[ti:Coming to Terms With Academic Titles at US Colleges ]
[ar: Barbara Klein]
[al:Education Report]
[by:51voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:03.13]Education Report.
[00:05.38]Not everyone who teaches in a college 
[00:09.13]or university is a professor. 
[00:12.36]Many are instructors or lecturers. 
[00:16.53]In fact, not even all professors 
[00:19.95]are full professors. 
[00:22.19]Many of them are assistant 
[00:25.01]or associate professors 
[00:27.62]or adjunct professors.
[00:30.36]So what do all of these 
[00:33.53]different academic titles 
[00:35.39]mean at American colleges 
[00:37.63]and universities?
[00:40.00]Get ready for a short lecture, 
[00:42.61]especially if you are thinking 
[00:45.04]of a career in higher education.
[00:48.15]Professors usually 
[00:50.26]need a doctoral degree. 
[00:52.44]But sometimes a school 
[00:54.63]will offer positions to people 
[00:56.75]who have not yet 
[00:58.05]received their doctorate.
[00:59.73]This person would be called 
[01:01.97]an instructor until the degree 
[01:04.40]has been completed. 
[01:06.33]After that, the instructor 
[01:08.77]could become an assistant professor. 
[01:11.38]Assistant professors 
[01:13.56]do not have tenure.
[01:15.55]Tenure means a permanent appointment. 
[01:18.85]This goal of greater job security 
[01:22.39]is harder to reach these days. 
[01:24.76]Fewer teaching positions 
[01:27.24]offer the chance for tenure.
[01:29.98]Teachers and researchers 
[01:32.53]who are hired into positions 
[01:34.40]that do offer it are said 
[01:36.95]to be "on the tenure track." 
[01:39.50]Assistant professor 
[01:41.49]is the first job on this path.
[01:44.10]Assistant professors generally 
[01:47.52]have five to seven years to gain tenure. 
[01:52.09]During this time, other faculty members 
[01:56.08]study the person's work. 
[01:58.25]If tenure is denied, 
[02:00.55]then the assistant professor 
[02:03.04]usually has a year to find another job.
[02:06.79]Candidates for tenure 
[02:09.59]may feel great pressure 
[02:11.58]to get research published. 
[02:13.38]"Publish or perish" 
[02:15.68]is the traditional saying.
[02:17.74]An assistant professor 
[02:20.16]who receives tenure 
[02:21.66]becomes an associate professor. 
[02:24.14]An associate professor may later 
[02:27.57]be appointed a full professor.
[02:30.43]Assistant, associate 
[02:32.85]and full professors 
[02:35.09]perform many duties. 
[02:36.65]They teach classes. 
[02:39.07]They advise students. 
[02:41.44]And they carry out research. 
[02:44.19]They also serve on committees 
[02:47.11]and take part in other activities.
[02:49.73]Other faculty members are not 
[02:53.33]expected to do all these jobs. 
[02:56.32]They are not on a tenure track. 
[02:59.93]Instead, they might be in adjunct 
[03:04.03]or visiting positions.
[03:06.15]A visiting professor has a job 
[03:09.63]at one school but works at another 
[03:12.87]for a period of time. 
[03:14.55]An adjunct professor is also 
[03:17.97]a limited or part-time position, 
[03:21.08]to do research or teach classes. 
[03:24.87]Adjunct professors have a doctorate.
[03:28.73]Another position is that of lecturer.
[03:32.21]Lecturers teach classes, 
[03:34.70]but they may or may not 
[03:36.88]have a doctorate.
[03:38.49]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:41.43]Education Report, 
[03:42.80]written by Nancy Steinbach. 
[03:45.42]You and read and listen to our reports, 
[03:48.15]and get information 
[03:49.46]on how to study in the United States, 
[03:52.38]at 51voa.com. 
[03:55.80]I'm Barbara Klein.