[game_edu] Appropriate Emouluments

[Ian Schreiber]

I am totally going to work the word "emouluments" into conversation at GDC this year, now that I know what it means.

A lot depends on the exact conditions. Are you hiring full-time or just as an adjunct and paying on a per-course basis? How many weeks are the courses (I've seen academic terms that range from 6 weeks to 15 weeks)? What is the scope of the work (sometimes the instructor does all of the grading, sometimes they just do the lectures and a TA does the grading) and the size of the class (teaching in a lecture hall in front of 300 students is a different experience than leading a classroom discussion with 10)? Is this an online course being taught remotely, or do you expect the person to teach on-site? And where, primarily, are you recruiting from (trying to recruit someone away from a high-paying position in NYC is a much tougher sell than pulling someone out of North Dakota or Alaska, I'd think)?

I'm based in the US so most of my experience is specific to this country. Here, from my experience, a single ten-week course pays somewhere in the range of about 2000 to 4000 USD. Online courses seem to pay about the same as on-site teaching (there's a tradeoff of doing a bit more work in exchange for having a more flexible schedule, though we could debate all day whether this is fair or not). The huge variability in pay is mostly due to the variability in local cost of living; schools in expensive places like San Francisco or New York City tend to pay more than those in rural areas. This is particularly interesting for online teaching, where the teacher might be based in a low-cost-of-living area but be teaching for a school in an expensive location. I suppose it means that eventually market forces will either force smaller/cheaper colleges with online programs to shut them down because they can't compete pay-wise with the more expensive schools, or
 they'll have to settle for a lower quality of teacher or something since they are paying less for exactly the same work and there's no reason a skilled instructor should have to accept that.

If you're looking for permanent relocation, full relocation expenses aren't ALWAYS offered but it's not exactly rare. For relocation out of country, providing relocation and immigration costs would certainly be helpful. Assistance in finding local housing is a plus. Basically, anything you can do on your end to minimize the disruption of moving is something that would be appreciated.

If you're looking to bring someone on-site for a short duration, like just one academic term or one year, that's a pretty massive disruption in the life of most people. I honestly don't know what's standard there (or if there even IS a standard - most schools hire from at least within their own country) but just personally, if I were to uproot my entire family for a year, I'd expect extra compensation in exchange for that (and ideally, local housing that was paid for and already set up when we got there).

Lastly, since you mention Nigeria specifically - and I know you had similar issues with Global Game Jam in that country - that country has a reputation (in the US, at least) of being a haven for online scam artists. Africa in general doesn't exactly have a reputation for great tourism (unfairly deserved, I'm sure, but that's what you've got to work with) so a little bit of self-promotion, showing why the area you're in is awesome to visit, wouldn't hurt. Anyway, it would take some extra convincing in that case, just to prove that you're not going to bring someone there and then leave them stranded or something. Even if you were just looking for someone to teach remotely, offering to pay some or all of the money up front wouldn't hurt. Again, not that you're looking to scam anyone (I'm sure you're totally honest here), but these are the concerns you'd have to address.

Ultimately, just like with any job, it's a time-vs-money tradeoff. The more money and benefits you offer, the faster you fill the position. Offer below-market rates and you'll get few if any hits. Offer significantly above-market rates and you'll be paying more but you'll fill that position a lot faster.


- Ian



________________________________
 From: Benedict Olumhense <olumhenseben at gmail.com>
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org> 
Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2013 10:49 AM
Subject: [game_edu] Appropriate Emouluments
 

Hi everyone,
    I just wanted to find out some info in regards to the appropriate emouluments for 
    instructors teaching game design and development if they were to be hired by an offshore 
    institution in Nigeria. Does any one have any ideas to this ?
 
 
 
Best Regards,
Benedict Olumhense
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