Today I am pondering the true value of experience. My pondering is a result of my discovery that I can no longer teach college level courses that I taught for 5+ years because minimum requirements have changed from holding a Master's Degree, to holding a Master's Degree with a minimum of 18 hours in the exact discipline you wish to teach.
I hold a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Communication. Communication as a major means that you take courses in all facets of communicating from Public Address to Written Communications, to Communication Disorders to Broadcast Journalism and so on. It is a degree that takes in a broad spectrum of topics all dealing with means of communication. And up until now, my degrees have served me well and made it possible for me to teach.
I recently decided that I want to teach again. For a period of 5 years, I was an adjunct instructor at several colleges while I held corporate positions in direct selling companies. Now throughout my career, I used just about every form of communication possible. I communicated via the written word, phone, webcam, video, live conversations and from stage with audiences as large as 4000. It was not unusual to write a script or presentation, marry it with slides (back in the day) or PowerPoint images and present it. I was called upon to present in boardrooms, offices, committee meetings, courtrooms and arenas. I was blessed with the ability to connect with my audiences and I was and am extremely comfortable in any public speaking role.
I was very excited to learn that a local college had a need for an adjunct instructor for Public Speaking classes. I had taught at this college previously, so I was very confident when I submitted my application. Well, imagine my surprise when they responded that I was not qualified, because I did not have 18 hours of Master level course week specifically in Public Speaking. What? I honestly can't imagine taking 6 classes all dealing with Public Speaking. I don't even know if that's possible!
Anyway, as I spoke with the HR person, I inquired if my 30 years of business experience had any value. After all, I would be teaching something that I had physically done successfully. I think speaking to audiences of 4000 qualifies as knowing what I'm doing. The answer was no. So, what this boils down to is that a college would prefer to have students taught by someone fresh out of grad school who sat in a classroom to gain 18 hours of credit in a discipline as a part of their degree requirements, than someone who has a Master's Degree and 30 years experience. Does that make sense? Now I know public speaking isn't brain surgery, but it still is an art not a science and it takes someone who engages in it frequently to truly understand how to teach it. And I don't mean telling someone to picture the audience in their underwear! Please!!
So, I am frustrated and very disappointed. What the new guidelines are saying is that after 30 years outside the classroom in the real world, I'm not capable to teach public address, business, marketing, business writing or business communication. Huh! Good thing my bosses never knew that when they asked me to write those proposals, or address the CEO, or make those training videos, or teach those classes or speak from main stage!
