List of academic ranks
Academic organizations typically have a rather rigid set of ranks.
United States and Canada
Academic ranks:
- Faculty (Professors):
- Distinguished Professor or University Professor
- Full Professor
- Associate Professor
- Assistant Professor
- Non-faculty and/or temporary:
- Adjunct faculty member
- Sessional lecturer, Instructor, Research Associate, and miscellaneous other ranks holding a Ph.D.
- Postdoctoral fellow (sometimes including lecturing experience).
- Research and/or teaching staff not holding a Ph.D. (e.g., research technicians, lab managers, etc.)
- Graduate student or professional student (law, medicine, music, nursing, accounting, etc.). Graduate students often serve as teaching assistants (TAs) and/or research assistants (RAs). In Canada, graduate students are further ranked by degree, with Ph.D. students outranking Master's students (unlike in the U.S., a Master's degree is commonly completed before beginning a Ph.D. program).
- Undergraduate student. In the U.S., undergraduate students are ranked by year as Freshmen ("Frosh"), Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. In Canada, they are ranked simply as 1st Year ("Frosh"), 2nd Year, 3rd Year, and 4th Year students.
Administrative ranks:
- Chancellor (honorific)
- President (often with a dual title as Vice-Chancellor)
- Provost
- Vice Presidents (VP Academic, VP Research, VP Finance, etc.)
- Associate Vice Presidents (Assoc. VP Academic, Assoc. VP Research, Assoc. VP Finance, etc.)
- Deans (often also Full Professors)
- Associate Deans (often also Full Professors)
- Directors of Administrative Departments
- Associate/Assistant Directors of Administrative Departments (Administrative Department)
- Chairs of Academic Departments (usually Full Professors)
United Kingdom
Academic ranks:
- Professor
- Reader
- Principal Lecturer (usually only used in New Universities)
- Senior Lecturer
- Lecturer
- Research Fellow
- Teaching assistant / Research assistant (either Postdoctoral fellows or Postgraduates)
- Postgraduate
- Undergraduate
Administrative ranks:
- Chancellor (honorific)
- Pro-Chancellor (honorific)
- Vice-Chancellor
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor
- Pro-Vice-Chancellor
- Registrar / Bursar (usually a professional administrator)
- Dean of Faculty
- Head of Department/School
- Department/School Director of Studies