First part-time University positions! Some questions!

19 comments

1. This is actually a pertinent thread!

   Bumping for more info

2. Its fairly standard and is a good deal. Just remember though, being part time they dont provide health insurance/pension which if you were full time previously you’ll now be on the hook for. The Uni schedule is fantastic and gives you almost too much time off. If either of these schools have the ability for you to publish in their in house journals it can perhaps give you the chance to get a direct hire position in the future once you have a few under your belt.

3. * There is probably no catch for the time off.
   * 6 *koma* is a lot for many universities. Four is usually the cap for places I know.
   * The salary looks reasonable for these days. (One place I’m at pays about 10,000/*koma* more, but no one ever quits, as might be expected.)
   * The year limit is kind of new: it started about 10 years ago; some universities don’t follow it. I’ve been doing some part-time university work at the same place for more than 25 years.
   * If you want a full-time job, get a doctorate.
   * Remember that university work is not *eikaiwa* work: you’ll likely have larger classes, and you’ll be held responsible for justifying the grades that you give. Plan on spending about 2 hours in paperwork, record-keeping, and planning for every hour you’ll be in class.

4. Both rates look perfectly normal. You aren’t expected to do anything extra during vacation but it would be a good idea to prep your first few lessons in advance and slide shows to give you some breathing room in the first few weeks. Some unis want you to publish in their in house journal. You might have a meeting a week or so before the new semester.

   The University should provide some sort of syllabus or prescribed text book for the class usually if it’s the basic required English classes but I don’t know what classes / subjects you’re teaching.

   I don’t know why 4 vs. 5 years but the cut off is because after 5 years they’d have to offer you full time employment and god forbid pay benefits or give teachers a better salary.

   Yes you will be paid during vacation or else no teachers would do this job 😂

5. 12 koma should be plenty to begin with. Hopefully you have multiple sections of the same course so you don’t have lots of different classes to prep.

   You’ll need a syllabus to go from day one. If you don’t know what to include in it then look at some other syllabi, preferably from Japanese universities because the work load is a lot lighter than western ones. Your students will probably be taking a ridiculous number of classes as well as working two jobs (one a late night shift at an izakaya) and being in their circle. But don’t give them a free pass. I like to make the syllabus pretty loose at the start until I get a better idea of their level. Then later I’ll give them details about their major assignments.

   Publish in your in-house journal (kiyo), you’ll need publications to get full-time jobs.

6. 1. rates look normal. I find the way you’re posting it confusing but that seems to be how most universities do it.
   2. probably 6 is the maximum to draw a distinction between the sort of per-koma 非常勤講師 and full-time faculty. In fact, 6 is pretty high for that.
   3. No catch.
   4. Yes.
   5. Welcome to the chaos that is Japanese universities. This is particularly amplified for English gen. ed. classes which exist as a MEXT requirement more than a well-thought part of the curriculum.
   6. Both are trying to circumvent the permanent conversion law (無期転換) law in a legal way (see below).
   7. At most places, no one is watching you at all. Don’t make a fuss and keep making those yennies.

   ​

   The law ([Labor Contract Act](https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3744) Article 18) states that if you contract 5 years + 1 day, you can submit something letting you work the same deal until retirement. The law includes a proviso against kicking someone out right before is illegal (Labor Contract Act article 19). There’s an exception for university researchers and tenure-line faculty that kicks it up to 10 years. Lawsuits seem to be favoring that this doesn’t apply to people hired just for teaching.

   The 4-year reading is to avoid running afoul of Article 19 even thought the 5-year reading doesn’t clearly do so. Oddly, limiting someone to five years is legal despite its entire purpose being to avoid letting them go over and five and go permanent.

   Where I am universities care greatly about this law for full-timers but don’t think about it all for part-timers.

7. Full-time teacher at a university, also teacher part-time on my research days.

   1. The rates are pretty standard, not the highest but still ok.

   2. There are 2 reasons. The first one is if you work too many hours in one place, you may be able to get recognized as a full-time employee and get them to pay for your shakai hoken (however, 7 or 8 komas could still be considered under that limit). The second reason, which is I think the real one in most cases, is that part-time teachers may quit without much notice (as they are entitled to). Finding a replacement for 7, 8, or 9+ komas suddenly is very difficult.

