| Types
of University Professorships |
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved
by Dr. Nophea Sasaki
Having achieved your Ph.D., and that is a long road to take, you will
finally be eligible to apply for a position as a university professor.
Generally, there are three kinds of teaching positions at this level
that you can apply for: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and
Professor. In addition to academic excellence, other than grades,
scientific writing, presenting and networking form a very important
basis for becoming a professor. Criteria for evaluating the
qualifications for being the professor vary from country to country and
from one university to another. Some universities use a scoring system
as part of their criteria for evaluating one’s qualifications
for each level of professorship. Scores are determined according to
scientific achievements that usually range mainly from being published
in peer-reviewed journal papers, conference proceedings, books and
other kinds of publications, and awards, etc. Some outstanding students
are offered the assistant professor position shortly after they
graduate with their Ph.D.
Others will be offered the same position after they spend two to three
more years for postdoctoral research. Again, depending on universities
and their system, to be qualified one must attain a certain level with
endorsements from those who support you. |
An Assistant Professor is the
entry level into the four-year
university environment. An Assistant Professor works under the guidance
of, and reports to, a fully tenured professor or an Associate
Professor. In this position, you are not required to write your own
curriculum but will depend on your lead to provide one. At most, you
will teach two classes, but you are required to continue research and
meeting with students for guidance on classes. Promotions are hard to
come-by and Assistant Professor usually teaches about seven years
before being promoted to Associate Professor.
An Associate Professor plans his own
curriculum but has a greater workload and longer hours to teach. He/she
must participate in educational activities and/or committees. Although
he/she reports to a tenured professor, there is more flexibility.
Full professors – considered a
faculty member once accepted - plan, teach, confer with students and
manage their time by assigning parts of their jobs to Assistant
Professors. Being a tenured professor gives them certain rights to hold
that position and not be fired without just cause. In addition, they
are expected to be on staff for life unless some extenuating
circumstance causes their dismissal – usually hard to prove a
case against someone who is tenured. There are also part-time
professors and non-tenured professor positions that are used to
“fill in” for people who are on sabbatical or on
some temporary leave. Those positions should also be considered to gain
experience in teaching and gain entry into a particular university
setting.
Below are the requirements you’ll need to meet and some of
which should
be highlighted on your Curriculum Vitae (CV) when applying for these
positions.
- You must have had excellent graduate test scores. These are the
result of studying, becoming a subject matter expert on your topic, and
providing an outcome that reflects your knowledge.
- You must have had scientific achievements indicating your interest in
the work. This means initiating research projects or handling those
assigned, making your results public by writing research papers and
getting them published in influential scientific (or appropriate)
journals and publications. They carry a lot of weight in making your
work known and exposing yourself to others in the industry.
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Note: This article was taken from Nophea
Sasaki’s book “Walking Away from the Killing Fields
- How a Hopeless Boy Became a University Professor in Japan”
available at http://www.nophea.net
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