It is common to be confused by all the academic terminology that is used at a university, especially when it comes to the titles that university employees hold. Here is a list describing major academic titles that might be difficult to fully understand at first glance.
President
The president of a university oversees academic administrators who run the campuses and departments throughout a university or university system. They make important decisions regarding big picture issues such as the budget and the vision for the university. The president usually works with a Board of Trustees, or a governing body, to help implement policies and plans.
UT’s president is Randy Boyd. Boyd is the executive officer of the entire UT system, which includes Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, the Health Science Center in Memphis and the Space Institute at Tullahoma. More information can be found at the Office of the President’s website.
Chancellor
The chancellor acts as the chief executive officer and is responsible for the entire student body of the school.
Donde Plowman is the chancellor at UT. She provides the vision and leadership for the university and is responsible for all activities on campus, including academics, student life, athletics and development.
Plowman reports to President Randy Boyd.
Provost
The provost of a university is a high-ranking administrator who is above deans but below the president and chancellor of the university. They make many important decisions regarding academic life and faculty affairs.
At the University of Tennessee, John Zomchick is the provost. He is responsible for the academic activities on campus and focuses on the everyday functioning of the university. He also works with academic admissions and financial aid.
Zomchick meets with the chancellor and other vice chancellors to discuss policies at the university and campus issues. More information can be found on the Office of the Provost website.
Dean
Deans at a university serve as representatives and heads of a college, directing all administrative and academic activities. Each college at UT, from Arts and Sciences to Tickle Engineering, has its own dean.
There are also deans who focus on non-curricular issues like student life. The Dean of Students at UT is Shea Kidd Brown. She administers and enforces school policies and works to create systems of support for students. The Dean of Students ensures that students have resources and support to be successful in their learning environment.
Associate Professor
An associate professor is one rank higher than an assistant professor, but the tenure-track title does not necessarily come with full tenure like a full professorship does. Associate professors develop plans and lecture students in the field in which they have an advanced degree.
Along with teaching, most associate professors will conduct research at their university and advise students. Outside of fully tenured professorships, associate professors hold the highest tenure-track rank.
Assistant Professor
An assistant professor can do multiple things. More than likely, they develop coursework for their classes, deliver lessons and assessments or publish reports and research. They also assist with various department duties such as providing academic support to professors or faculty.
Assistant professors can recruit and train teacher assistants. They are entry-level tenure-track professors, and are on the path to attaining full tenure.
Lecturer
A lecturer is what many students think of when they think of a college-level teacher. Lecturers are similar to a professor, but they do not have tenure or a path to tenure and often stand in front of larger classrooms and teach many students. Lecturers can also play a big role in the admissions process.
Lecturers are not full-time professors who are paid to conduct research. Rather, they are tasked with teaching the majority of the 100 and 200-level courses. They are also often paid much less than tenure-track faculty.
Tenure
Tenure is a professor’s permanent job contract, offered to professors hired on the tenure track. A professor or faculty member’s ability to conduct research or gain funding plays a part in tenure decisions.
Tenure takes into consideration every course taught by a professor and teacher evaluations done by students.
FAQs
Is a provost a higher rank than a dean? Yes. A provost can often be described as the university's vice president since they oversee academic affairs, which include faculty, students, curriculums, accreditation and other areas necessary for a university to run smoothly.
What is the difference between academic dean and provost? ›
Deans are the chief executives of their colleges. The provost represents the deans to the president and the governing board and leads academic affairs on behalf of the president.
Is a dean higher than a professor? ›
Is a dean higher than a professor? - Quora. In terms of administrative rank, yes. In the USA, typically, a professor oversees administration of 3–4 individual classes. The professor answers to a department chair, who oversees all the professors who teach in a particular field.
What does the title provost mean? ›
The Provost, the chief academic officer of the university, reports directly to the President. At Georgia State, the Provost: oversees the development and implementation of the university's academic programs and policies. supervises the university's deans and associate provosts.
What is the title hierarchy of professors? ›
The standard academic ranks are Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. The standard professorial titles (and where appropriate Instructor) are significantly altered by the addition of modifiers such as Emeritus, University, Clinical, Research, Adjunct, or Visiting.
How do I address the provost of a university? ›
You should still address the email formally to “Dean” or “Provost.” For your academic or career advisers, you can usually have a more casual correspondence and address them by their first names. Look at how they sign their emails as an indicator of what's appropriate.
Does a provost need a Phd? ›
Education Requirements
Larger institutions typically require prospective provosts to have a doctorate, although smaller colleges may consider candidates with only a master's degree.
How important is a provost? ›
A provost is the chief academic officer of a university. At Rice, the provost works with the deans, vice provosts, department chairs, faculty and others on campus to support excellence in all of the university's academic, research, scholarly and creative programs and activities.
What is the hierarchy of a provost? ›
In many but not all North American institutions, the provost or equivalent is the second-ranking officer in the administrative hierarchy. Often the provost may serve as acting chief executive officer during a vacancy in that office or when the incumbent is absent from campus for prolonged periods.
What is called a lecturer? ›
A lecturer is someone who stands up in front of a class and gives an organized talk designed to teach you something. There are lots of lecturers at colleges and universities.
While a master's degree in education may benefit those seeking this position, degrees in a range of different disciplines, such as business, marketing, and social work, are also sufficient in some cases. Academic deans are also often required to hold a doctorate in higher education or a similar field.
Can a dean fire a professor? ›
Only the Chancellor or designee, either independently or at the request of the Dean or the Chair of the department, may initiate the termination process.
What is higher than provost? ›
The provost of a university is a high-ranking administrator who is above deans but below the president and chancellor of the university. They make many important decisions regarding academic life and faculty affairs.
Why is it called provost? ›
Provost passed into Scots from several sources, including medieval English profost and French provost, and their post-classical Latin ancestor propositus, which is related to and has the same meaning as classical Latin praepositus, 'a person placed in charge'.
What are the duties of a provost? ›
The provost recommends and approves all promotions, retentions, special hires, tenure decisions, and new appointments to the faculty, and helps schools establish their own promotion and tenure policies. The provost is responsible for fostering globalization initiatives in the university.
Who is above the provost? ›
The president is the highest ranking person in the college administration. Provost is usually a member of the president's cabinet responsible for academics. At many institutions this official would be known as the vice president of academic affairs.
What rank is provost? ›
In the United States Army and United States Marine Corps (USMC), the senior-most military law enforcement officer is the Provost Marshal General (PMG) (Army) or provost marshal (USMC).
What is higher than the dean's List? ›
Undergraduate students who complete a minimum of 12 credits during a given semester with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 to 3.799 are placed on the Dean's List. Undergraduate students who achieve a GPA of 3.80 or above are placed on the President's List.