   3. You don’t get paid holidays, they pay what they owe you. It’s easier for everyone to pay you a fixed salary every month rather than calculate how many hours you taught. Your 28,500/month is actually: hourly rate x 90 minutes x 15 weeks / 6 months. They pay you less than what they should during the semester and pay the rest during the holidays.

   However be aware that this pay covers not only teaching hours, but also all the time used to answer students’ mails, write the syllabus, etc.

   4. Most places will start posting job offerings around January when their part-time teachers quit/change universities. You can find a gig for Thursdays at that time. But I would recommend taking that day for yourself and use it for research/preparing your classes. At least the first semester.

   5. Coordinated programs are a pain to manage and don’t have much benefits for most average level universities. Some places may ask you to use a specific textbook or choose from a list. But usually you are given the learning goals of the course and are expected to create your own syllabus from there.

   6. Most places have a 5-year limit, it’s a way to ensure that you will not be able to claim a tenured position.

   7. You can contact publishing companies to get inspection copies of textbooks. Usually the deadline for submitting the syllabi is around January/February so if you need to choose your textbook yourself, be sure to ask for those inspection copies in advance.

8. Sounds almost exactly the same as my post graduation schedule and salary.

9. Man that is about the same I made as an ALT.

   Might ask what you did for networking to get classes?

10. Seems pretty standard, depending on where you are living. In the Aichi area, per koma rates start around 23,000, up to abour 40,000. Ironically, better ranked schools seem to pay less! Over time, teachers often ‘trade up’ to higher paying schools from lower.

    Most schools have a designated “gaijin wrangler”, a full time foreign teacher who is tasked with taking care of the part time lecturers. He/She would be your contact for details about the classes, curricula, etc. If you are teaching classes in an actual English department, the books and syllabi will probably be pre-selected. If you are teaching English to non-language majors, you may have more leeway.

    Your workload is pretty easy for seasoned lecturers. I have 19 koma now and it is not too stressful. The long holidays make up for the occasional busy week of marking!

    Best of luck and welcome to the jungle!

11. Congrats! Did you do grad school online?

12. First of all, congratulations. You’ve really hit the jackpot with 12 koma your first year in university teaching. Most people can’t do that, so well done.

    >1. Do these “Rates” look right? Is this about the average per koma? I’ll be making 320,000 a month for 4 days a week between the two which seems good but I just want to confirm. My previous job was at AEON for about 270,000 so this seems good to me

    Yes. These rates look normal (at least for Kansai where I am based). When you get your contract, it will have a per hour rate. For example, ¥5000 per hour. Each 90-minute koma (class meeting) will be billed as two hours, so ¥10,000 per class meeting. There are 15 class meetings (one per week for 15 weeks) per semester, so your total pay for the term will be ¥150,000 per koma (course). The university for your convenience (to make sure that you have a consistent salary) then divides the total payment by six months and pays you a ‘salary’ each month. So, ¥150,000 divided by six is ¥25,000 per month. This number is then multiplied by the number of koma (courses) that you teach. Which in this case will be 6 x ¥25,000 = ¥150,000 salary per month.

    ​

    >2. I asked if there was a possibility to work more than 6 koma in the future and they said no. Why is 6 the maximum?

    The Ministry of Education (MEXT) limits the number of koma a part-timer can teach to no more than the teaching load of a full-timer at the same institution. So, if the course load for a tenured professor is six koma, then part-timers are also limited to no more than six koma. This is a hard limit. Only in very exceptional cases (like emergencies) can a part-timer have more classes than a full-timer, and usually only for one academic year. At some universities, the limit for a tenured professor is eight koma, but six is the norm. At most institutions, they set the limit for part-timers well below the limit for full-timers, oftentimes four koma, so the fact that you have been given six at each is quite good. They must really like you.

    ​

    >3. I was told I get paid even during the long breaks. I’m a little in shock how much free time I get after working Eikwawa. Is there a catch?

    Welcome to university teaching. Adjunct faculty (part-timer and contract lecturers) are not expected to do anything outside of teaching, so you will be ‘free’ for about 22 weeks per year. Having said that…
    One catch is that prep and grading are on you, meaning that they are not going to schedule time for you to do that. They expect that you will do it during your non-teaching time.
    Also, you will be expected to check your email regularly throughout the summer and spring breaks for messages from kyomuka (the education department). For example, if a student challenges their grade during the summer, they will expect you to read that email and respond even though you are ‘off’ during the summer.
    Another thing, unlike an eikaiwa, who will schedule a substitute teacher, any class that you can’t teach MUST be made up. So, for example if you get sick and have to cancel classes that day, you will have to come in on another day and teach make-up lessons. This is mandated by the MEXT. Some universities have set make-up lesson days, other leave it up to the lecturer to decide. If you cancel, you might have to teach on a Saturday or in the evening to make-up the classes. So, your schedule might include some classes that are at different times.

