Adjunct Faculty FAQ

The Baylor OTD Program has a rolling recruiting window starting in July each year. Recruiting, selecting and hiring of our adjunct faculty this early allows those selected to request time off if needed or to deconflict their personal schedules.

If our recruiting window is not active, you can contact us at this link and your information will be provided to the program.  After you provide your information we will send you an email notifying you that the current recruiting window has opened and is available for you to apply for a position.

The OTD program posts the adjunct positions for the entire upcoming calendar year January – December. The goal is to empower our adjunct faculty to select the courses they have a true passion for and with this level of transparency all interested adjunct faculty can see all of the opportunities that the program has to offer.    

In our hybrid program, students and faculty travel to Waco, TX twice per semester for onsite, face-to-face laboratory instruction. With up to 100 students per cohort, we have a need for high-quality adjunct faculty who bring their clinical and contemporary experience, a passion for teaching, and a desire to mentor future occupational therapists in our profession.

We seek clinician educators with at least 2 years of experience within their area of practice. Advanced certifications and/or residency training is preferred, but not required.  See below for additional qualification information.

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Licensed Occupational Therapist in good standing in Texas or their state of residence with a corresponding Occupational Therapy Degree from an accredited institution. (Note: If hired, you will need to be licensed in Texas if you are not already.)
2. Bachelor’s in Occupational Therapy and Master’s in Occupational Therapy will be considered for this position.

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Earned Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree (or OTD) or terminal doctoral degree (PhD, EdD, DSc, etc) from an accredited university or a Specialist Certification.

Additional Skills:

1. Exhibited evidence of continued professional growth and development.
2. Demonstrated commitment to the use of innovative instructional techniques and technologies and use of course management systems.

Your TBOTE license will not be reimbursed by Baylor University.

Primary Functions: 

Teaching is the primary responsibility of adjunct faculty. The functions of adjunct faculty may include some or all of the following depending on the terms and conditions of their appointment:

1. Teach assigned courses and complete associated tasks in accordance with the Program’s approved course description(s) and competency-based student learning outcomes.
2. Meet deadlines and follow directions of the lead course instructor(s), Program and Department leadership, and the Dean/Associate Dean of the College.
3. Demonstrate a command of the discipline and skill in effective instructional delivery.
4. Maintain accurate and complete records of student participation and performance, use appropriate measures to evaluate student performance based on established student learning outcomes, provide timely feedback to students and assign grades that are an accurate and fair evaluation of student work.
5. Submit grades and other required documentation in a timely manner.
6. Collaborate with appropriate Core Faculty, the Director of Student Affairs, and the Program Director to identify and address student issues as appropriate.
7. Adhere to professional and ethical standards of conduct.
8. Maintain current professional certification and licensure within the specific discipline.
9. Maintain professional practice knowledge base and clinical expertise needed to help learners prepare for contemporary occupational therapy practice.
10. Promote professionalism by modeling and encouraging professional behaviors inside and outside the educational setting.
11. Assist in all course related activities and complete other duties as assigned by the lead course instructor(s)

Secondary Functions: 

These expectations do not apply to all adjunct faculty positions:

1. Plan and deliver individual classes via distance education or face to face lab instruction that conform to the syllabus and other requirements of the University.
2. Develop a syllabus of course activities that meet the requirements of the course description or program chair, establishes appropriate student learning outcomes, and provides for appropriate class activities throughout the semester.
3. Participate in course, curriculum, and program assessment activities.
4. Meet all scheduled classes and adhere to the academic schedule, which includes final exam times and other program-related testing.

Yes! As long as you are located and licensed within the United States, you can apply for an adjunct faculty position.  We are able to search far and wide for expert clinicians, and we cover travel costs for all of our faculty. (Note: If hired, you will need to be licensed in Texas if you are not already.)

Most of the adjunct faculty (“Lecturer”) positions are for our immersive laboratory sessions. Immersive labs are blocks of time where students focus on the lab content of one course at a time. While the entire duration of the onsite lab is typically 1-2 weeks, each lab course is 3 to 6 days in length.  Typical duties include providing small group instruction for a group of 10-14 students, maintaining consistency in instruction from the lead faculty, and administering practical and skill check examinations. Duties in some courses may include leading blocks of instruction with material provided/guided by the course lead faculty, and grading student projects. 

That’s fine with us, as all the Baylor OTD faculty were in that position at one point as well.  The course core faculty will guide you to success.

Yes. Baylor University requires all adjunct (“Lecturer”) applicants to apply for each course, and to do so each year. The OTD program has worked with Baylor University Human Resources to make this process as smooth as possible, and each application takes 3-4 minutes to complete using Interfolio. The University and the OTD Program are committed to the Diversity and Inclusion mission, and Baylor seeks to “educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.” In line with this mission, we seek to embody Christ’s teachings of love and inclusivity across boundaries of racial, ethnic, gender, socio-economic, religious, and other expressions of human difference. Because, at Baylor, “Love thy neighbor” are not just words…they are a way of life.

1. The first time you log into Interfolio, you will need to register and create your Dossier.  The Dossier will contain your CV and Transcripts.  When you apply for each job, these forms automatically get added to each application.

