A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school.
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. The most common undergraduate degree is the bachelor's degree, although some educational systems offer lower-level undergraduate degrees such as associate and foundation degrees. Common postgraduate degrees include master's degrees and doctorates.
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct research.
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher educational institutions, a fellow can be a member of a highly ranked group of teachers at a particular college or university or a member of the governing body in some universities; it can also be a specially selected postgraduate student who has been appointed to a post granting a stipend, research facilities and other privileges for a fixed period in order to undertake some advanced study or research, often in return for teaching services. In the context of research and development-intensive large companies or corporations, the title "fellow" is sometimes given to a small number of senior scientists and engineers. In the context of medical education in North America, a fellow is a physician who is undergoing a supervised, sub-specialty medical training (fellowship) after having completed a specialty training program (residency).
In North America, an adjunct professor, also known as an adjunct lecturer or adjunct instructor, is a professor who teaches on a limited-term contract, often for one semester at a time, and who is ineligible for tenure.
Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some type of separate administrative structure exists at almost all academic institutions. Fewer institutions are governed by employees who are also involved in academic or scholarly work. Many senior administrators are academics who have advanced degrees and no longer teach or conduct research.
Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In the United States and Canada, deans are usually university professors who serve as the heads of a university's constituent colleges and schools. Deans are common in private preparatory schools, and occasionally found in middle schools and high schools as well.
Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Tenure is a means of defending the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for society in the long run if scholars are free to hold and examine a variety of views.
A teaching fellow is an individual at a higher education institution, including universities, whose role involves teaching and potentially pedagogic research. The work done by teaching fellows can vary enormously from institution to institution, depending on the requirements and position of individual institutions.
The following summarizes basic academic ranks in the French higher education system. Most academic institutions are state-run and most academics with permanent positions are civil servants, and thus are tenured.
Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" is often used to refer to anyone who teaches at a college of university level at any academic rank. This usage differs from the predominant usage of the word professor in other countries, where the unqualified word "professor" only refers to "full professors". Other tenure-track faculty positions include assistant professor and associate professor (mid-level). Other teaching-focused positions that use the term "professor" include Clinical Professor, Professor of Practice, and Teaching Professor. Most faculty with titles of "Lecturer" and "Instructor" in the U.S. are not eligible for tenure, though they are still often referred to as "professors" in a general sense and as a courtesy form of address. Non-tenure-track positions may be full or part time, although the qualifier "adjunct" always denotes part-time.
In the United States, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a category of higher education, minority-serving institutions defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Each qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 or the Navajo Community College Act ; or is cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994.
Professor is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors are usually experts in their field and teachers of the highest rank.
Academic ranks in the United States are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Sessional lecturer or sessional instructor are contract faculty who hold full- or part-time teaching positions and may perform administrative duties but have no research responsibilities. Sessionals hold short-term contracts, typically running one or two academic terms; in many post-secondary institutions sessional contracts may be renewed repeatedly but by definition, they offer no legal expectation of ongoing work. Unlike members of other academic ranks, sessional lecturers are ineligible for tenure. It is an academic rank for a type of job common in Canadian and Australian universities and colleges.
The Education functional constituency, formerly called Teaching from 1985 to 1995, is a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It was one of the 12 functional constituency seats created for the 1985 Legislative Council election. Since 1998, It has been the functional constituency with the most registered voters, including registered teachers, principals, managers of schools, full-time academic staff, members of the councils of the universities in Hong Kong and board of governors of the institutes of higher educations. In 2020, it had 85,698 registered voters, as compared to the Finance constituency who had only 121 voters.
Academic ranks in Canada are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
