Visiting Instructor / Visiting Assistant Professor
Pros
Generally on your own and able to create your own lesson plans.
Cons
*Incredibly low pay for a professional teaching position - less than a McDonald's manager. Visiting positions are paid the same regardless of experience or expertise. ($32,000 for Visiting Instructors and $43,000 for visiting asst. professors annually in 2017 - NOT what Glassdoor says) *Isolated location surrounded by farms and stuck in a pizza. burger college town (doesn't even have a movie theater) every restaurant is filled with students, other options are 30-40 minutes away *University has a huge budget for entertaining the students (events, sports, free meals, etc...) but keeps salaries low. They are proud that they are 'lean' - but the staff and faculty are paying for it with a low quality of life. *The students are generally from upper middle-class families and tend to expect special treatment and spoon-feeding. Entitled and quick to complain if anything doesn't favor them. *No training for safety / intruders, most training focused on anything the college could be held liable for. * Some departments have very few long term, full-time positions and just keep Visiting staff on the hook with promises that there 'could be' permanent positions in the future. After 5 years, they 'let you go', no matter how much you have contributed.
