Job Description: Alex Lyon teaches communications courses at the College at Brockport. “The job of a college Professor involves a much greater variety of responsibilities than most people realize. Only about a third of my time is spent actually teaching, sometimes less. When I’m not teaching, I’m preparing for class, grading papers, and meeting with students. Additionally, many colleges expect teachers to do research and publication, which can be very challenging. In an ideal scenario, publishing a journal article typically takes me two or more years from the earliest draft of an essay to its eventual in-print publication. When the essay needs more revision, this process can sometimes take four to five years. Professors also must conduct lots of ordinary business on campus. This is often called “service.” For me, service involves attending or leading faculty meetings, sitting on important decision-making committees, participating in graduation and awards ceremonies, and many other important functions that keep the department and college going. In sum, I spend my time doing the following three types of work:

• I teach three courses per semester, grade papers and exams, prepare lectures and other course materials, and meet with students.

• I conduct research and publish the results in scholarly journals and/or books.

• I participate and lead service activities like faculty meetings, student advisement, and sit on various committees to ensure the behind-the-scenes business of the college gets done.”

Education Level:

• Ph.D. in Communications, University of Colorado Boulder.

• Masters in Communications, California State University Northridge

• B.S. in Communications, Rhode Island College

“Most colleges view a doctoral-level degree as the standard. However, some smaller four-year colleges and many community colleges are known to hire faculty with a Masters-level degree, particularly if the teacher has a proven track-record of good teaching.”

Other Requirements: Many college Professors are first hired as either Lectures or Visiting Professors before getting hired as tenure-track Assistant Professors. Before that, most college teachers gained experience teaching courses while in graduate school.

Professional Development: Most college Professors attend annual conferences or conventions to learn about other’s and present their own research, attend workshops, and network with others in the field.

Pros/Cons: “I love working with students. That’s the best part of my job. They are experiencing a special time of their lives where they are actively working to improve their situation. They are finding out who they are an discovering their options. As a teacher, it’s an honor to play a small part in that process. On the flip-side, grading papers is very time consuming and can get frustrating. This is probably one of the most common complaints I hear among college faculty. It is also very difficult to earn tenure, which is where you get to essentially keep your job as long as you want it. I’ve read that only 50% of faculty earn tenure, often because of the lack of sufficient publications. This “publish or perish” reality can cast an intimidating light on the profession and has surely broken many hearts.“

Advice: “The life of a college Professor is very rewarding. I love it. However, would I recommend it? The long-educational road to get there is not for everyone. It is a life of delayed gratification. Once you get there, being a Professor is very much a life-long career. If you really love the subject matter, care about students, don’t mind grading papers, and are willing to commit multiple decades to the profession, then it might just be a good career for you.“