EDUCATION REPORT - Assistant Professor, Associate Professor,
EDUCATION REPORT - Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Lecturer... What's the Difference?
By Nancy Steinbach
Broadcast: Thursday, April 21, 2005
I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.
A listener at Hefei University of Technology in Anhui Province, China, has a question for our Foreign Student Series. The question involves the system of job names in American higher education. Zhang Xiang wants to know the difference between positions like professor, associate professor and lecturer.
In the United States, a person who wants to do research and teach at a college or university usually has a doctorate 1, the highest degree. But sometimes a school may offer positions to people who have not yet finished their doctorate.
Such a person would be called an instructor 2 until the degree has been completed. After that, the instructor could become an assistant professor. Assistant professors do not have tenure 3.
A person with tenure cannot be easily dismissed 4. Such appointments are permanent. University teachers and researchers who are hired with the understanding that they will seek tenure are said to be on a tenure track. Assistant professor is the first job on this path.
Assistant professors generally have five to seven years to gain tenure. During this time, other faculty 5 members study the person's work. If tenure is denied, then the assistant professor usually has a year to find another job.
An assistant professor who receives tenure becomes an associate professor. An associate professor may later be appointed a full professor.
Assistant, associate and full professors at American universities perform many duties. They teach classes. They advise students. And they carry out research that is published. They also serve on university committees and take part in other activities.
Other faculty members at American universities are not expected to do all those jobs. They are not on a tenure track. Instead, they might be in adjunct or visiting positions. A visiting professor has a job at one school but works 6 at another for a period of time. An adjunct professor is also a limited or part-time position, to do research or teach classes. Adjunct professors have a doctorate.
Another position is that of lecturer. Lecturers teach classes, but they may or may not have a doctorate.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Gwen Outen.
- He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
- Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？
- The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
- The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。
- He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
- Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。
- Vegetarians are no longer dismissed as cranks. 素食者不再被视为有怪癖的人。
- He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
- He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
- He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。