Adjunct Lecturer, Survey and Polling Methodology (On-Campus Fall ’26 & Spring ’27)

Columbia University School of Professional Studies seeks industry professionals for the role of adjunct Lecturer to develop and teach Survey and Polling Methodology, an on-campus course in the school’s M.S. in Political Analytics program. 

Course Description
Survey research has played a pivotal role in politics for the better part of the last century, with a wide range of campaign and public policy professionals conducting surveys to gain insight into the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the electorate and citizenry as a whole. Since the early 2000s, the use of survey experiments has become exponentially more prevalent in the political realm as a way to assess attitudes, anticipate reactions, or measure causal relationships.

Recent trends point to the growing importance of the internet and social media to conduct surveys and the linkage of survey data with the wealth of publicly available personal information as well as with information on individuals’ social and economic behavior. In this course, students will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of survey research as well as limitations associated with survey design and various analytical techniques, and they will acquire concrete knowledge of practical tools used in campaigns, advocacy, and election forecasting.

Students will be introduced to a set of principles for conducting survey research and analyzing survey data that are the basis for standard practice in the field. Students will be familiarized with terminology and concepts associated with survey questionnaire design, sampling, data collection and aggregation, and survey data analysis to gain insights and to test hypotheses about the nature of human and social behavior and interaction. The course will present a framework that will enable students to evaluate the influence of different sources of error on the quality of data.

Responsibilities

This position may require developing the course, leading syllabus through the review process, and teaching the course. Responsibilities may include:

• Lead in-person class lectures, instructional activities, and classroom discussions
• Evaluate student work and grade assignments
• Monitor student concerns and inquiries, and be the first point of contact for student questions
• Hold weekly office hours
• Prepare, maintain, and enhance the course in Canvas, Columbia University’s learning management system for onsite and online courses
• Complete required Canvas training (Columbia University's online learning management system) if new to SPS
• Attend Political Analytics faculty meetings
• If assigned to design the course, responsibilities also include:
  • Develop course objectives that align with program-wide learning outcomes
  • Create activity maps tying course activities to objectives, ensuring industry relevance
  • Draft a detailed syllabus (course description, schedule, grading rubric, and assessments) for review and approval by the Program Curriculum Committee and the Committee on Instruction (COI)
  • Collaborate with Instructional Design to develop course materials through a consultative process. This includes partnering on course development (aligning objectives, materials, and assessments), creating dynamic instructional media (videos, infographics, and interactive resources), maintaining established courses with updates and troubleshooting, and receiving just-in-time assistance for targeted needs

Serving as an adjunct Lecturer provides an outstanding opportunity to educate and mentor students in the field of project management as well as to form a rewarding professional relationship with Columbia University’s world-class faculty.

Qualifications

Columbia University SPS operates under a scholar-practitioner faculty model, which enables students to learn from faculty that have outstanding academic training as well as a record of accomplishment as practitioners in an applied industry setting.

Requirements

• Graduate degree in an area related to political science, data science, quantitative methods or related field
• 10+ years of professional experience in a role involving political analytics
• Knowledge of statistics, econometrics, quantitative analysis or related techniques
• Knowledge and familiarity with analysis software (e.g. R)
• Knowledge of survey research methods, survey design, and survey data collection/aggregation/analysis

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Doctoral degree or equivalent in a relevant field
• Prior experience with electoral campaigns, policy-making initiatives, advocacy efforts, or lobbying operations
• University teaching experience, ideally at the graduate level

Additional Information

Compensation - $10,000 - $15,000 per semester-length course.

Review of applications begins immediately and will continue until positions are filled.

All applicants, please provide:

• A resume/CV inclusive of university teaching experience -- highlight teaching at the graduate level
• A cover letter indicating the courses they would be interested in or qualified to teach, areas of subject matter expertise, and availability to teach in-person
• Evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g., student evaluations of teaching, teaching observation summaries, etc.)

Your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran