permanent lead lecturer to prepare the syllabus and write the notes? Do you need much teaching experience? Is it financially worth it?

Thanks!

mr potato head

Is it listed as "Assistant Lecturer" or "HPAL (Hourly Paid Assistant Lecturer)" rather than Associate?

• The Assistant Lecturer is a full-time lecturer role (unless specifically stated in the advert) and requires 18 hours of class interaction. All prep, delivery, assessment, corrections, feedback etc. for the modules is outside of that 18 hrs class time and is part of the role.
  
• For HPALs, you can have the same responsibilities in terms of prep and delivery. You would get paid by the taught hour (not hours worked in preparation)
  That could be a single hours of teaching or a couple of modules.

In either case, the term "Assistant" is misleading. In 95% of cases you aren't assisting anyone and you would be fully responsible for delivering content in line with the syllabus which is outlined in "Module Descriptors" for the courses you are teaching on.
Unless you are very lucky and inherit notes (rare), you would need to create teaching and assessment content yourself. You would have access to previous exam papers to work with if there are formal exams on the modules.
In my experience, this is about 3-5 hours per taught hour when starting out if you have no previous notes to work from. So you could see 60-80 hour work weeks during term.

Is it financially worth it?
Depends on what industry you are coming from, My wife and myself took significant pay cuts to move from industry to lecturing. But in other industries, the pay might be compatible or even higher.
I have graduates from last year earning similar or more than me in their first year in industry.
HPALs get paid €61.75 per taught hour, but don't forget that this could cover 2-3 hours of prep/admin too.

The pay scales can be found here - tui.ie - Third Level Pay Scales

Van Doozy

Thank you for the comprehensive reply. To answer this:

Is it listed as "Assistant Lecturer" or "HPAL (Hourly Paid Assistant Lecturer)" rather than Associate?

It's definitely Associate. It seems to match your HPAL description though.

They're advertising for job title 'assistant lecturer' for other roles.

mr potato head

That's interesting, it's a departure from the language and job titles used in the IT/TU sector towards that used in the traditional university sector.
If they are the one's that I just looked at, you are right that they are light on detail!

But yes I would guess that it's more or less the HPAL model, I would expect to include a good bit of time for content development, learning time for Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and admin outside your paid teaching hours.

You could ask for clarification from the institution on the remuneration from the institution.

griffin100

Is this IT Carlow? I’ve done some time as an associate lecturer for them.

When I did it it was all evening work as their full time staff did the day teaching. I did 2hr sessions @ approx €60 per hour and for that I had to do all prep re lecture notes, presentations, exams, etc. After tax I was coming out with about €60 per evening so you won’t get rich. It can be interesting though and I found it a good way to make contacts for consultancy (I was doing a bit of consultancy at the time). In the end I did it for a couple of years but for me it wasn’t worth the hassle in the end with trying to get home from work to give the lectures on time and after a couple of years they changed the syllabus and I would have had to rewrite all my notes so I gave it up.

I was dealing with adult learners who can be a mixed bag, everyone from highly qualified engineers to people who had no qualifications or technical knowledge. Getting the level and complexity of content at the right level was a challenge.

I had no real oversight or input from anyone and was left to design the module as I wanted so that was a plus.

Van Doozy

Thanks griffin that's very helpful. Yes it's ITCarlow. I hadn't realised just how independently someone in this role was expected to work. based on your reply there's a lot less support than I had anticipated. I would be comfortable with the course content but I am not so sure about designing a module from scratch myself!

Geuze

Van Doozy wrote: »

Thanks griffin that's very helpful. Yes it's ITCarlow. I hadn't realised just how independently someone in this role was expected to work. based on your reply there's a lot less support than I had anticipated. I would be comfortable with the course content but I am not so sure about designing a module from scratch myself!

Many/most lecturers are expected to work independently.

Designing a module from scratch is part of the job.

Tiredandcranky

mr potato head wrote: »

Is it listed as "Assistant Lecturer" or "HPAL (Hourly Paid Assistant Lecturer)" rather than Associate?

• The Assistant Lecturer is a full-time lecturer role (unless specifically stated in the advert) and requires 18 hours of class interaction. All prep, delivery, assessment, corrections, feedback etc. for the modules is outside of that 18 hrs class time and is part of the role.
  
• For HPALs, you can have the same responsibilities in terms of prep and delivery. You would get paid by the taught hour (not hours worked in preparation)
  That could be a single hours of teaching or a couple of modules.

In either case, the term "Assistant" is misleading. In 95% of cases you aren't assisting anyone and you would be fully responsible for delivering content in line with the syllabus which is outlined in "Module Descriptors" for the courses you are teaching on.
Unless you are very lucky and inherit notes (rare), you would need to create teaching and assessment content yourself. You would have access to previous exam papers to work with if there are formal exams on the modules.
In my experience, this is about 3-5 hours per taught hour when starting out if you have no previous notes to work from. So you could see 60-80 hour work weeks during term.

