I work for a college and I was asked to clarify accademic hyerarchyes I found this article in wikipedia that explain in detales

Professor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The meaning of the word professor (Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science, teacher of highest rank^[1]) varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual. For example, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, United States, Canada, and Hong Kong it is a legal title conferred by a university denoting the highest academic rank. However, in some institutions, the term is used only for academics who are tenured or tenure-track. In some countries, e.g. Austria, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Croatia, France, Italy, Panama, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain the term is an honorific applied also to secondary level teachers.

Professors are qualified experts, of the various levels described above, who may do the following:

• conduct lectures and seminars in their field of study (i.e., they "profess"), such as the basic fields of science, humanities, social sciences, education, literature, music or the applied fields of engineering, design, medicine, law, or business;
• perform advanced research in their fields.
• provide pro bono community service, including consulting functions (such as advising government and nonprofit organizations);
• teach campus-based or online courses with the help of instructional technology;
• train young or new academics (graduate students);
• carry out administrative or managerial functions, usually at a high level (e.g. deans, heads of department, librarians, etc.).

The balance of these six fields of professorial tasks depends heavily on the institution, place (country), and time. For example, professors at highly research-oriented universities in the U.S., and Canada, and, as a general rule, in European universities, are promoted primarily on the basis of their research achievements as well as their success in raising money from sources outside the university.

Tenure

A tenured professor has a lifetime appointment until retirement, except for dismissal with "due cause". The reason for the existence of such a privileged position is the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for state, society and academy in the long run if learned persons are free to examine, hold, and advance controversial views without fear of losing their jobs. Tenure allows professors to engage in current political or other controversies. Critics assert that it also means that lazy or unpleasant professors cannot be forced to improve, and have suggested including management techniques from the business world such as performance review, audits, and performance-based salaries.^[2] In many cases, individuals enter academia because they are intrinsically interested in the work, and so they are often very unlikely to use tenure as an excuse to withdraw from their research responsibilities. In fact, even in cases where there is mandatory retirement, many professors continue to be active researchers. However, tenured professors may be more prone to neglecting their teaching duties, if they lack interest in pedagogy.

The argument has also been made that tenure actually diminishes academic freedom, as it forces all those seeking tenured positions to profess to the same views (political and academic) as those deciding who is awarded a tenured position. For example, according to physicist Lee Smolin, "...it is practically career suicide for a young theoretical physicist not to join the field [of string theory].".^[3] While it is true that after receiving tenure, the academic is free to pursue other theories, the degree of preparation and specialization required before being able to make a meaningful contribution to such theories and the lengthy period of time before tenure is granted means that the academic will be severely handicapped in contributing to any parts of their field other than the dominant paradigm. This is even more so now that many academics are being forced to spend several years in non-tenure track positions before beginning the 5-6 year process of gaining tenure.

In many countries in Europe and in New Zealand and Australia no academic institutions award tenure;^{[citation needed]} in most, whether tenured positions are available varies from faculty to faculty and from institution to institution.

[edit] United States and Canada

Main article: Professors in the United States

The term "professors" in the United States refers to a group of educators at the college and university level; in Canada, where a major distinction is made between college- and university-level education, the term is generally restricted to universities. In colloquial language, usage of the term may refer to any educator at the post-secondary level, yet a considerable percentage of post-secondary educators do not hold the formal title of "Professor", but are instead lecturers, instructors, and teaching assistants.^[4]

