Opportunities in Academia for those with Graduate Degrees Nancy Amato November 2006 (Based on a presentation by John Keyser)

Academia – Types of Schools l Research Universities –Research is a major part of the school’s function –Usually offer full range of graduate degrees l Teaching Universities –Primary focus is on the teaching aspects of education –Usually focused on undergraduate education l Academic Institutions Carnegie Classification –Doctoral/Research Universities – Extensive –Doctoral/Research Universities – Intensive –Master’s Colleges and Universities I –Master’s Colleges and Universities II –Baccalaureate Colleges – Liberal Arts –Baccalaureate Colleges – General –Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges –Associate’s Colleges

Academic Institutions Carnegie Classification l Doctoral/Research Universities – Extensive –Several Doctorates/Year over several subjects –TAMU, UT-Austin/Arlington, Texas Tech, North Texas, Houston, Rice, SMU l Doctoral/Research Universities – Intensive –Several Doctorates per year –TAMU-Commerce/Kingsville, UT-Dallas/El Paso, Baylor, TCU l Master’s Colleges and Universities I l Master’s Colleges and Universities II l Baccalaureate Colleges – Liberal Arts l Baccalaureate Colleges – General l Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges l Associate’s Colleges

Academic Institutions Carnegie Classification l Doctoral/Research Universities – Extensive l Doctoral/Research Universities – Intensive l Master’s Colleges and Universities I –Bachelor’s, Several Masters in 3 or more subjects –Remaining TAMU/UT schools, Sam Houston State, Houston – Clear Lake/Victoria, ACU, Trinity l Master’s Colleges and Universities II –Bachelors, several Master’s –LeTourneau, St. Edward’s, Texas Wesleyan l Baccalaureate Colleges – Liberal Arts l Baccalaureate Colleges – General l Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges l Associate’s Colleges

Academic Institutions Carnegie Classification l Doctoral/Research Universities – Extensive l Doctoral/Research Universities – Intensive l Master’s Colleges and Universities I l Master’s Colleges and Universities II l Baccalaureate Colleges – Liberal Arts –Mainly Undergrad, most in liberal arts –TAMU Galveston, Univ. of Dallas, Southwestern University l Baccalaureate Colleges – General –Mainly undergraduate, minority in liberal arts –Houston – Downtown, Texas Lutheran, McMurry, Lubbock Christian l Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges l Associate’s Colleges

Academic Institutions Carnegie Classification l Doctoral/Research Universities – Extensive l Doctoral/Research Universities – Intensive l Master’s Colleges and Universities I l Master’s Colleges and Universities II l Baccalaureate Colleges – Liberal Arts l Baccalaureate Colleges – General l Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges –10-50% Batchelor’s, rest Associate’s –None in Texas l Associate’s Colleges –Associate’s but no or few Batchelor’s –Blinn, Texas State Technical College, most Junior/Community Colleges

Academic Institutions Carnegie Classification l Specialized Institutions –Theological seminaries –Medical Schools –Health Schools (e.g. nursing/chiropractic) –Engineering/Technology focused –Business and Management –Art, Music, Design –Law Schools –Teachers Colleges –Others (e.g military academies, maritime, etc.) l Tribal Colleges

Positions in Academia l Faculty –Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty –Teaching Faculty/Lecturers –Research Faculty l Administration –For many upper-level positions, graduate degree is needed –Often move to administration from faculty l Support –Specialized services/technologies/knowledge

Tenure-Track/Tenured Faculty l Responsibilites include Research, Teaching, & Service –the “regular” faculty members l Titles of “X Professor” where X = {Assistant, Associate, (Full)} –Supervise graduate students –Tenure-track (pre-tenure) or Tenured –Requires a PhD

Teaching Faculty l Primary role is teaching –Most do not actively pursue research –Usually have ~2x teaching load of tenured faculty –Usually requires a PhD l Research Universities: –Lecturers (e.g., Daugherity, Hurley, Leyk, Peterson, Yurttas) –Not Tenure-Track l Teaching Universities –Faculty –Can be tenured

Research Faculty l Primary duty is research –Expected to be funded from grants –Sometimes coordinate rather than work directly on research topics –Requires a PhD l Limited other duties –Usually don’t teach, limited service –Might still serve on graduate student committees, but usually won’t chair

What is Tenure? l Reviewed after ~5 years, by senior faculty/administrators –Process takes about 1 year –Sufficient experience prior to joining can be used –Usually either get tenure or must leave l Tenure requires the candidate demonstrate “high level of scholarly accomplishment” –Research (publications/grants) often considered most important –Reviews from faculty outside of your own University –Teaching, Service also considered l Tenure comes with Freedom & Security –Freedom to choose research directions/express opinions –Economic security (Incentive for academic jobs)

The Role of Research l The role of Universities is the “the pursuit, understanding, and dissemination of knowledge” l Knowledge transfer is expected –Teaching in classes –Training Graduate students –Publications/Presentations to larger community –Cooperation with industry/government l Research plays a large role at Research Schools –A major part of a research institution’s funding comes from grants & the ‘overhead’ they come with –Research is a (THE) major part of graduate studies, particularly for Ph.D. and thesis masters degrees

Why do You Need a Graduate Degree for Academic Jobs? l Of course, provides a “certification” of sorts l If you will be doing research, need to have demonstrated research aptitude –Almost always means Ph.D. l Supervising graduate students (know expectations) l Can demonstrate knowledge level sufficient to teach l Master’s/Ph.D. needs change depending on school type.

Recommended Resources l Texas A&M Faculty Senate, TAMU Faculty Facts (Answers to questions about faculty roles and responsibilities at TAMU) – l Tomorrow’s Professor Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering –Richard Reis, IEEE Press, 1997 l Carnegie Classification: –