By now, you’ve probably heard about the scholar who had a tenure-track job offer rescinded after she tried negotiating on a number of terms. That incident has stoked a lot of talk on an important question: What’s the right way to go about negotiate an academic offer? We asked our experts to dole out some advice.
Given the hiring climate we’re in, what advice would you give to young academics on negotiating?
Let’s get one thing out in the open right away: A faculty job offer at a community college is pretty much a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Yet perhaps there is a faint glimmer of hope in that qualifying phrase—"pretty much.”
Say you go through the interview process for a full-time faculty position at a community college and you’re offered the job. (Congratulations!) Your starting salary will almost certainly be dictated by a system-mandated or union-negotiated scale. Once the administration has determined where you fall on that scale, based on your education and years of experience, they have very little leeway to offer you more money, even if you threaten to walk.
Other perks that are more or less common at four-year institutions, such as lab space, graduate assistants, and research grants, are virtually non-existent at community colleges. Whatever travel money the college might have (and lately, at most community colleges, it hasn’t been much) is generally divided up equally among the full-time faculty. Reductions in teaching load are usually reserved for senior faculty members engaged in vital and time-consuming projects, such as chairing major collegewide committees. Even the starting date is probably firm.
So there’s really very little left to negotiate—except, perhaps, where you fall on the salary scale. And that’s a key detail, because all your future raises will be influenced by that initial placement.
Remember what I said about the scale at virtually all community colleges—that it’s based on education and experience. Under the heading of education, most two-year schools recognize essentially three levels: master’s, “master’s plus 30” (meaning 30 graduate semester hours), and doctorate.
Years ago, I left my graduate program with a master’s degree and 30 hours beyond the master’s to take a full-time teaching position at a community college in another state. In our initial discussions, the administration assured me that I would come in at the “master’s plus 30” level. However, after reviewing my transcript, the academic vice president decided that one of my courses didn’t count because it had the same number as another course. That left me three hours short and meant a difference of nearly $2,000 in starting salary (which was a lot of money back then).
Fortunately, I was able to obtain a letter from my graduate director attesting to the fact that the two independent study courses in question, although they had the same number, were in fact two different courses with different content. The academic VP accepted that explanation and gave me the higher salary.
I don’t know if that actually counts as negotiating, but, as I said, educational level is one of the few areas where there’s any wiggle room at all. I didn’t like where I was originally pegged but fortunately was able to wiggle my way up a bit.
The other area where you might have some room to negotiate—and which could have a huge effect on your starting salary—is experience. Most salary schedules are simple tables with “educational level” on one axis and “years of experience” on the other. Regardless of where you fall on the education axis, the more years of experience you can claim, the higher your salary will be.
But here’s where it gets tricky: Two-year institutions, even in the same system, often define “experience” very differently. Some only count years spent teaching full-time at the college level. However, more and more schools these days are taking “part-time equivalency” into consideration (which is only fitting, since so many people start out as adjuncts). For example, since a typical full-time load for community college faculty is five courses each semester, some schools will count 10 courses taught on a part-time basis as the equivalent of a year’s worth of full-time experience.
Most community colleges don’t recognize teaching experience at the high school level or below. However, some will count high school experience, especially if the college and the high school in question are part of the same entity (such as a local school system or county government). And others give candidates partial credit for their high school years, perhaps on a two-for-one basis.
The bottom line is that this one of the very few ways you can significantly improve your situation during the community college “negotiating” process. If the administration really wants you, but they know they can’t simply offer you more money (because it would violate the policy or contract), yet you have some documented experience that falls in a gray area—either because it’s part-time or at the high school level—they may, just may, be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, count as much of your experience as they can possibly justify, and try to bump up your salary that way.
I have heard of that sort of thing happening—heck, I’ve participated in it as an administrator—and I would say that, while it’s not exactly common, it’s not all that rare, either.
Just know that after all is said and done—once you’ve made all your arguments and they’ve been accepted or rejected—you have to be prepared either to take the offer on the table or, if it’s just not enough money, walk away. Because, in the end, that may be the only thing you really control.
Here’s what other academics had to say in the Negotiation 101 series:
