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Continuing education instructor vs adjunct faculty

The differences between continuing education instructors and adjunct faculties can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a continuing education instructor and an adjunct faculty. Additionally, an adjunct faculty has an average salary of $83,069, which is higher than the $56,156 average annual salary of a continuing education instructor.

The top three skills for a continuing education instructor include professional development, course content and curriculum development. The most important skills for an adjunct faculty are student learning, syllabus, and philosophy.

Continuing education instructor vs adjunct faculty overview

Continuing Education InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Yearly salary$56,156$83,069
Hourly rate$27.00$39.94
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs45,95526,791
Job satisfaction3-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

What does a continuing education instructor do?

Continuing education instructors teach courses according to the outlines designed to assist their students in achieving the objectives. They conduct field trips and study tours to give their students a chance to learn and gain new experiences to help them achieve their goals. These instructors proctor examinations to track the progress of each student in the course and discuss the results. Providing community groups and individuals information about their programs and courses is also part of their job.

What does an adjunct faculty do?

Adjunct faculty is the collective term for adjunct professors or lecturers. The adjunct faculty teaches students based on the limited-term of their contract. Oftentimes, they teach preparatory or introductory courses by semester arrangement for the entire academic year. Most of them are employed in higher education. Unlike regular professors, adjunct faculty do not have benefits and are not required to be present in meetings. They can work as either a contract professor or a part-time professor.

Continuing education instructor vs adjunct faculty salary

Continuing education instructors and adjunct faculties have different pay scales, as shown below.

Continuing Education InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Average salary$56,156$83,069
Salary rangeBetween $35,000 And $90,000Between $45,000 And $152,000
Highest paying CityBerkeley, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyUniversity of California, BerkeleyHca Hospital Services Of San Diego
Best paying industryEducationGovernment

Differences between continuing education instructor and adjunct faculty education

There are a few differences between a continuing education instructor and an adjunct faculty in terms of educational background:

Continuing Education InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorBusinessNursing
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Continuing education instructor vs adjunct faculty demographics

Here are the differences between continuing education instructors' and adjunct faculties' demographics:

Continuing Education InstructorAdjunct Faculty
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 42.3% Female, 57.7%Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 11.2% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between continuing education instructor and adjunct faculty duties and responsibilities

Continuing education instructor example responsibilities.

  • Develop and manage syllabus material for exploration of non-precious metal design as it relates to contemporary art and fashion.
  • Manage a host multi-server Linux operating environment in support of those systems.
  • Present math in a positive learning environment, enabling employees to satisfy math requirements for their GED.
  • Work with HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript to create responsive, fluid designs.
  • Provide students and staff with information on ethics and confidentiality.
  • Subject matter include HTML tags and working with various file types.
  • Show more

Adjunct faculty example responsibilities.

  • Lead early childhood program initiatives.
  • Provide detail academic instruction for college students in anatomy & physiology, and medical terminology.
  • Prepare lectures, in-class exercises, and collect entirely new course materials to create a personalize syllabus
  • Inform students about course requirements, evaluation procedures, attendance and participation requirements in a course syllabus.
  • Facilitate teaching of online humanities course examining relationship between philosophy and ethics including issues relating to morality.
  • Provide instruction in accounting, economics, federal taxation, management, personnel and small business management.
  • Show more

Continuing education instructor vs adjunct faculty skills

Common continuing education instructor skills
  • Professional Development, 21%
  • Course Content, 10%
  • Curriculum Development, 7%
  • Math, 6%
  • Education Courses, 5%
  • Mathematics, 5%
Common adjunct faculty skills
  • Student Learning, 11%
  • Syllabus, 8%
  • Philosophy, 7%
  • Professional Development, 6%
  • Course Syllabus, 5%
  • Course Content, 5%

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