University? Or Community College?
Hello, I just finished my MFA and I've been teaching for about a year at two different institutions — a small university and the nearby community college. They have both offered me full time positions beginning next semester.
At the community college, they want me to basically take over the department, tenure track, etc. It's in kind of a bad area, which is a drawback, but I like the students. To a certain extent, I wonder if it's unethical to try to lead them into a career in the Arts (which seems to run on trust funds), but I try to give them the best education possible and set them up for success. And, obviously, teaching at a community college is much less prestigious.
At the university, they seem to be trying to find a permanent place for be (because they like me or my work), but they're kind of shoehorning me into an area that I'm not an expert in. The position isn't tenure track, but they said that they expect it to become TT in the next year or so. The other drawback is that they're massively in debt (losing ~$20m annually) and missed rent payments on one of their campuses (~$100k). Students protested the school's financial problems last week. On the plus side, it's right by my house; I could walk there.
If you were in my position, which would you choose?