For University Professors-career questions?

The titles are awarded.

If your school is letting you teach in the program they may also let you have one or two classes.

Basically you have to create your own job.

You put together a course idea or several of them and apply to colleges and pitch them.

They will generally give you ONE class, which doesn’t pay much. It’s like $25 an hour and one class is 3 hours per week.

So you may have to teach at SEVERAL colleges concurrently to make money.

You might also apply for your own research grants on some topic or to write a book or something.

There are also fellowship programs.

So you may have to start out small at a JC or a state college or both or even a private one as well. Or maybe even teach some private secondary school like at a Montesorri school.

Once a college likes you they start giving you more opportunities.

What college like is someone who does things at the college (other than teach) that bring them fame and notirity or improves them.

I knew a teacher in a high school who got a $10,000 grant to teach photography and film and he bought (actually I sold him) all sorts of equipment and set up with quazi “unschooling” photo lab where he let the students do their own thing with a little supervision from him.

My college professor who founded the cinema department at that school (it used to be taught by the Theater department on a small scale and they had you buy a Super 8 movie camera) got grants and took his buget money and bought 35mm, 16mm, Super 8, mixing boards, Moviolas and he turned that school into something fantastic.

He then managed to lure in out of work Union professionals in the Sound and Cinematography fields to teach.

One women I know who got her masters in Cinema put together and pitched a Woman’s Cinema Studies class, that deal with Woman’s Participation in the Cinema from 1895 to the present.

She started it in California, then next semester took it to Texas and then took it to NY where has has stayed.

My freshman year Poly Sci teacher taught in the Night Division at my school and in the Day Division at Pepperdine AND he was an Elector for Reagan.

One of my theater teachers taught at my school and at two other schools because he could only get one class at each school.

Now 3 schools were paying him. $225 a week, which still is not a bag of beans.

But it’s a start

Eventually one school starts giving you so much to do you make good money.

Then you stay

Then then tenure you

Then when someoen retires you get an Assistant or Assocaite Professor title.

Now you talk of biology so I assum you have a Masters in Biology.

This usually leaves opne the door to teach about Evolution, Genetics, Bio-Chemistry, Bio-physics, biology, even health and nutrition to a degree.

A lot depends on the college or university. You can teach in a variety of schools. Nursing school, Medical School, General science college

One of your tools might be your graduate thesis.

But that’s the way it works. You go in as a freshman Lecturer and then work your way up from there.

Now a guy I knew who had a fish and game rental place up in the mountians got a $25,000 grant to take measruements of the streams in the area. All he had to do was go out once a week and take measurements.

Now if you were to find out about some program that keeps tabs on some biological element you appy for that Grant and you get to use the money to do the work and then you can get your undergraduate students to help out as interns, as a class project.

See, now they are doing something REAL. You students are doing REAL WORLD Biology work! It’s something for their resume!

You are bringing a REAL project to the school

You can even turn it into a journal article or a book

When you do that you mention the schools name

Eventually the school might Give you a title to make those books and articles more impressive

You know

Associate Professor of Mammal Biology at the John Jones School of Veternary Science University of Smith and Smith

Yes it helps to TA, try to get a teaching assistantship to gain experience as an instructor. Research experience is of course important, you’ll conduct research for your doctoral dissertation. A research assistantship is also helpful to prepare for a career in academia.

Assistant Professor is the junior level for beginning tenure-track faculty. In order to be a top candidate this job you need a PhD from a major research university, publications and teaching experience. Associate Professor and full Professor are senior faculty, these levels are earned after you pass the tenure review process, which requires having excellent teaching evaluations, serving on department committees, making a contribution to your field through research and publications. Tenure means job security and academic freedom- the professors can decide how and what to teach (meaning choose the approach, curriculum,etc.)at their discretion. Retired professors have the title of Professor Emeritus. At some universities in addition to the fancy title, they get an office on campus, although this is increasingly less possible, as space becomes tighter on most campuses.

The average salaries for assistant professors at doctoral insitutions range from about $60,000-71,000. See the link for more info.

Ideas/suggestions-

Find out if there are research opportunities for undergraduates on your campus. Many universities offer programs to introduce undergrads to research, and to help with projects working w/graduate students and faculty. This kind of experience will help you for graduate school. Talk w/your TAs about their experiences choosing graduate programs, ask for their advice. Join campus organizations in science, biotech or anything that interests you. Get a job at the tutorial center helping other students in science.

(FYI-People with M.A. degrees can teach classes at universities part-time, these are instructors, not professors. They don’t have full-time faculty status and are not on the tenure-track, they contract by the course or sometimes have a one year contract w/ the university. Another term for a part-time instructor is adjunct faculty)