Southern New Hampshire University may be the fastest-growing university in the nation, but its mission remains focused on academic rigor and student success. SNHU’s College of Online and Continuing Education (COCE) instructors are committed to providing high-quality academic experiences and the support students need to progress toward their goals. Online faculty members work collaboratively in a supportive academic environment, partnering with student advising and the academic team to ensure that each student has individualized instruction as warranted and the support, tools and resources available to succeed.
The application process
Adjunct positions are offered to qualified applicants who live in and are authorized to work in the United States.
- Review course descriptions..
- Complete the online instructor application and attach your CV for review.
- Candidates applying to teach nursing courses are required to hold a N.H. Nursing License or be licensed in a state that is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact for consideration, and must also consent to both a criminal and sexual offender background check.
- If your qualifications match our current instructional needs, you will receive an email requesting official transcripts. Once all transcripts are received, your file will be reviewed by a member of faculty support team.
- Upon review of your file, if it is determined that your background and qualifications meet our needs, you will receive an email with ''Qualification Review Forms'' for the courses you are potentially qualified to teach. Once these forms are completed and returned, your file will be sent to the Associate Dean for final review.
- After receiving approval, we will provide you with details of our Online Instructor Training Program.
- Once you have successfully completed training, your name will be added to our faculty pool.
New Instructor Training
New instructor training is a blend of COCE instructor expectations, best practices for teaching online, pedagogy, creating student-centered learning communities, and effectively using COCE academic technologies. Our four week new instructor training program is delivered asynchronously, in an online cohort format, using Blackboard Learn 9.1. This training is unpaid and estimated to be a commitment level of two to five hours per week. New instructor training is the final piece of the recruitment process, ensuring all new instructors are technically and pedagogically competent in the classroom. It is required for all new COCE instructors.
Ongoing Training & Professional Development
To benefit our learning community, existing instructors are offered ongoing training & professional development opportunities. These opportunities include (but are not limited to) required training for system and learning resource upgrades and additions.
Teaching assignments
Please be aware that teaching assignments may be temporary, part-time and/or on-call and may be immediate or as needed, and we are not able to guarantee regular teaching appointments.
When scheduling for an upcoming term, potential instructors will be sent an assignment letter with a specified date in which the letter must be returned. If the assignment is not accepted by the specified date in the letter or is the letter is received after the date, the course will be re-assigned to another instructor.
Expectation of adjuncts
At SNHU, our instructors are instrumental in ensuring that students are successful in the classroom. This adherence to student success translates to instructors working individually with struggling students by providing them 1:1 support, collaborating with student advising and academic teams as well as giving course feedback. SNHU instructors are required to respond to student inquiries within 24 hours and be fully active in the online classroom five out of seven days per week.
Term length
All four graduate terms are 11 weeks in duration, and start (approximately) in September, January, March and June each academic year.
Most of the six undergraduate terms are 8 weeks. You will be informed of term start dates in your Assignment Notification.
Compensation and pay schedule
The compensation is $2,200 per 8-week undergraduate course, and $2,500 per 11-week graduate course.
Nursing has a separate compensation structure.
Undergraduate instructors are paid twice during the 8-week term.
Graduate instructors are paid three times during the 11-week term.
Course information
Most courses are capped at 25 students. Some writing intensive courses, such as Eng/Lit are capped at 22 students per class. In order for the class to run, there needs to be a minimum of 8 students registered for the class.
All exams are online, without the need for proctors. We also discourage the use of timed exams due to technical difficulties that may occur for students overseas and our military population.
All courses are asynchronous, as most of our students are located around the globe.
Faculty may include OPTIONAL synchronous elements to their courses (Office Hours, Skype, etc.), but will need to accommodate students in different time zones.
Course design
The majority of our courses are Content-Enhanced courses. The Content-Enhanced courses are already set up for delivery and the format is student-centered, media-rich and objective-driven. It is geared for reusability and emphasis is placed on consistency of content, scope and rigor, implementation of best practices and outcomes-based learning approaches. The Content-Enhanced course will be provided to you along with a facilitator's guide. We value the disciplinary competency you bring to the course and your students through feedback and insight you provide to your students. Any course modifications should be discussed with the appropriate Associate Dean.
Course materials
Subject matter experts together with the academic team and the instructional design team determine the required text(s) for each course.
As the instructor, you have the option to incorporate supplementary reading materials in your class such as free online web sources and/or the Shapiro Library, within your weekly announcements. Web based materials and resources can often add richness to your course and are free for the student. This is also a way for you the instructor to personalize your course and incorporate creativity.
Textbooks are determined for the academic year; however editions are subject to change at the discretion of the publisher. Please wait until you receive your assignment letter before ordering your free text desk copy from the publisher.
Adjunct faculty is responsible for obtaining their own textbook(s) and any available ancillaries from the publisher. Each term, a book list will be posted in the Adjunct Faculty section of mySNHU along with directions for ordering and publisher contact information.