# Assistant, Associate, and Full Professors **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896 "2003-03-28T21:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/21 "2003-03-29T14:10:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vivalostwages \* > \*\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Oh my God, yes. And “do I get any assignments for the next semester?” > That’s how we wind up teaching on multiple campuses. (Did you have more than one? Don’t feel compelled to answer; I’m just being curious/nosy.) \*\* No, just one campus. Each semester I’d get assigned between zero and two classes, and even then if one of the regular faculty’s classes weren’t filling–but mine were–they could still take away classes from me after the semester started! I also note (with a clear, sober head and fresh morning air) that all of my comments were very broad generalizations based on the policies of three Universities I’ve Known And Loved. In reality–as noted–EVERYTHING (rank, tenure, salary, teaching responsibilities, etc.) is negotiable, but it’s usually only mid- and late-carrer types (or recent Ph.D.s with a Nobel Prize, per **Chronos**!) who get to negotiate. Despite my generallization, at the University where I am presently employed, being promoted to Associate Professor != Tenure. Here, you can apparently be promoted all the way up to full Professor without earning tenure. (In other words, rank and tenure are decoupled.) ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/22 "2003-03-29T15:54:20Z")
Yep I’ll second **Pantellerite** and **Shoshana**. I work 32 hours a week at a small liberal arts college. I’m an adjunct Prof. Or like I term it. Instructor. 10 hours a week as academic advisor… Adjunct Prof. Phlosphr PhD. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/23 "2003-03-29T15:55:56Z")
One more thing. My wife is writing a book co-authored with a Prof.Emeritus and will most likely be offered full prof when she finishes. So there’s another way **Chronos** … ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/24 "2003-03-29T16:04:43Z")
Also, this year my title is actually _Visiting Assistant Professor_, and back when I was adjunct faculty elsewhere it was _Visiting Lecturer_, which is a whole 'nother deal… ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/25 "2003-03-29T20:22:23Z")
An adjunct is basically a non-tenure track professor, who typically does not have much job security and is grossly underpaid. A professor emeritus is a tenured faculty member who reaches the mandatory retirement age set by the department or university. Sometimes one of these professors will continue to teach, but usually it’s just a honorary title. Sometimes a professor emeritus is also allowed to keep an office even if they don’t teach anymore. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/26 "2003-03-29T20:56:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*It’s possible to skip a few steps, too. If a grad student wins the Nobel Prize or somesuch, then they’ll probably be hired immediately as a full professor. It’s also possible for a non-tenure track faculty member to become tenure track. \*\* I’ve known several scientist/engineers who retired from careers at national labs and took professor positions. In at least one case, a new hire joined the faculty at Berkeley as a tenured full professor right off the bat. This was perfectly reasonable given his body of work, and it illustrates that the the rules applied to “new” professors are as flexible as contract negotiations demand. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ftg \* > \*\*So don’t assume that Associate Prof. = tenure everywhere. \*\* I know of at least one institution that decoupled tenure and promotion reviews so it is no longer possible to go up for both at the same time. The stated reason for this was that it would be good for morale by providing additional milestones in a professor’s career. The real reason was that it allowed them to grant tenure while delaying promotion that would have included a pay raise. In this case, it was possible to be a tenured Assistant Professor. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arturas \* > **Britain has slightly different names for these positions** As does Russia. I knew one Assistant Professor who went to Russia as a Fulbright Scholar. Assistant professors apparently don’t exist there, and it was interpreted as “assistant to the professor” (i.e. teaching assistant), resulting in him being housed and treated much differently than the “real” professors. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/27 "2003-03-30T04:51:36Z")
Thank you for your reply, **Pantellerite**. Sounds completely different from what I’m used to in the community college system. And we would _never_ be permitted to work as many hours a week as **Phlosphr** is. One class = 3 hrs. per week; 2 or 3 classes max per campus. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/28 "2003-03-30T07:18:18Z")
Ah, but **Viva** , “don’t ask, don’t tell” certainly comes into play! If each of the schools that I teach at only knew how many others I teach at! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896/29 "2003-03-30T21:44:34Z")
**Manatee!** Hi—I figured you’d show up in this thread sooner or later. Well, neither of my campuses seems to care where else I am, though they certainly know that many of my colleagues teach on more than two campuses. I guess it varies according to each workplace. Oh, the madness of it all… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistant-associate-and-full-professors/164896.md?page=1)