    >4. Can I maybe find some part-time gig to earn more money on Thursday? I’m on a spousal visa btw

    Of course. Your time is your own. What you do when you are not scheduled for class is your decision. If you want to work more, than go ahead, but I would recommend that you spend that day doing prep and grading. Remember that they don’t give you time for that, so you are your own. I think you’ll find, especially in your first year, that you will be quite busy with 12 koma. Unless you are planning on just winging in your classes (something that a lot of eikaiwa teachers do), I don’t think you’ll have time for a third job.

    >5. Neither university seemed very organized and said I basically have to be on my own for what I teach. Is this the norm?

    Yes. But it isn’t what you think. They are organized, but not like eikaiwas–they are not going to babysit you. Universities hire professionals and as a professional they expect that you know what you are doing and that you do not need constant supervision. Most eikaiwas think their teachers are not professional and need to be micro managed otherwise they won’t do any work at all.

    For example, eikaiwas design the classes for you and tell you want to teach and when. However universities have curriculum documents that outline their educational program. You are expected to read those documents as design your classes accordingly.
    Having said that, you will have to file a syllabus for all of your classes. Usually, the deadline is in December or January. The syllabus will be reviewed by a professor and a member of kyomuka. If there is anything that is that is not part of their curriculum, they will flag it and send it back to you for revision. My advice is to pull the syllabi from other lecturers at the same institution and follow what they have done. Use the same textbooks and grading schemes in your first year, and when you get some experience then you can begin to experiment with your own ideas. JSYK, all universities are required by MEXT to publish their syllabi on a public area of their website, so you can read what others have done. Go to the “シラバス” section usually under the “学部・学科” section of the website.

    >6. University A said I can work there for 4 years while University B said I can work there for 5 years? Why the difference?

    Each university interprets the five-year contract limit law differently. At some institutions they want you to finish well before the limit. At others, they will let you work right up to the line.

    >7. Anything else I should know about working at university? I start next April and I’m both excited and nervous!

    Yes. A few things.
    First of all, the learning curve for university teaching is pretty big, but everyone before you has done it. Make friends with the other part-timers and ask them for help when you need it. Most people remember what it was like when they were new and will help you out. I also recommend that you are friendly with the administration staff. There is usually a person assigned to the part-time teacher’s lounge who can help you. If not, then there is usually a person at kyomuka that is assigned to help you. Make sure you know who those people are (and their contact information) and establish a good relationship with them. A big mistake that new teachers make is to think of them like they did their manager at eikaiwa and antagonize them. They are there to help you, but if you act like a brat they will not be willing to help you out.
    Also, there will be a handbook in your mailbox in the first week of class. Make sure you read that handbook and keep it at home where you can easily access it. It will have all the information you need about things like what to do if there is a typhoon, or what to do if you are sick. There will also be a calendar with all of the class meeting days and paperwork deadlines such the deadlines for grades. Too many part-timers just throw the handbook into the bin (because it is in Japanese) and then are clueless about the policies and procedures of the university and then get in trouble because they are not following procedure.
    Finally, the key to getting ahead and having a career, and not just a few years as a part-timer, is to do research. You should spend your non-teaching time doing research, writing papers, etc. The biggest mistake that I see young lecturers make is to waste their 22 weeks a year of ‘off time’ sitting around the house watching Netflix. Use that time to get ahead in your career. Think of non-teaching time not as vacation, but as research time.
    Good luck!

13. 1. Looks good for monthly.

    2. Probably 8+ koma is what they are paying the full-time contractors. They don’t want to blur those lines most likely for legal reasons.

    3. With monthly pay it is normal. If not, they will pay you per class.

    4. Nothing stopping you.

    5. Normal.

    6. Rules to skirt legality issues. Some want to be safer than other places.

    7. Just do your best. Remember you are part-time, not full-time. Make sure you don’t burn yourself out with homework checking. Enjoy it as much as you can.

