What are itinerant professors?

Question

I have a professor who said he was an itinerant professor for a while. Why does a professor choose to do this? What are the benefits?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

Professors who are on assignment for a time and then move on to the next, not teaching in one place for the length of their career.
Some like being in different places for a time.
Some plan their career this way.
I'm not sure about the benefits, except they live in different places not for long.

Answer 3

This isn't a formal designation; it is what he called himself. It usually isn't a choice, but the only option open to someone. It means that he went from school to school teaching. In some overcrowded fields, there are a number of people with Ph.Ds who can't get permanent positions, and they either go from visiting position to visiting position (replacing people on sabbatical, covering for others who are ill, etc.) or they hold multiple part-time jobs at a number of different schools at a time to try to eke out a living.