Academic rank

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Academic organizations typically have a rather rigid set of ranks. Those listed below refer specifically to universities, although colleges and other institutions may follow a similar schema.

Contents

Academic ranks include professors and teaching auxiliaries (assistants). There are four kinds of ordinary professorships: Profesor Titular Plenario (the only tenured faculty position), Profesor Titular, Profesor Asociado and Profesor Adjunto. The university may also appoint prominent members of the academic and scientific community as Profesor Emérito (a retired faculty member who demonstrated excellency in both teaching and researching), Profesor Consulto (also a retired faculty member who provides assistance in specific knowledge areas) or Profesor Honorario (an honorary mostly ceremonial position). Temporary professorships include the ranks of Profesor Invitado (who doesn't receive compensation for the position) and Profesor Contratado (who does receive compensation). Teaching auxiliaries or assistants are divided into three categories: Jefe de Trabajos Prácticos, Ayudante de Primera or Ayudante Diplomado and Ayudante de Segunda or Ayudante Alumno (usually, if not almost always, this rank is reserved for undergraduate students).

The administration of the university is in the hands of a Rector and a Consejo Superior, both elected by the Asamblea Universitaria, composed of professors, graduates (includes alumni, teaching auxiliaries and all other academic or research staff who do not qualify to vote as professors or undergraduate students) and undergraduate students elected by direct secret and compulsory vote. The Consejo Superior designates several Secretarios to assist the Rector, and chooses one of its members to be the Vicerrector (the deputy to the Rector). Each faculty, school or college is headed by a Decano, designated by the Consejo Directivo or Consejo Académico, composed also by professors, graduates and undergraduate students. It also picks several Secretarios to assist the Dean on the daily business and the Vicedecano (deputy to the Dean). Departments are chaired by a Director, which is assisted by Secretarios and a Director Adjunto (deputy to the Director). They have a Junta Departamental, the collegiate body which governs the department. In some universities non-academic staff is allowed to have a representative on collegiate governing bodies. Also, some universities separate alumni and teaching auxiliaries, allowing them to elect separate representatives to the university government.

  • Professor - Level 5 appointments.
  • Associate Professor and/or Reader - Level 4 appointments.
  • Senior Lecturer - Level 3 appointments.
  • Lecturer - Level 2 appointments.
  • Associate or Assistant Lecturer, Senior Tutor, Tutor - Level 1 appointments.

  • Chancellor (titular)
  • Deputy Chancellor / Pro-Chancellor (titular)
  • Vice-Chancellor
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor
  • Pro-Vice-Chancellor
  • Registrar
  • Dean
  • Head of School

At the University of Sao Paulo the academic rank system is:

  • Professor Titular (MS-6): equivalent to a "full professor" in the US
  • Professor Associado (MS-5): must hold a Livre Docente title (equivalent to a German Habilitation)
  • Professor Doutor (MS-3): must hold a doctorate; equivalent to an "assistant professor" in the US
  • Professor Assistente (MS-2): must hold a master's or equivalent degree
  • Auxiliar de Ensino (MS-1): only a bachelor's degree is required

In the Federal Universities the academic ranks receive other names:(In portuguese)

  • Professor Titular
  • Professor Associado, levels A, B and C (or I, II, III)
  • Professor Adjunto, levels A, B, C and D (or I, II, III, IV)
  • Professor Assistente, levels A, B, C and D (or I, II, III, IV)
  • Professor Auxiliar, levels A, B, C and D (or I, II, III, IV)

More information: (In portuguese)

Faculty (Professors):
  • Distinguished Professor or University Professor
  • Professor (or "Full Professor")
  • Associate Professor
  • Assistant Professor
Non-faculty and/or temporary

  • Chancellor (honorific)
  • President and Vice-Chancellor (dual title)
  • Provost
  • Vice Presidents (VP Academic, VP Research, VP Finance, etc.)
  • Associate Vice Presidents (Assoc. VP Academic, Assoc. VP Research, Assoc. VP Finance, etc.)
  • Deans (often also Full Professors)
  • Associate Deans (often also Full Professors)
  • Directors of Administrative Departments
  • Associate/Assistant Directors of Administrative Departments
  • Chairs of Academic Departments (usually Full Professors)

