Types of Professors

Non-tenure-track faculty are found among the lowest paid and lowest in total earnings of full-time faculty. No survey exists of the stipend paid per course, but the basic academic salary of part-time faculty members is $6,302 of a total income from all sources of $34,275.

An assistant professor is an entry-level faculty member. They are generally on the tenure track (although the term "assistant professor" does not guarantee this) but do not have tenure yet.

Then, promotion to the rank of Associate Professor and later Professor (informally, "Full Professor") indicates that significant work has been done in research, teaching, community service, etc.; in some institutions the associate level indicates that a tenure-track professor has been granted tenure.

Less than 5 percent of faculty who are part time are on the tenure track. Seventy-nine percent are classified below assistant professor, for example, instructor, lecturer, or reader. About 90 percent of all full-time lecturers and nearly 50 percent of all full-time instructors are non-tenure-track faculty.

Adjunct Professor, Clinical Professor, Professor of Practice, Research Professor. The first three apply to people who have outside activities such as medical practice, professional engineer, lawyer and do not work full-time in a research capacity.