14. I taught non-English classes part-time in a med school as a tenured professor for a few semesters as my specialty is rare, and the rate was more than double even during holidays. I was lucky. At my university, full time was 5-6 classes, no exceptions.

    But for the first year, it is a good wage, but that is a lot of classes and adjunct or 非常勤 teachers are generally not considered faculty, but are there to fill in when full-time time is unavailable or not wanted. After a year or two, you will be burned out due to a lack of affiliation with the department and the students. Try to jump to full-time as soon as you can.

    The irony of the issue is when we hired teachers, we basically eliminated all adjunct or 非常勤 teachers from applying for full-time positions. This practice is quite common, but not an absolute.

    So, if you can use the university’s name where you work, publish all you can and shoot for the highest ranking international journal available (web of science at minimum or a similar ranking which has a high impact factor). That, and teaching experience will get you a tenured position if you can learn to do committee work in Japanese. Then you are set. Good luck!

15. That will be a lot of work if you take both, especially the first year, but it’s up to you. The rest is normal, as the others have said.

16. You’re getting paid 320,000 yen a month to teach *12 koma*?! That seems low to me. 12 koma is a lot of work. I feel like you should be getting paid more.

    For reference, my previous workplace had me working 10 koma and my take home was just under 390,000/month, give or take.

17. The wages seem fine, but you are likely to find yourself working very hard teaching 12 koma. It sounds like you aren’t being given a syllabus or any guidance at all, so you are going to be quite busy planning classes. Hopefully those classes are all of the same type so that you’re not planning 12 unique lessons a week. If you’re just planning three or four lessons, I think you’ll find it tough but doable. Start planning your syllabi now. You must at least have the names and vague goals of the classes as well as class size estimates to go on.

    Also, I’d recommend devising an evaluation system that means you don’t need to do any out of class marking (ie all tests are oral). Otherwise you’re going to end up working 60 hours a week in term time (although you’re right that you will largely have holidays to yourself).

    Your second and subsequent years on the job will feel more like it in terms of money to time but expect to feel very tired in your first. Don’t fill up that Thursday until you’re settled in.

18. One thing I’d add to the great answers you’ve already received: Students may challenge their grades, and if that happens, you have to provide an itemized breakdown of the grade that matches the grade breakdown in the syllabus. So, for example,
    Exam: 30%
    Quizzes: 25%
    Homework: 15%
    Classwork: 30%
    If that’s the syllabus, you’d have to show how many quizzes they missed and their total points, how you assessed the Classwork portion, etc. So, Excel or another spreadsheet program is your friend here. Record everything, and instead of letting an Excel formula calculate the entire grade, set it up to calculate each section from the syllabus, and then just have it add those up. This makes grade challenges much easier to handle.

    If you’re giving some kind of grade for classwork, think about how you’ll collect those points, and how to ensure it’s fair. You may have to justify a low grade, so document how you came up with all of the points.

    Also, know what the grades mean. At my university, below 60 is a failing grade. When you report the grades at the end of the semester, your uni might have special codes for specific situations, like “222” instead of a 0 for a student who barely ever showed up, or another code for someone who missed the final exam with a valid excuse, so they’ll be allowed to take a make-up exam later.

19. One aspect of things to add to the other great posts here–besides the usual 15 weeks of classes, there is an extra week or ten days after each term for exams, and then (on you) whatever time after the exam for grading that and calculating and submitting the overall term grades.

    Exams: sometimes these are all up to you, or you may share doing an exam with one or more other teachers (you all have separate sections of a specific course), or a school may have some kind of common/standardized exam system.

    It’s a little more rare these days, but some schools may have a make-up exam period, usually at the end of the break before the next term begins (called 追再試験 where I worked). This is for students who either missed the exam–with good reason–or failed it and are to be given a second chance. But as I say, this system is less common now.

    Also, you may be asked (or not) to allocate a relatively large portion of your overall grade to the final exam, vs any classwork-related stuff. At my school this system was to keep things fair for the students, and to minimize the variation in grading and other classroom requirements among teachers doing separate sections of the same course. (but whether that worked or not…?)

    Good luck!

    PS–with 12 koma organization will be key. As others have said, your first year will be hard, but then the second you will likely be repeating (polishing & improving) a lot of what you did the first year.

    Keeping your files organized and preserved for any given course is like putting future work in the bank–the payoff in subsequent years can be great. Add some notes _to yourself_ in your files about what worked and what didn’t, so you can read that when you open a given folder the following year.