Administrative positions:

  • Rektor (Rector)
  • Dekan (Dean), head of a major department (human sciences, natural sciences etc.)
  • Institutleder (Institute manager), head of an institute

Academic positions:

  • Professor
  • Lektor (Associate professor), time divided equally between research and teaching
  • Adjunkt (Lecturer), same research/teaching division as lektor
  • Post-doc, generally more time for research

Academic degrees:

  • Doktor (Doctorate; e.g. dr.phil, dr.scient), now obsolete, except for dr.med (MD)
  • Ph.D, usually earned after three years of research
  • Kandidat (MA; e.g. cand.mag, cand.scient), usually earned after two more years of graduate school
  • Bachelor (BA), usually earned after three years of undergraduate studies

There are a specific number of posts, which can be applied to when they are vacated or established. A Professor, for example, is a leader of a laboratory or a group.

  • Kansleri Chancellor (only in the Universities of Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and in Åbo Akademi).
  • Rehtori (Rector)
  • Vararehtori (Vice Rector)
  • Dekaani (Dean), osastonjohtaja' (Head of Faculty)
  • Professori (Professor)
  • Lehtori or yliopistonlehtori (Lecturer), teaching-oriented faculty position
  • Dosentti (Adjunct Professor, is not necessarily permanently associated with the school but holds the right to teach), similar to German Privatdozent)
  • Yliassistentti (Senior Assistant, post-doc or senior Ph. D student position), laboratorioinsinööri (Laboratory Engineer, a formally administrative position, the holders of which often conduct research and teach, however)
  • Assistentti (Assistant), tutkija (Research Associate, Research Scientist, Ph. D. student positions)
  • Tutkimusapulainen (Research Assistant, undergrad or Master's student position)
  • Ylioppilas (Student)

Notice that Professor is also a title, conferred by the President of Republic as a mark distinction for prominent artists, literary persons or directors of state scientific laboratories. In addition to the ranks mentioned above, the title of Academician may be conferred to the most accomplished scientists, scholars, writers or artists.

Main article: Academic rank in France

One of the peculiarities of the French higher education system is the existence of both a university system and a network of Grandes Écoles. Ranks in the two systems are not always exactly the same.

  • Professor (Full Professor, usually called a C4 or since 2004 W3 professor according to the German salary scheme)
  • Professor (Associate Professor, C3 or W2)
  • Privatdozent (after Habilitation, not a paid position; phased out)
  • Juniorprofessor (Assistant Professor, W1)

A Privatdozent used to be somewhat like a US lecturer in Germany. In Austria and Switzerland this term is equivalent to Juniorprofessor.

In the past Hong Kong follows the British system. In recent years it is moving towards the North American counterpart, with the titles renamed to their corresponding equivalence. Institutions established in the 1980s and 1990s almost entirely follows the North American system, while older ones, notably the The University of Hong Kong is in the process of transition. [1] Depending on institutions, the title of "Professor" is assumed by chair professors and professors, or assistant professors and above.

There are 9 ranks, in total, which can be categorized to 3 main levels.

2 levels; equivalents with Assistant Professor:

  • Asisten Ahli Madya
  • Asisten Ahli

5 levels; equivalents with Associate Professor:

  • Lektor Muda
  • Lektor Madya
  • Lektor
  • Lektor Kepala Madya
  • Lektor Kepala

2 levels; equivalents with Professor:

  • Guru Besar Madya
  • Guru Besar

Faculty (all these positions are tenure-track):

  • Professore Emerito (Full professor whose high importance in academic field has been credited by the Faculty council: the Professore Emerito can work at university for life, even after retirement age)
  • Professore Ordinario (Full professor)
  • Professore Straordinario (a professor taking his three years of testing before being confirmed as Full professor)
  • Professore Associato (Associate Professor)
  • Ricercatore (Assistant Professor or Researcher)
  • Assistente (The fourth level of permanent positions. No positions of Assistente are being created currently, but existing personnel keeps the title)

Non-faculty and temporary:

  • Professore a contratto (Professor with a temporary appointment for a given course or lecture series)
  • Professore incaricato (Temporary Professor, as above)
  • Assegnista di Ricerca (Research fellow with a temporary position, usually holding a Ph. D. title)
  • Dottorando di Ricerca (Ph. D. Student)

