Do "research fellows" teach? Are they considered professors? If so, how much do they teach?
449246
It depends on the school. Some schools will require research fellows to teach two classes a semester, while at other schools the position is purely research oriented. A research fellow also may be required to have some sort of mentoring sessions with a faculty member.\n\nNo, they are not considered professors.
845470
There are a few  reasons for this.  The first is that the professor teaches something so specialized it is not taught every semester etc, so he or she teaches that subject at several colleges.  The second reason is that the professor may be a free spirit who likes to travel or the thrill of a new place.  Good professors can find jobs and if one wants to discover the world, teaching at different colleges is not a bad way to do it.  Finally it could just be they are a bad professor and never make tenure because they choose not to publish or are not good teachers.  The problem with switching is that you do not build up tenure or retirement benefits, and you do not set down roots.  To do long term research means you have to settle in one place that will fund your research.
691687
They usually get grants and stuff, sometimes they are professors that teach and reasearch at the same time.
936590
I am an actual professor, and unless the student has a history of slacking and then trying to suck up, I don't assume that their intent is bad.  Anything specific you can say would help ("I never thought I would find Victorian literature interesting, but your lecture on Joseph Conrad's work made me so curious that I bought Heart of Darkness to read over vacation.")  That shows that you actually listened to what she said in class.  Most people get far too little thanks for the work that they do, and I'm sure that your professor will appreciate anything you might say.
381481
Over the entirety of my career thus far, I have taught at four colleges, interviewed at seven, and visited dozens more.  Not ONE has had such a thing.  \n\nProfessors *within* a department have faculty meetings (often weekly), usually in a classroom or seminar room convenient to their offices.  Sometimes, one professor (usually the department chair) has a larger office, and sometimes a few professors end up in there during the chair's office hours just chatting.\n\nThe only places for faculty members to meet with faculty *outside* their department are at social occasions, at lectures, at dinners (usually held and funded by some university administrators), or at seminars designed by the university's administration to be interdepartmental.\n\nLet me give you some quick examples.\nI see the other members of my department on a daily basis, sometimes in the department office while we're xeroxing things, checking our mailboxes, or waiting to speak with the administrative assistants.  Sometimes, at random times during the week, two or three of us end up talking to our department chair in her office.\n\nI meet weekly with all members of my department in faculty meetings in a seminar room in our building.\n\nI meet every other week with a group of faculty from lots of different departments in what is called a "Faculty Learning Community," which is a group funded by the administration.  There are about 10 of us, all from different areas of the university.  We are all volunteers, and we gather to work on a project of benefit to the university.\n\nIf this helps, I hope to get a gig as a consultant when your film is produced by a major studio!\n\nBest wishes.
290524
Unlike the US system, not every university teacher in Britain is a professor. The academic hierarchy goes Junior Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader and then Professor when you get a chair. A Reader is an academic with high standing and is just below Full Professor level. Only a small number of British academics are called Professor.
460666
Well, you kinda gotta let them have some fun, otherwise they'll all go work for private companies that provide same benefits.\n\nBut yeah, universities are run by professors, so they pick their own terms. The only oversight comes from alumni donors, who won't don't care unless there's some nasty public outrage.\n\nSo if you think you're overpaying, go find a better deal. If you can't, quit whining. Life's a biatch, get used to it.\n\nTo Nora above: if universities only received money from research, they'd only do research and no teaching.
239975
I would say that "welcomingness" is more a product of size than selectivity.  At a small liberal arts college you'll have more individual contact with your professors that at an ivy league school or similar university, but you'd have even less at a big state school.  I go to a small liberal arts school, and I can tell you that I've only been there a semester and a half and I think at least eleven professors know my name (my mom says she graduated from a state school without a single prof knowing her name) and in the big required freshman intro class that everyone takes after every paper we turn in we meet one-on-one with our prof to discuss the paper.  From what I've heard, I think that at bigger schools (ivies and similar) you can certainly get to know your professors if you try, but you have to go out of your way to make that happen.  \n\nAnother thing to think about is emphasis on teaching vs. research.  My school is very focused on teaching, and pretty much all our profs like to teach and want to get to know us.  And we don't have a graduate school, so we're not competing with grad students for our professors' time (the grad students tend to win).  There certainly is plenty of research and such that goes on, but I haven't encountered any profs who are more concerned about their research than their classes.