2. Your current CV. 

3. Transcripts.

• Please upload transcripts for your highest degree earned to your Dossier within Interfolio. Most transcript services will email you an official copy and Baylor will accept these from you.
• If you upload transcripts and are selected for employment you will be required to provide an official transcript before you can be fully hired, so please take the time to obtain your official transcripts.
• If you have previously been hired as an adjunct faculty at Baylor, we ask that you upload the following memo into your Dossier instead of your transcript.

Virtual means those days of the lab are done via synchronous learning utilizing meeting software such as Zoom. Both faculty and students attend from their own homes.

Onsite Immersion means those days of lab that are onsite at the Baylor ODT facilities in Waco, Texas. Adjunct faculty will be required to travel to Waco to provide onsite instruction on those days.

The dates you see with the course descriptions and the links within the Interfolio applications DO NOT include travel.  However, there are specific details within each job posting that outline travel expectations and you must acknowledge this during the application process. Adjunct faculty will receive guidance from the Program and the Course lead regarding arrival and departure expectations for each lab immersion. (The next FAQ goes into more detail regarding these expectations).

Requirements for serving as adjunct include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Arrival expectations: Adjunct faculty must arrive at Baylor lab facility, in Waco, Texas, by 5:00 PM CST the day before the immersion is set to begin.
2. Daily lab schedule: Typical adjunct workday is 7:30 AM CST until 6:00 PM CST (lunch is normally 11:30 to 1:00).
3. Complete lab immersion preparation duties as assigned by lead faculty team before arriving in Waco.
4. Complete lab immersion wrap-up duties as assigned by lead faculty team.
5. Departure expectations are directed by the lead faculty team for this course.
6. Complete and submit the "Assisting Faculty" survey on the final day of the lab immersion.

All travel arrangements will be coordinated by the OTD Program’s Director of Operations

• We request that you fly into and out of Waco. Every effort should be made to meet this request. Flights to Waco are only available from Dallas/Ft Worth International Airport via American Airlines, and there are only 4-6 trips between the 2 cities each day.
• We do recognize however, that flying into Waco may be a challenge for some individuals. If you are unable to coordinate your travel directly into Waco, we will allow you to fly into Dallas or Austin and rent a vehicle. Please recognize this is the exception not the rule.
• In the event you must fly to Dallas or Austin cost must be considered when making this decision. If the cost to fly and rent a vehicle is more than it would cost to fly into Waco, then you will need to choose the less expensive option. There is no exception to this rule.
• Flying into alternative locations may require some of you to rent a car. (This does entail a step to become authorized by Baylor to rent a car). Once all travelers enter their info into the travel tracker, we conduct analysis to identify the appropriate number of rental cars are being used. The Director of Operations will send a separate email that identifies who will be renting a car and what that process entails. Please do not rent a vehicle unless you have been directed as Baylor University may not reimburse this expense if it was not authorized. Those that are identified to rent vehicles you may be required to wait at the airport for a fellow faculty member that is arriving at the same airport, however we will not have you sitting at the airport for an extended period. If you are renting a vehicle, you will be responsible for transporting your fellow adjunct to and from the lab facility each morning/evening.

Flights:

For those flying in, you are allowed to book your flights on your own or you may choose to use Baylor’s travel agency.  Booking through this agency allows for cancellations that you can use for later adjunct travel with Baylor. If you have purchased your own flight and you are required to cancel, Baylor will not reimburse you for these unused flights.

Driving: 

You may elect to drive when mileage reimbursement is less than the cost of air travel. Typically, the Program allows travel via a POV from within the state of Texas and some of the surrounding states.

We offer competitive pay, based on the duration of the course, course prep and close-out time, and additional requirements such as project grading. The pay specific to each course is listed within the application.  Baylor does not offer any full-time or part-time benefits for adjunct faculty.

No. You are covered under Baylor University insurance for malpractice.

We do not require our adjunct faculty to be Fieldwork Educators with the program. However, we strongly encourage you to consider becoming a Fieldwork Educator to fully share in the educational journey of the Baylor OTD student. Both students and the program value the partnership we can achieve with you, along the entire OTD educational journey. 

As an adjunct faculty member, the Program will book and pay for your hotel room directly via a master bill.  You will need to provide a credit card at check-in for any incidental charges to your room (i.e., room service, dining/bar, etc.).

You will be provided a daily per-diem rate to cover meals that are not provided by either the hotel or the program.

A travel reimbursement guide will be available for adjunct faculty who are hired.

 Our primary lab space is over 7,000 square feet and is designed to accommodate the wide variety of educational exposures needed for OTD education. We can easily fit 50 treatment plinths in the space for large group learning. We have additional space within our “Student Center” to utilize for smaller group “breakout” sessions and practical examinations as needed.

Yes, as many immersive labs have a practical or skills check examination. You will be entering comments and grades within Canvas, the Baylor University Learning Management System. Your course faculty will provide access to the Canvas course and instructions on use.

 YES! Please do not be discouraged if you are not selected. There may be more applicants than the number of positions available for a course. We encourage you to continue building and communicating your experiences via your CV in future applications. 

Please click here. If we are currently in a hiring period, you will see a link, to view applications for specific courses. If we are not currently in a hiring period, you may complete this contact form where you can reach out to us for more information on upcoming positions.