  • Rettore (Rector)
  • Prorettore (Vice-Rector)
  • Preside (Head of a Faculty)
  • Presidente di Consiglio di Corso di Laurea (Head of a Bachelor/Msc curriculum on a given topic)
  • Direttore di Dipartimento (Department Dean)

Elected faculty positions:

  • Rektor (Rector; one per university; usually assisted by prorektor and/or viserektor)
  • Dekan (Dean; one per faculty; formerly Dekanus (males) and Dekana (females), sometimes assisted by a prodekan)

Professorial ranks:

  • Professor
  • Professor II
  • Dosent (Reader; rarely used in universities, somewhat more common in professional colleges)

Postdoctoral ranks:

  • Førsteamanuensis (associate professor)
  • Førstelektor (senior lecturer; lecturer who holds a doctorate)
  • Postdoc (senior research fellow; postdoctoral fellow)

Postgraduate ranks:

  • Amanuensis (assistant professor; rarely used in universities, somewhat more common in professional colleges)
  • Universitetslektor (lecturer)
  • Stipendiat (research fellow; PhD-student)
  • vitenskapelig assistant (research assistant; usually a graduate student)

Research-and-teaching staff (higher rank):

  • professor assistant (asystent)
  • associate professor (adiunkt)
  • professor extraordinarius (profesor nadzwyczajny)
  • professor ordinarius (profesor zwyczajny)

and also for a special purpose:

  • visiting professor (profesor wizytujący)
  • professor emeritus (profesor emerytowany)

Teaching staff (lower rank):

  • lecturer (wykładowca)
  • senior lecturer (starszy wykładowca)
  • instructor (instruktor)
  • lector /foreign language teacher/ (lektor)

  • Rector ("Rector"; one per university; usually assisted by a "Prorector")
  • Dean ("Decan"; one per faculty; assisted by a "Prodecan")
  • Head of Department ("Şef de Catedra"; one per Department)

  • professor ("profesor")
  • associate professor ("conferentiar")
  • assistant professor ("lector")

and also for a special purpose:

  • visiting professor ("profesor vizitator")
  • professor emeritus ("profesor emerit" or "profesor consultant")

  • teaching assistant ("asistent")
  • junior teaching assistant ("preparator")

Tenured:
Civil servants:
  • Catedrático de Universidad (chair, sometimes "Full professor")
  • Profesor Titular de Universidad
  • Catedrático de Escuela Universitaria
  • Profesor Titular de Escuela Universitaria (does not have to hold a PhD)
Non-civil servants:
  • Profesor Contratado Doctor (must hold a PhD)
  • Profesor de Universidad Privada (must hold a PhD)
  • Profesor Colaborador (does not have to hold a PhD)
Temporary and non-Faculty:
  • Profesor Visitante
  • Profesor Asociado
  • Profesor Ayudante Doctor (must hold a PhD)
  • Profesor Ayudante

  • Rector (usually a Catedrático de Universidad)
  • Vicerrector
  • Secretario General
  • Gerente
  • Decano or Director (often also a Catedrático de Universidad)
  • Vicedecanos or Subdirectores
  • Secretario del Centro
  • Director de Departamento
  • Secretario de Departamento

Academic ranks with their corresponding required skills in teaching and research are defined in the University Law (SFS 1993:100) and the University Ordinance (SFS 1992:1434). The hiring of and promotion to the rank of professor are examined in committee before being decided by the appropriate university official, usually the prefekt, dekan or rektor. The examination is based on the views of two or more external examiners. Decisions are frequently appealed to the Appeals Board for Swedish Universities and Colleges (Överklagandenämnden för Högskolan). A similar but less strict procedure is used before the title of docent can be awarded.

Professor: Previously only holders of a Chair were called Professor, but since the 1990s a second career way has been opened, allowing qualified lecturers to apply for promotion. A successful examination will automatically confer professorship upon the applicant. These promoted professors (or Tham professors, after the Minister for Education Carl Tham who adopted the procedure), enjoy most of the advantages of a full professors, but as the institution will receive no extra funding for their research work, they have so far carried a disproportionately large responsibility for teaching. Both unions and universities agree that this must change over time, but progress have been slow.

