How do college department lecturers differ from other professors who can advise students?

Question

Thanks!

Answer 1

Professors who are lecturers or instructors are not tenure-track.

This means that their duties are confined to teaching, and they do not have to do research and publish. They are not expected to (or paid to) perform service to their departments, their universities, or their disciplines of study. They are also not eligible for tenure or promotion. They must be re-hired every year (unless they are on a longer contract, like a three-year contract).

Some lecturers have PhDs, and some do not. Many (probably the majority) of lecturers are looking for more stable positions, and hoping to get hired into a tenure-track job. However, some lecturers are perfectly content with their positions, and do not wish to be hired tenure-track. Perhaps they do not wish to leave the town in which they live. (Finding a tenure-track job requires the willingness to relocate.) Perhaps they simply do not wish to do research and publish, and are fulfilled in their job.

Most professors are tenure-track, meaning that they do hold PhDs, and were first hired as assistant professors. They are required to do research and publish in order to merit promotion and in order to achieve tenure. Eventually, they hope to be associate professors, and later, full professors.