Professor

From RationalWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

A professor is an expert who isn't listened to when it really matters, largely because nobody outside their specialty has a clue what they're talking about. As salaried thinkers, they conduct research, teach classes, write volumes of scientific articles and often publish entire books. Other stereotypical characteristics of professors include: confusing and/or ignoring their graduate students, reliving the glory days of the 60s after a single sniff of wine and being closet Wikipedia editors. They are among the most educated 1% of the population and widen society's horizons. Yet, barely half are among the top 15% of earners (social injustice you say... they'd agree). They commonly enjoy a lot of work autonomy, sabbaticals and a nine-month work year (this supposedly compensates for the "low" salaries). They do a lot of associating and assisting in the course of their work (see below).

In the U.S. there are three types of professors:

  • Assistant Professor = Greenhorn, aka. completely underpaid newbie.
  • Associate Professor = Tenured, half-professor (see below).
  • Full Professor = You’ve made it! In some systems, such as the CSU, a slight majority of professors.

Professors may also occupy administrative positions including: Chair, Dean, Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, Assistant Associate Dean, Assistant to the Associate Assistant Dean, Provost, Vice Provost, Assistant Vice Provost, Associate Vice Provost, Assistant of the Associate Vice Provost and so on (and an unknown number of positions ending in "Chancellor"). In case all combinations of the terms assistant and associate have been exhausted, there is also the title of Director. Administrative positions are commonly held by full professors, though in some cases associate professors may also occupy one. This can make for a lovely job title, imagine: John Doe, Ph.D., Associate Professor serving as Assistant Associate Dean.

A different position, not to be confused with a professor, is an adjunct. This is the lowest caste one can have and still teach in academia. The pay is usually extremely low ($500/mo, per class, with no more than 3 classes). They get none of the perks of being a professor, either, such as the autonomy or the paid time off. They are not entitled to be called professor, and instead must be called Mister, Miss, Mrs., or Ms (according to their gender, marital status, and preference). Universities are increasingly turning to huge numbers of part-time adjuncts to teach classes as a cost-cutting device.

[edit] See also

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support