Docent: Having considerably increased the width and depth of her research, a lecturer may apply to be awarded a docentur. The hearing is similar to that applied before hiring a professor, but less strict in its form. Through her research, the docent is considered to have acquired venia docendi, the right to teach. Accordingly, she may teach at all levels and act as opponent at Thesis defence. Typically, a docent manages a group of PhD-students or a subdivision of a research group. She often chairs smaller research projects of her own. While once a formal position, today lecturers apply to be accepted as unpaid docents, meaning that they keep their current job but may use the senior title.

Lektor: A position as lecturer requires proven pedagogical and scientific skills, usually being understood as teaching experience during his PhD-studies and a defended thesis. Although lecturers are promised a 50/50 partition between research and teaching, for those lecturers unable to find external funding it is largely a teacher's position. Coursework will include all levels, but lecturers do not act as examinators at the PhD-level. As with the professors, a promotion procedure can be applied for junior staff that qualify. Administrative or pedagogical skills can substitute for a lack in research work, if combined with long service. Qualification as lektor is the required level to participate in academic elections, as well as to stand for the offices of dekan or rektor.

Forskningsingenjör / PostDoc / Forskare: Research engineers, PostDoc researchers or Researcher are time limited positions allowing a former PhD student to continue his research. Teaching responsibilities of these junior researchers are very limited and it is considered to be a short cut in the career track. A current commission will most probably suggest changes in the post doctoral positions by the end of 2007.

Adjunkt: The adjunkt is a teacher's position, with responsibilities on the undergraduate and masters' levels. Having no other qualifications than a Masters' Degree, while the adjunkt is common at both universities and colleges, the former are striving to upgrade adjunkts to lektors. This is done by allowing time to perform or complete PhD-studies, or by systematically replacing adjunkts who have quit or retired with positions as lektors.

Doktorand: The Faculty Board may not accept PhD-students unless they can prove that the relevant finances are available to support the student. While employment as doktorand is unpopular with faculty for economical reasons, it is widely demanded by student organizations and acknowledge in law. The position as doktorand does not per se distinguish between those students who are employed and those benefiting from public or private grants. It is common to prolong the doktorand employment or scholarship period by teaching or doing other work for the department. Such work cannot surpass 20% of a full time position, bringing the four year PhD programme to a total of five years.

Emeritus rank are most commonly used for professors, although there is no particular regulation prohibiting a lektor or docent to add the letters em after his title.

Rektor: Most universities and colleges being state institutions, the rector is appointed by Government. The appointment is for six years, renewable for two times three years. However, while directors general of all other departments and authorities are parachuted from above, no rector will be appointed without the board of the university's recommendation. This, in turn, will be based on the opinion of lektors, professors and students. A formal account of the hearing process, including aspects of equal opportunity, is part of the recommendation sent to the Government. Rektors will hold the rank of lektor or higher. The private colleges follow a very similar procedure, but with appointment being made either by Government or by the board itself.

Prorektor: The board of the university appoints a prorektor for the university, which will serve as acting rector during the rector's vacation, travels and other absences. The position is proscribed in law; prorektors will usually hold the rank of lektor or higher.

Vice-rektor: Several of the large universities have adopted an organization where vice-rektors will hold a specific office as the rector's chargé d'affaires in a particular domain. The office of vice-rektor is not proscribed in law. Procedures and requirements for election as well as missions have therefore varied widely between institutions. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, Student's Welfare, Education Quality, Off-Campus Programmes, Corporate Affairs, Information Technology and Internationalisation. Vice-rektors will usually hold the rank of lektor or higher, but again, this may vary between institutions.

Dekan, Dekanus: While the internal organization of the higher education institutions are not regulated by law, most have opted to divide into faculties or areas headed by a board and a dekan or dekanus, the dean. Deans are commonly appointed by the rector after hearing the opinion of the lektors and professors. The usually serve with a time limited mandate. Deans will hold the rank of lektor or higher.

Prefekt: Most universities and colleges are subdivided into departements, headed by the prefekt and the department board or, sometimes, by the prefekt alone. Prefekts may be appointed by and report directly to the department board, the faculty board or the rector. There are no formal requirements for a prefekt, but will adjunkts have held the position a prefekt will usually hold a position as lektor or higher.