Is it financially worth it?
Depends on what industry you are coming from, My wife and myself took significant pay cuts to move from industry to lecturing. But in other industries, the pay might be compatible or even higher.
I have graduates from last year earning similar or more than me in their first year in industry.
HPALs get paid €61.75 per taught hour, but don't forget that this could cover 2-3 hours of prep/admin too.

The pay scales can be found here - tui.ie - Third Level Pay Scales

Out of curiosity.., what scale do assistant lecturers progress to? Is the L1 or L2 scale (on the TUI site). There seems to be a big difference between them.

Geuze

Tiredandcranky wrote: »

Out of curiosity.., what scale do assistant lecturers progress to? Is the L1 or L2 scale (on the TUI site). There seems to be a big difference between them.

Somebody in the past had a lovely explanation of the various IoT grades here, I'll try to find it.

Geuze

I found it:



"Well, they are simply different salary grades, and which one you are on depends on what you do, when you started, and whether you’ve been promoted.

College Teacher (CT) => Teaching role for vocational/trade occupations only (though some CTs have IIRC later gone onto the lecturer scales so there are trades lecturers in some instances). Not sure how much recruitment goes on at the CT scale anymore TBH.

Assistant Lecturer (AL) => This is the standard entry point for new entrants today (and for the last 10+ years). AL is where you have to set your sights starting off.

Lecturer Scale I (L1) => This is a legacy scale. It was the old “entry point” and you can’t be recruited or moved onto it anymore. Many (most?) long-established lecturers are at the top of this scale and will basically stay there until they retire.

Lecturer Scale II (L2) => This is, again, a legacy scale and no longer available. Generally, L1’s could apply for L2 positions whenever they arose (which was a rare event – if an L2 retired, for instance).

Lecturer Scale (L) => This has the exact same salary structure as the old L2 scale, but it is a current scale that people can be recruited/promoted onto. Generally, AL’s who have reached the top of the AL scale (plus a year IIRC) can be promoted onto the first point of the L scale if they have the requisite postgraduate qualifications. The top of this scale is generally where the newer (non-L1) lecturers will end up at the end of the day.

Senior Lecturer Scale I (SL1) => This is, in effect, the highest *teaching* grade you can reach. Very rare, and there may only be one or two in a department (if any). Almost like a “chair” in a university, I suppose. You will only be able to apply for SL1 if it becomes available (e.g. retirement of an existing SL1 and the Institute decide to refill it). Have your PhD/publications record/PhD supervision record/funding record/nobel prize etc. in place to stand a fighting chance. Basically, don’t count on or expect to get SL1; most lecturers end up on the top of L1 or L2/L and stay there.

Senior Lecturer Scale II => This is reserved for Head of Department (management).

Senior Lecturer III => This is reserved for Head of School (management).

All scales follow a “one increment per year” pattern until the top of the scale is reached (the increment isn’t technically automatic, but IIRC your manager has to notify you officially and in good time for you to rectify things if your performance is demonstrably inadequate to receive the next increment). You can jump over increments on only a few occasions e.g. promotion to a higher grade => your point will be the one that is equal to/just above your current salary; AL’s with a PhD can get onto point 1 of the Lecturer scale a couple of years earlier than AL’s without one (they have to stay at that point for a couple of years before getting further increments, though). Initial appointments to AL do not technically have to be on point 1 (for exceptional/experienced applicants, say), but point 1 AL appointments are still pretty much standard.

I sure there have been exceptions/nuances, but the above is pretty accurate. Note that lecturers (of any grade) do not get any qualifications allowances in the way that e.g. secondary teachers do. Additional part-time/overtime work is paid at the lowest point of the lowest scale (AL Pt 1) regardless of your actual grade.

So, in short, you will start out on the AL scale (usually point 1) and end up on the top of the L scale. Competition will be fierce for that AL appointment, though – saw an ad recently for a psychology AL that baldly expected a PhD, and I know of a recent PhD who has only 2 hours per week pro-rata teaching and can’t get any more at the moment. Yikes!

Anyway, the best of luck, and I hope this helps!"

mr potato head

Tiredandcranky wrote: »

Out of curiosity.., what scale do assistant lecturers progress to? Is the L1 or L2 scale (on the TUI site). There seems to be a big difference between them.

As Geuze posted, you progress to the "L" or Lecturer scale, progression is slightly different in different institutions, but it's essentially a case of showing you meet the job description.

To be honest, in the real world there is no real difference between the roles besides those on the L scale getting paid more and having fewer hours.
Most of the ALs I know do as much (or more) research, admin and teaching innovation as many on the other scales, unfortunately, it's not a meritocracy.

SL1 positions are like gold dust in most departments