Is Graduate School Really for You?: The Whos, Whats, Hows, and Whys of Pursuing a Master's or Ph.D.

6. The Academic Culture

82 When I entered my doctoral program, I assumed, too readily as it turned out, that I should call all my professors by their first names. My advisor, one of the most easygoing, genial human beings one could hope to meet, signed all the notes and e-mails he sent undergraduate and graduate students alike with his name, Henry (although, as he aged, he noticed that students increasingly could bring themselves to address him only as Professor Binford). Taking my cue from him, I addressed all of the faculty members with a similar level of informality. This backfired on me, however, when one of them was annoyed when the undergraduates in my discussion section referred to her by her first name on her midterm course evaluations. She chastised me for encouraging football players , among others, to think of her so intimately and informally. Navigating the mores of academic culture is tricky business. The rules are rarely put in writing, and they vary from person to person. New academics need to pay close attention to discover the boundaries within which they and their peers operate. The good news is that the intensive character of graduate education creates plenty of opportunities to observe the culture. This chapter provides some shortcuts to figuring out what the rules—and questions—are. Chapter 6 The Academic Culture the AcAdemIc cultuRe 83 What do the terms assistant professor and associate professor mean? The labels most often used to differentiate among the people who teach in colleges and universities are variations on professor, lecturer , or instructor. Generally the teachers of graduate students are members of a university’s permanent faculty; that is, the people who teach graduate students hold appointments as professors. Professors normally come in three ranks: assistant, associate, and full. Assistant professors are beginners; they have fewer years of experience and lack tenure. Typically, after six years an assistant professor can apply for tenure and promotion to associate professor. At some institutions, promotion and tenure are separate processes. When associate professors have accumulated more publications and experience, they can be promoted to full professor. It is not usual to address someone as Associate Professor Smith or Assistant Professor Jones. The terms are ranks, not titles. In addition, some institutions grant extraordinary rank to some faculty members. These scholars may be ranked as distinguished professor, university professor, or emeritus/a professor. Distinguished and university professors are full professors whose achievements are so outstanding that they deserve special accolades. Such ranks are not a normal part of the promotion ladder; faculty usually aspire to be promoted to full professors as part of their career path, but only a select few hope to attain the more exalted laurels.When a professor retires, she can request recognition from her institution as emerita (Latin for “earned by service”; a male professor requests to become emeritus). Professors may retire without requesting this distinction. At my institution, emeriti faculty give up their offices but gain free campus parking. Although assistant professors, who usually have recently completed dissertations, tend to be on the cutting edge of their fields, some universities and departments discourage or forbid assistant professors from heading dissertation committees. The reasons for this practice vary. Sometimes the institution is trying to protect its 84 IS GRAduAte School ReAllY foR You? junior faculty members from being overburdened with time-consuming responsibilities during their probationary period. In other cases, the institution intends for the tenure-track period to be a time of training, so assistant professors may sit on thesis committees in order to learn the ropes and provide their expertise. In some programs in the sciences, however, assistant professors must supervise a certain number of theses before they are eligible for promotion. A graduate student whose advisor is an assistant professor runs the risk of having his advisor fired midway through the student’s research projects. What is tenure? Tenure is the right of a professor to hold her job for life, without running the risk of being fired. In theory, tenure protects academic freedom: the right of a faculty member to pursue her scholarly convictions in research or teaching and to speak out publicly without having to worry that unpopular or controversial ideas will result in her removal. Following the recommendations of the American Association of University Professors, most (though not all) colleges and universities in the United States offer their faculty (and sometimes their librarians) some form of...