The University of Warwick has announced that its faculty will change academic titles to the American system (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor) from the 2006-2007 academic year.

Upon retirement, a university may grant honorary status to the former staff member. In the case of the University of Hull, the ranks correspond as follows:

  • Professor : Emeritus Professor
  • Reader : Emeritus Reader
  • Senior Lecturer : Senior Fellow
  • Lecturer : Fellow

There are two systems of administrative ranks - one for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and one for Scotland.

  • Chancellor (titular)
  • Pro-Chancellor (titular)
  • Vice-Chancellor (also known as Rector or Provost at some universities)
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor
  • Pro-Vice-Chancellor
  • Deans of Faculties
  • Heads of Departments/Schools
  • Department/School Directors of Studies

Regular faculty:

  • Distinguished Professor, University Professor, or Named Chair
  • Professor ("Full Professor")
  • Associate Professor
  • Assistant Professor
  • Instructor (sometimes "Lecturer")

Traditionally, Assistant Professor has been the usual entry-level rank for faculty who hold doctorates, although this depends on the institution and the field. While Instructorships seldom require a doctorate, competition for jobs has led to an increase in the number of Instructors who hold PhDs or other terminal degrees. The rank of Associate Professor usually indicates that the individual has been granted tenure at the institution. Professor is often the highest rank attained by a senior faculty member, although some institutions may offer some unique title to a senior faculty member whose research or publications have achieved wide recognition. This title may be a standardized "University Professor", but often are "named chairs": for example, the "John Doe Professor of Philosophy".

Temporary faculty and those with special appointments:

"Adjunct" before the name of a rank (Adjunct Assistant Professor, etc.) may indicate a part-time or temporary appointment. Adjunct status may also be given to a faculty member from another academic department whose research or teaching interests overlap substantially with those of the appointing department.

"Visiting" before the name of a rank (Visiting Assistant Professor, etc.) almost always indicates a temporary appointment, often to fill a vacancy that has arisen due to the sabbatical or temporary absence of a regular faculty member.

"Research" before the name of a rank (Research Assistant Professor, etc.) usually indicates a full-time research position with few or no teaching responsibilities. Research professorships are almost always funded by grants or fellowships apart from the regular university budget.

"Clinical" before the name of a rank (Clinical Assistant Professor, etc.) usually indicates a part-time teaching position with limited research responsibilities, especially in the health sciences.

"Emeritus" before or after the rank Professor or (less commonly) Associate Professor indicates a retired faculty member. Although an Emeritus faculty member is not paid a regular salary, often he or she has office space and at least some access to the university's facilities.

The ranks of Lecturer and Senior Lecturer are used at some American universities to denote permanent teaching positions with few or no research responsibilities. At other American universities, the rank of Lecturer is equivalent to that of Instructor.

At some universities, librarians have a rank structure parallel to that of the regular faculty (Assistant Librarian, Associate Librarian, Librarian). Some senior librarians, and often the head librarian, may have faculty or faculty-equivalent rank.

Fellowships and Research Associate positions are most often limited-term appointments for postdoctoral researchers. They are not usually regarded as faculty positions, although some teaching may be required.

At most American universities, research technicians, lab managers, and related personnel are generally regarded as administrative staff rather than faculty.

  • President
  • Chancellor (sometimes outranking President)
  • Vice-Chancellor
  • Provost
  • Assistant Provost
  • Vice Presidents (VP Academic, VP Research, VP Finance, etc.)
  • Associate Vice Presidents (Assoc. VP Academic, Assoc. VP Research, Assoc. VP Finance, etc.)
  • Deans (often also Full Professors)
  • Associate Deans (often also Full Professors)
  • Assistant Deans
  • Directors of Administrative Departments
  • Associate/Assistant Directors of Administrative Departments
  • Chairs of Academic Departments (usually Full Professors)

America's university system is highly decentralized, so this system of ranks vary highly from university to university. Many universities, for example, have deans (and do not have a provost) who hold similar responsibility to someone with the rank of a provost at another university. Almost no American university will have all of these ranks.

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