Educators who hold a formal title of "Professor" (referred to as tenured/tenure-track faculty) typically begin their careers as assistant professors, with subsequent promotions to the ranks of associate professor and finally professor. The titles are historical traditions; for example, an assistant professor does not usually serve to "assist" more senior faculty. There is usually a strict timeline for application for promotion from assistant to associate professor - usually 5 or 6 years following the initial appointment. Applicants are evaluated based on their contributions to research, teaching, and administration. The relative weighting of these contributions differ by institution, with PhD-granting universities usually placing more emphasis on research than the other two and with liberal arts colleges placing more emphasis on teaching. In many universities, the decision to grant tenure and promotion from assistant to associate levels is made at numerous levels, with a common sequence being: 1) external reviewers—several high-profile researchers will be asked to review the candidate's application for promotion and will submit a confidential report; 2) based on this report and letters provided by members of the university, a subcommittee of members from the candidate's department will make a recommendation for tenure/promotion or denial of such; 3) the department will vote; 4) the department decision is communicated to a university panel of individuals from outside of the department who evaluate the application and decide whether they agree or disagree with the departmental recommendation; 5) the dean; 6) the board of governors/president or other upper level governing body.

A decision to reject a candidate for tenure normally requires that the individual leave the institution within a year.

Otherwise, tenure is granted along with promotion from assistant to associate professor. Although tenure and promotion are usually separate decisions, they are often highly correlated such that a decision to grant a promotion coincides with a decision in favor of tenure, and vice versa.

Assistant professors who are granted tenure and promotion move to the rank of associate professor. This usually results in an increased administrative load and membership on committees that are restricted to tenured faculty. Some people remain at the level of associate professor throughout their careers. However, most will apply for the final promotion to full professor; the timeline for making this application is more flexible than that for assistant to associate positions and the associate professor does not normally lose his/her job if the application is rejected.

As with promotion from assistant to associate professor, promotion from associate to full professor involves review at multiple levels, similar to the earlier tenure/promotion review. This includes external reviews, decisions by the department, recommendations by members of other departments, and high-ranking university officials. Usually, this final promotion requires that the individual has maintained an active research program, and excellent teaching, in addition to taking a leadership role in important departmental and extra-departmental administrative tasks. Full professor is the highest rank that a professor can achieve (other than in a named position) and is seldom achieved before a person reaches their mid-40s. The rank of full professor carries additional administrative responsibilities associated with membership on committees that are restricted to full professors.

• Non-tenure-track positions: Individuals in these positions typically focus on teaching undergraduate courses, do not engage in research (except in the case of "research professors"), do not engage in departmental decision-making, and are not eligible for tenure.
  • Teaching assistant (TA) or teaching fellow (TF): Positions typically held by graduate students. TAs play a supportive role involving grading, review sessions, and labs. Teaching fellows (and at some universities, TAs) teach entire courses.
  • Adjunct instructor / adjunct professor / adjunct lecturer / faculty associate: Typically part-time non-salaried, non-tenure track faculty members who are paid for each class they teach. This position does not always require a completed PhD.
  • Instructor or lecturer: A full-time position at a university that does not involve tenure or a research program in the classical sense. This position does not necessarily require a PhD and usually involves teaching undergraduate introductory courses.
  • Visiting assistant professor: A temporary assistant professor position (see below), e.g. to cover the teaching load of a faculty member on sabbatical.
  • Research professor: A position that usually carries only research duties with no obligation for teaching. Research professors typically must secure most or all of their salary from external funding sources such as grants and contracts. Although research professor positions usually are not eligible to be awarded tenure their ranks parallel those of tenure-track positions; i.e., research assistant professor, research associate professor, and research professor.
• Tenured and tenure-track positions: These full-time faculty members engage in both undergraduate and graduate teaching, mentoring, research, and service. Only faculty in these positions are eligible for tenure.
  • Assistant professor: an introductory level professor. A position generally taken after receiving PhD and/or completing a post-doctoral fellowship. After 4–8 years, assistant professors will be either tenured or dismissed from the university.
  • Associate professor: a mid-level, usually tenured, professor.
  • Professor (sometimes referred to as "full professor"): a senior, tenured professor.
  • Distinguished professor / endowed chair (e.g., "the John Q. Smith Professor of Physics"): An honorary position in which a full professor's salary is increased by being tied to an endowment derived from the university, private individuals, firms, or foundations.
  • Professor emeritus/emerita: is an honorary title bestowed on retired faculty members who have attained the rank of professor.