The university job hierarchy demonstrates the job hierarchical structure that is followed in the universities across most of the countries in the world and is formed on the basis of the ranks of both tenured and non-tenured scholars who work in the universities. The ranks are many and they are chancellor, assistant chancellor, dean, associate dean, professor, lecturer, associate professor, provost and many more. Below given is the basic job hierarchy of a University
Chancellor
This is highest rank that can be attained when you are working in a university. A chancellor is usually not someone who is a part of the faculty and or other staff and is mainly responsible for the management of the institution’s (university’s) function. He or she is also referred to as the ceremonial head or the chief executive in many countries of the world. University president is yet another name that is used to refer to the chancellor.
Dean
In academic administrations, a dean is a person who has an authority over a specified academic unit or a specific area of concern and needs to fulfill various academic duties and that mainly involves supervision of various academic affairs. A dean reports directly to the chancellor.
University Professor
This is the highest rank that a professor can attain and is given to only the tenured faculty members. Only a very numbers of professors are given this honor and they are those professors who have worked dedicatedly in a specified field in the frontiers of knowledge.
Professor
The word professor has been derived from a similar Latin word which means ‘a person professes’ and is referred to a person who has specialization in a particular area of study and is a scholarly teacher of a high rank. A professor is a person who has many years of experience in and good knowledge in a specific field of study and also requires possessing the required academic skills. A PHD or a doctorate is required to be a professor at the university and college level.
Associate Professor
After the rank of a professor comes the associate professor and is the professor who is senior in rank to an assistant professor but junior to a professor. This rank is also given to a tenured faculty member.
Assistant Professor
This rank is assigned to a professor who is lower in rank to an associate professor but higher in rank than a lecturer. Assistant professors are also faculty members in a university and get promoted to the position of associate professors after years of experience and service.
Lecturer
This is the lowest rank in the university academic Career hierarchy and a person joins the university as a lecturer. Lecturers can be permanent or temporary and it depends on what conditions that have been recruited by the university and also its own rules and regulations. A minimum of master’s degree is required to apply for this job and is the person who teaches at the beginning of his/her career in the university.