[Meghan]

So I asked before about careers that don’t require a clean criminal record check. We discovered college instructors don’t. The college doesn’t check, surprisingly.

The person who has a criminal record has always wanted to be a school teacher but obviously that’s not possible. So now college instructing has come up as an option.

Wondering what online bachelor’s degrees in Canada (probably through Athabasca), eventually leading to a master’s…. or 2 year technical college diplomas would be best suited to instructing at the college level?

We’re thinking with a bachelor of arts he could instruct general education electives.

He speaks French and could probably pass a program in French if it was more technical, not papers and essay based (his french writing isnt great).

He really enjoys history and is insanely smart. Has a photographic memory and we think he will excel at any studies he takes on.

He has also considered something like heavy duty mechanic or loader operator training for the more practical side of studies.

But for those college instructors they prefer instructors with lots of industry experience which will be difficult to obtain with a record.

We live rural with no university hence the online option or college program.

[Steve]

My college in the US does background checks. Another thing is that some community colleges, at least in the U.S., the minimum is a masters OR 18 hours of graduate credit in the field you will be teaching in.

Just be aware that pay is awful unless you are full time.

I just retired from my full time faculty position and took one class as an adjunct (part time).

Even as an Emeritus professor, the pay per class is less than 1/3 of what it was when I was full time.

[Kelli]

I’m happy to provide any advice given higher ed has been my career for 25+ years. At my university in the U.S., we do criminal background checks.

I’m at a large state university.

Most universities will require a master’s degree for being a professor (usually teaching 4 classes per semester with no research requirement) or a Ph.D. (2-3 classes per semester with a research requirement).

Those with a master’s usually make less (sometimes significantly less) than those with a PhD.

He would want a bachelor’s and definitely a master’s in the field he wants to teach in.

Usually having a bachelor’s in a certain field can help you get into a master’s program in the same field, but you can do something completely different for your bachelor’s than what you teach in (for example, I have a bachelor’s in math and a master’s/PhD in mass communication.)

Since you brought up vocational programs, I’m not sure on the requirements for teaching there.

[Laura]

I wouldn’t immediately assume that industry experience in trades is automatically out because of a criminal record.

My neighbor’s daughter spent several years in prison then came out and got a certification in a trade and excelled.

She started out at $43 an hour as an apprentice.

[Author]

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