Tennessee Tech – Getting The Gig

Editor’s Note: This post by Scott Hagerty gives insights and experiences through his journey of preparing for various college teaching jobs including his most recent position at Tennessee Tech University. It has been partially reposted on Last Row Music with his permission.

I recently announced via Facebook that I was hired as the new Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Tennessee Tech University. I truly have mixed emotions as I have been teaching at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas for the past 11 years. In that time I have made some life-long friends and lasting connections with students and colleagues. But it is time for me to move on, and I am also very excited about this opportunity to teach at an established, well-respected music program. My few days in Cookeville during the on-campus interview were awesome as I met some genuinely nice, caring people. The culture that exists at Tech is one of where students are serious and the faculty are well accomplished. I was lucky enough to catch the trumpet ensemble and faculty brass quintet perform in recital while I was there. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have been offered the position.

But this article isn’t necessarily about that. Instead, I thought I would talk about my experiences in the college teaching job market and be honest about my preparation and what it took for me to go from graduate student to assistant professor at the University level. I want to shed light on the reality of what goes into getting a college teaching gig because there are a lot of folks out there that want this kind of job … (click here for the complete article on scotthagerty.com)

This was originally published on May 9, 2019, on Scott Hagerty’s personal website.