478423
A "Visiting Instructor" or "Visiting Assistant Professor" is the special name for an instructor or professor who is hired only for a short period of time, usually from one to three years.  These positions are generally only desired by scholars who are ABD (haven't finished their dissertation yet), or are new Ph.D.s.  This is because visiting positions pay poorly, are only temporary, and are not tenure-track.  So the people who end up in a string of visiting positions are not in an enviable spot; rather, they are having a very hard time getting a permanent job with a decent salary and benefits.  \n\nI know some folks who had to take 2 or 3 visiting positions in a row before they found tenure-track positions, and it was very hard on them, both financially and in terms of job security.  They were terrified they wouldn't ever find a permanent position with some security.  And of course, other academics start to get suspicious of your ability to be a decent scholar if you just cannot find a tenure-track position.\n\nI hope this information helps.
551375
As far as I understand professors may teach at colleges but not being taught at them. If they are taught then they are taught at some further education courses at some Universities.
974317
I don't know how long faculty lasts, nor am I sure of all the factors that go into faculty retention.\n\nIn fact you whole line of questioning has me thrown for a loop. What exactly is it that you want to know?\n\nAt any rate......don't sweat the Latin
1149041
I would make it mandatory that teachers have to reapply for tenure every three or five years. I have friends that are teachers, my mom's a college professor, and we've seen so many teachers that just don't care - and most of them have tenure. My mom had a student who brought her a tape of another class, and the professor was actually recorded saying "I have tenure, I can do whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it." That's a horrible attitude!! But if it becomes real that they can lose their tenure and be looking for a new job, it might weed out the really good teachers from the ones who don't care about educating the young people of today.
513641
No, no, no, absolutely not. Professors should be unbiased. \n\nHiring educators for their point-of-views is moronic.
589241
I'm not really sure what you're asking, but if you want a job at a university as a visiting faculty member, just look at the colleges/universities in your area and apply. Good luck!
793512
I don't know how it is in your country, but over here, it depends on what kind of institution you intend to teach in - in any case, you're smack in between.\n\nOver here, a teaching qualification is required to teach below tertiary level. Those who want to teach at university level have to be PhDs, unless they're part-time tutors.\n\nUltimately, it may not just be the depth of your knowledge on the subject, but your ability to convey the knowledge. I'm sure we've all grown up with plenty of experience of what it's like to have teachers who just don't know how to teach even though they're smart, knowledgeable people themselves.\n\nI see it like studying basic economics - when you're studying it, you feel stupid because it's so common-sensical, but if you didn't study it, arranging thoughts and logic in that manner might not have occurred to you. That's what training does - it helps you re-arrange your knowledge so you can use it effectively for your specific purpose.
196719
Oh my... <sigh> First, do you have a bachelor and masters degree?  If not, forget it.  Second, many schools will admit you for free for the PhD; however, you have to teach for them.  You should investigate this with individual schools.
1091000
Obviously, some professors go too far, and grades shouldn't come into play nor should the classroom be a place to spread a professors ideology. As long as it isn't abused, and the professor seems to welcome discussion (assuming it's relevant to the class), I think it's worthwhile to know that professors aren't cookie cutter teachers--they're people with views. Part of college is hearing other views, and learning how to respond critically, either by questioning the views and/or shaping a learned counter response. \n\nI've been in classes where I've disagreed with an instructor, politically, but they presented their views in an articulate way that helped me understand how people with opposing viewpoints can work together. That was cool.\n\nI definitely think professors shouldn't be afraid to share their views, as long as it's relevant to the class and other opinions appear to be valued. I learned a lot about how to shape my viewpoints from professors who disagreed with me. They helped me present a more logical argument to support my viewpoint--that was their goal, and they didn't care if they disagreed with me.