The question of jobs: Prong One

I think, as we continue to think about the tenure-track job group (we need a name for the damned thing) there are two very basic components: the teaching and the publishing. Ironically, the publishing is what I thought the group had to concern itself about the least, but I will post about that another time. This is ironic for me, anyway, since I think of the publication as a kind of millstone--the aspect of getting work that I feel I have the least control over. Still, I think the teaching aspect may instill similar feelings in others.

In some sense, teaching jobs are easy to get--adjunct jobs are around after all. But these jobs offer little in the way of stability or salary, causing many recent grads to turn their car trunks into an office full of to-be-graded papers and textbooks as they move from one college to another (sometimes with wildly different hours--the 8 am class and then the 7 pm class on the same day...). I'm pretty lucky in that I never had to do that and have been teaching full time for a while now. Actually spending time in the class and with students and their work is something I have a lot of experience with, but how can this group meet the needs of those with fewer opportunities?

UB, of course, has no TA program that I'm aware of, but only recently did the school begin to admit freshman and sophomores. Primarily a transfer and graduate school, there didn't seem to be any opportunity to offer students the chance to get their feet wet in a section of freshman comp--there were no such sections.

Here are some crazy ideas I have:

-UB is now offering a comp class to incoming freshman. Can a certain number of these, especially outside of prime-time, eventually be offered to soon to be graduates of our program? This seems like the most traditional route, and, I admit, I have no clue as to the staffing or logistics issues that may arise, especially since the first-year program just started.

-Partnerships with other area schools may achieve the same effect, especially since many students live outside Baltimore City. Could this group serve as a touchstone for people living near Towson or Anne Arundel Community College or even colleges in PA (I know some students live there) that may allow them to be considered for adjunct work there? This may be a pipe dream, colleges want people that already have a Master's in these jobs, but it's an idea.

-People in the program with computer experience--any chance in allowing them to assist the first-year program (at least in a tutoring capacity)? I know that there is a lot of emphasis on online training for first-years and this exposure would be very helpful for grad students as well.

-Does MICA offer composition (or other writing) classes? I suppose they do and our program seems to have a close relationship with the school. Our background in publication design may also be helpful in this respect.

-What's the noncredit arena like? Can creative writing/pub design courses be developed/adapted for someone still in the program? I don't know much about this, nor whether this is useful to have on a CV (it can't hurt!)...

I'm not sure how tenable most of these are, but I would like to at least develop a list of schools that offer regular adjunct work in the area, as well as points of contact, directions, maybe even sample syllabi, to help alumni who may still be around.