How Does FacultyFinder.com Work?
FacultyFinder is designed to connect faculty members who want to teach online courses and institutions offering online courses. FacultyFinder takes a new approach to what is available through most job search tools. The common approach is that when a school has an opening they will advertise the position and candidates will apply. This creates an unnecessary administrative burden for both the school and instructor. Schools have to sort through applications, many of which are not appropriate for the position. Instructors have to follow tedious application procedures for several schools before they even know if they are a likely candidate.
The FacultyFinder approach is that prospective online faculty members create a profile in which they give details about their educational background, online teaching experience, and dozens of other academic variables. Then when an institution needs an online faculty member to facilitate a specific course, they can search the database using powerful search tools to identify individuals which meet their desired criteria. This approach is much more cost effective and less time consuming for institutions.
What does it cost?
There is no charge for a prospective online faculty member to create a fully searchable profile. For a nominal fee the faculty member can upgrade their account which allows them to upload documents such as resume/vita, unofficial copies of transcripts, and sample online course syllabi. Upgrading also may allow the faculty member to receive priority placement in search results and create a specific web address to share their FacultyFinder profile with others (example http://johndoe.facultyfinder.com)
So after you have created your FacultyFinder profile, what should you do next?
You may log in to FacultyFinder and monitor the number of times that your profile has been viewed. If your profile is not being viewed very often, you are encouraged to provide as much detail as possible in your profile. One of the search options which institutions may be using is key words. So make sure that you profile fully presents your backgrounds and experiences. You can log in as often as you like to monitor and update your profile.
How will you know if a school is interested in you teaching online for them?
If a school has searched the database and identified you as a potential online faculty member, the school will contact you either via the email or the phone numbers you provided in your profile. It is not necessary to contact the school and ask them if they have searched and found your profile.
Schools have differing application processes. After the school has determined that you meet their criteria, they may ask you to submit a formal employment application, submit official copies of transcripts, etc. This process may vary from school to school.