Most faculty with titles of "Lecturer" and "Instructor" in the U.S. are not eligible for tenure (as of 2015[update]), though they are still often referred to as "professors" in a general sense and as a courtesy form of address.
[2] Non-tenure-track positions may be full or part time, although the qualifier "adjunct" always denotes part-time (whether combined with the word "professor" or not).
[4] Yakoboski estimated that 75% of these professors have acknowledged that they have made no preparations for retirement due to the ongoing financial crisis and reluctance to leave their profession.
[6] The term "professors" in the United States refers to a group of educators at the college and university level.
In the United States, while "Professor" as a proper noun (with a capital "P") generally implies a position title officially bestowed by a university or college to faculty members with a PhD or the highest level terminal degree in a non-academic field (e.g., MFA, MLIS),[citation needed] the common noun "professor" is often used casually to refer to anyone teaching at the college level, regardless of rank or degree.
At some junior colleges without a formal ranking system, instructors are accorded the courtesy title of "professor".
Tenure without a doctorate is somewhat more common in fields with an artistic component, as with Howard Nemerov (poetry, Washington University in St. Louis) and Colin Rowe (architectural history and theory, Cornell).
These full-time faculty members with PhDs or other highest-level terminal degrees (designated as acceptable by a university or college, including the "professional equivalent" to the doctorate at institutions such as Columbia University[7]), engage in both undergraduate and graduate teaching, mentoring, research, and service.
Prior to the 1970s, such administrators were called "chairmen" or "chairwomen", but the term in most institutions has since been the gender-neutral "chairperson", or shortened to "chair".
Promotion to associate professor usually results in an increased administrative load and membership on committees that are restricted to tenured faculty.
Usually, this final promotion requires that the individual has maintained an active research program and excellent teaching, in addition to taking a leadership role in important departmental and extra-departmental administrative tasks.
Positions typically temporary and/or part-time: Retired faculty may retain formal or informal links with their university, such as library privileges or office space.
Usually students who have completed their doctoral studies seek positions as assistant professors in colleges and universities.
As they progress in their established fields through research, teaching, and service, they can make bids for promotion and tenure, which typically elevates them to the rank of associate professor.
Occupation Outlook Handbook notes that a significant proportion of any growth in academic professor jobs will be due to "part-time and non tenure-track positions".
[3] As of 2003, the average age at which scientists received tenure in the United States was 39, which can make it difficult for professors to balance professional and family obligations.
Tenure generally constitutes a lifetime employment agreement and could also serve as a means of protecting faculty whose research may be socially, politically, or scientifically controversial.
Rates for achieving tenure vary, depending on the institutions and areas of study; in most places at least 50% of assistant professors will eventually become tenured and promoted to associate professors; however, this number can be as low as 10% in natural sciences departments of top universities or in non-PhD-granting schools.
The mid-level position is usually awarded after a substantial record of scholarly accomplishment (such as the publication of one or more books, numerous research articles, a successful program of external research grant support, successful teaching, and/or service to the department);[17] however, the specific requirements vary considerably between institutions and departments.
In some systems and institutions the rank is bestowed on all professors who have retired in good standing, while at others it needs a special act or vote.
For example, US President Barack Obama is commonly referred to as having been a professor of law at the University of Chicago, when in fact he formally held the title of senior lecturer, causing some controversy during the 2008 US Presidential Election.
Alternatively, at US medical colleges, the title "Instructor" can be given to someone who is full-time faculty and who may conduct research with no teaching obligation.
[23] Such adjuncts generally have a teaching load below the minimum required to earn employment benefits such as health insurance or access to retirement accounts.
Adjuncts are not funded to maintain currency in their fields of expertise, nor to interact with students other than within the course(s) they are hired to teach.
[26] Universities often treat adjuncts as inexpensive and replaceable when compared to tenure-track faculty, and as additional teaching resources to be called up as necessary.
This is a title normally granted to those who have contributed significantly to the school and community (for example, by donation for furtherance of research and academic development), but may or may not have earned a PhD.
In the 1800s professors were often clergymen and tended towards conservatism, gradually becoming more liberal with the Progressive Era and Great Depression.
By the mid-20th century, the humanities and social sciences were dominated by liberal or Democratic professors, with Republicans or conservatives showing a slight majority in departments of business, agriculture and engineering.
Most of the full-time tenured or tenure-track professors are paid by a college or university on nine- or ten-month contracts.
[41] Unfortunately for these faculty, the ensuing crash of the U.S. economy resulted in temporary pay reductions and total salary stagnation at the 2007 level instead, in spite of ongoing inflation.