What does the title of Associate Professor really mean???

[HigherEd7]

What does the title of associate professor really mean? It is a long six-year period of a lot of work trying to impress the committee and institution that you deserve it and when you get it what happens next? Over the years I have met several faculty members who have held the title of associate professor for years and they do not have the desire to get promoted to professor.

[apostrophe]

I think it varies. For some people, getting across the tenure finish line with a shred of remaining energy/dignity is understandably enough. For others, full just seems like a logical next step. Getting paid more (as a full professor) can be motivating, too.

[polly_mer]

The title "associate professor" doesn't even have to be connected with tenure.  At many places, the tenure process is not the same as the rank process.  One can be hired as an untenured associate professor or can be assistant professor with tenure who still needs to apply to become associate.

Associate professor is simply the second step on a three-step ladder of assistant, associate, and full.  What that second step means depends on the local culture.

[dr_codex]

The title "associate professor" doesn't even have to be connected with tenure.  At many places, the tenure process is not the same as the rank process.  One can be hired as an untenured associate professor or can be assistant professor with tenure who still needs to apply to become associate.

Associate professor is simply the second step on a three-step ladder of assistant, associate, and full.  What that second step means depends on the local culture.

Yes. We recently uncoupled continuing appointment and academic rank.

[delsur]

Getting paid more (as a full professor) can be motivating, too.

Yes, I know many colleagues who don't bother with the hassle of promotion because their institutions don't offer salary raises. And there's also Donna Strickland...

[lightning]

It means looking back at what you did as an Assistant Professor, and picking which activities or types of activities you actually enjoyed doing, and then refining your focus to those things, and then setting your own timetable to achieve those things and in what quantity. If you happen to get full professor along the way, that's just greaaaat, but it is certainly not a career-defining moment like earning tenure.

For a few people, none of the activities were enjoyable, so that's why some completely shift their focus. For a few others, sitting on one's ar$e was their favorite activity.

[lightning]

The title "associate professor" doesn't even have to be connected with tenure.  At many places, the tenure process is not the same as the rank process.  One can be hired as an untenured associate professor or can be assistant professor with tenure who still needs to apply to become associate.

Associate professor is simply the second step on a three-step ladder of assistant, associate, and full.  What that second step means depends on the local culture.

Yes. We recently uncoupled continuing appointment and academic rank.

I know someone that was tenured without promotion (at a small non-selective liberal arts college). What did he do after earning tenure? He got himself an adjunct position at the nearby R1, while holding his obligations to the sLAC to the minimum. The sLAC job subsidized his R1 faculty fantasy. "Associate" meant nothing to him.

[mamselle]

Is that even allowed?

M.

[tuxthepenguin]

The title "associate professor" doesn't even have to be connected with tenure.  At many places, the tenure process is not the same as the rank process.  One can be hired as an untenured associate professor or can be assistant professor with tenure who still needs to apply to become associate.

It's common for the assistant-associate distinction to be associated with money. Some places will hire untenured associates, because then they don't need to pay a promotion bonus at tenure time, and the unaware candidate is excited about being "promoted". Other places will give tenure without promotion. They have an experienced employee that was willing to jump through all required hoops working for less than the new hires.

[lightning]

Is that even allowed?

M.

He got away with it all the way through retirement from the sLAC.

[jerseyjay]

At my school, promotion and tenure are separate. You can get promoted without tenure (although it is rare) and if you get tenure, you still need to apply for promotion afterwards.

It is thus theoretically possible to be an assistant professor one's entire career here, even if that career lasts 40 years.

There is a story here of a professor who got tenure, but then his department would not recommend him to be promoted to associate. Maybe they meant this as a signal he wasn't welcome, but instead of quitting he essentially stopped doing service, taught his courses, and got a job teaching part-time at a more prestigious school several miles away. This is what he lists in his publications and the webpage there gives no indication that he is working here (it has a rather complete CV otherwise).

At my university you can teach at another school (many people do) as long as it is open and does not conflict with fulfilling your core duties here (teaching and office hours). Most people just teach a course or two on the side every so often, but don't make an alternate career out of it.

There is a full professor in my department who taught a full load here, and then taught two classes at the flagship state university (where he received his doctorate). His books listed him as a faculty member at this school. He has since stopped this, focusing only on his full-time job.

To answer your question, at my job, an associate professor means a raise. It theoretically means that one has more research, teaching, and service than an assistant but less than a full. But it doesn't always mean that.

[HigherEd7]

Are you able to use this title to negotiate a contract at another school or do you have to start all over again?

[polly_mer]

Are you able to use this title to negotiate a contract at another school or do you have to start all over again?

That's entirely institution specific and career specific.

I'm used to the idea that one comes in as an associate professor without tenure on a shortened tenure clock as a way to recruit people who have tenure elsewhere comparable or better.  That situation may or may not be having the title of associate professor at that other place. 

It's possible to go from tenured full professor elsewhere to associate, untenured professor at a place that is significantly higher on the research food chain and have little to no time credited on the tenure clock.  The people I know who have done that were so happy to be at a research-intensive place that the loss of rank and tenure were seen as good tradeoffs.

I also know people who are recruited from industry/government at midcareer who never had tenure elsewhere, but are hired as associate professor with a standard tenure clock.  Those folks have a publication and funding record consistent with being associate or even full, but don't have a good enough record for the other parts of tenure.

[tuxthepenguin]

Are you able to use this title to negotiate a contract at another school or do you have to start all over again?

Some (many?) schools will not hire with tenure. They'll bring you in at associate but without tenure. In one case, I interviewed for a position where they talked about bringing me in as full, but without tenure.

Being associate vs assistant doesn't mean much on the market. It's tenure that matters.

[clean]

In my work experience at compass point universities, there is not much difference between any rank.  Full professors are probably tenured, and they get to serve on nastier committees.

Associate professors are usually at least 5 years out of PhD school.  they Might be tenured, but they may have been hired 'with experience' at that rank, but not tenure.

Assistant professors are usually withing 5 years of earning their degree. However, some people with experience may take the cut in rank with a job change and a short tenure clock to get a quick raise. In my experience, my employer was willing to bring me in as an Associate Professor, but for the same money. IF I came in as an Assistant, then after 2 years, I would go up for tenure and promotion and get a small raise.  There would not have been a raise IF I came in as Associate (or a higher salary at the start).

The bottom line is that once you are tenured there are more committees that you can serve on, and when full  and tenured, you can serve on the nastiest committees (like grievances against administrators, or tenure appeals, or otherwise service heavy, unpleasant tasks). 

While possible, it is rare to be tenured and not promoted from the rank of Assistant. (it can happen, but that is often a bad sign to start with). 

At some places, the rank of Full Professor is restricted to the heavy weights on campus and only a few people make it.  At others, the Full Professor rank is just a mark of longevity.  (You did the right things long enough and met the requirements at the time - even if you could not now meet the requirements for tenure and promotion to Associate professor). 

Finally, In some disciplines, rank is NOT related to salary.  In many Business disciplines, for example, the lower ranks are paid more than the higher ranks.  It is very hard to get ANY PhD in Accounting, for instance, and the golden handcuffs of tenure may make those with the higher rank unable to obtain a market wage.  Salary Inversion is a real phenomenon