Currently full-time at a for-profit college. Yes, one of those. It was the only place where I could find work after grad school, and the kids gotta eat. Now I've got a decent salary and health insurance, but there are times I really can't stand the place. Oh, I grant you, it's not 100% terrible. They charge too much money and recruit like Mormon missionaries, but our curriculum is good, at least in the English classes. I've been there three years now, and dying to move on.
I have a part-time gig on the side at Northwest Indian College, and hoped it would materialize into full-time, but the current funding crisis hit already underfunded tribal colleges hard. And if they could find a full-time position for me, they would probably rather wait to hire a Native American (First Nations/North American Indigenous/Choose Your Term) candidate rather than hiring a white guy.
Sent out a few CVs a few months ago, and heard thunderous silence. This may have been because the colleges wanted to hire internally, which is part of the problem. As I want them to do at the tribal college, most colleges hire out of the adjunct pool; someone who has been involved and worked hard for years who is ready for full-time.
I can't seem to get arsed about some of the hoops you have to jump through in academia, either. I have no ideas or motivation for papers to write lately, or conference presentations... it just feels like time and travel money I don't have. I suppose if I spent the next year working on those things as well as the enormous teaching load, burning midnight oil, etc, I would get somewhere.




