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Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of an assistant professor. Feel free to use our Assistant Professor job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as an assistant professor.

 

Who is an Assistant Professor?

Assistant professors are employed by colleges and universities, where they teach as well as conduct research. They work alongside full professors to oversee and guide graduates as well as to conduct research and studies. Assistant professors can also be part of university committees.

Assistant professors are entry-level academic titles awarded to a non-tenured or tenure-track faculty member of an institution of higher education or a university. Assistant Professors are given the chance to instruct university and college students across a broad range of academic subjects and also publish research that can further enhance the avenues of learning.

These personalities are academic staff members who work alongside full-time professors in universities or colleges. They prepare research proposals for funding, express their opinions and suggestions during faculty meetings, hire and train junior staff and respond to students’ inquiries by email or via the phone.

Assistant professors are accountable to teach as well as conducting research and publishing the results, as well as advising undergraduate and graduate students, and offering colleges, departments, and public and university services.

These executives are involved in research and other activities not connected with teaching. He is expected to show professional effectiveness in research, following the available resources and in line with the purpose of the university.

The assistant professor assists students in determining their academic program, helps struggling students, and acts as a mentor to seniors or graduate students working on the thesis. Although the workload for an assistant professor may be immense, working as an advisor to students can provide an academic the opportunity to make a huge influence on the lives and careers of students or learners in the institution.

 

Assistant Professor Job Description

Below are the Assistant Professor job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write an assistant professor job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.

The duties and responsibilities of an assistant professor include the following:

• Create, plan, and organize give programming and analysis classes in lab, didactic, or classroom settings that will help students achieve achievement in the context of a community college.
• Working with colleagues to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum, as well as teaching methods that help students achieve proficiency in the course material.
• Supporting the mission of the college and department to enhance student learning by providing excellent instruction, curriculum improvement, and faculty scholarship, as well as developing professionals, and services.
• Assisting in the implementation of college guidelines, procedures, practices, and policies that are following the institution’s philosophy, values, and mission.
• Documenting the progress of students and keeping records of attendance as well as student learning outcomes.
• Adhering to confidentiality and privacy by following applicable rules, regulations, and laws of the university.
• Participating in committee meetings, and departmental work, and completing assignments for staff according to the requirements.
• Delivering exceptional service through friendly, knowledgeable, available, and professional involvement
• Providing a learning environment that encourages awareness of respect and the development of skills to connect with students from different backgrounds or cultures.
• Assisting in various duties of the department and offering academic support to professors and other faculty members.
• Recruiting, training, and mentoring other junior staff members.
• Researching and publishing papers in journals of academic research.
• Assisting the university at conferences and giving presentations at times when required.
• Supervising and instructing undergrad and postgraduate students.
• Supervising experiments and demonstrations and research.
• Answering questions in class, or by email or phone.
• Intimating faculty and department heads with feedback on student performance.
• Writing proposals to get research funding.
• Participating in departmental and faculty meetings and voicing concerns or making suggestions to improve.
• Collaborating with committees and faculty members to boost the reputation of the school.
• Enhancing student life, and creating thrilling new initiatives for the school.
• Giving student care and pastoral support, and one-on-one advice on specific work and course design.
• Participating in planning meetings to ensure that departments are in line with each other.
• Conducting research projects.
• Presenting research findings at conferences.
• Partaking in administration tasks in the Department.
• Providing advice to students about their course of study, major, and adapting to university life.
• Engaging in research to improve the student knowledge and publishing their work to help the institution grow.
• Assisting the higher education institution by serving on committees or giving
• Teaching students and encouraging interactive classroom sessions.
• Communicating with the head of the department to discuss student advancement and other course requirements.
• Answering student’s questions and concerns
• Assisting with the planning of recruitment events and campus interviews
• Supervising graduate students who are working towards an advanced doctoral degree.
• Creating a course that is in line with the standards of both departments and colleges,
• Participating in administrative and academic committees, which review and suggest policies, make budgetary decisions, and offer advice on promotions and hiring within their department.
• Facilitating online and classroom activities to ensure student success.
• Creating a safe and effective educational environment for students.
• Distributing and sending syllabi to each section according to departmental and college guidelines.
• Assisting and chairing college or system committees when required.
• Providing advice on the creation of educational materials, as required.
• Facilitating the process of learning.
• Maintaining accurate and correct records that are in line with the departmental guidelines.
• Offering services that include student mentoring as well as ongoing course development and evaluation

 

Qualifications

• Master’s degree, or Ph.D. in any field of study.
• 3 to 5 years experience in the field of Assistant Teaching or as an instructor.
• A thorough understanding of the rules for education, laws, and changes within the education sector
• Published research articles.
• A friendly and warm personality.
• A great academic background.
• Passionate, highly motivated, and driven.
• Capability to remain standing for prolonged periods.
• Good presentation skills.
• The ability to manage difficult situations.

 

 

Essential Skills

• Leadership skills

It involves translating a pertinent vision into actions. This means identifying the goal that the community must meet to reach a consensus on how to move forward and ensuring it is carried out. Each of these elements is essential. The aim must be to improve the performance that the entire community enjoys (not just satisfy the demands of an individual) The methods should be accepted by the people affected The community must judge the person appropriate to undertake the appropriate actions and adhere to the plan promptly. For an associate professor to succeed as a leader, he/she must collaborate with the committee to achieve a certain percentage of success. The assistant professor must be able to collaborate with colleagues on the development of a new project, course, or even a research paper. He/she must take the initiative to be an instructor to another faculty member. His leadership and impact must be evident. As an assistant professor, you must be able to invent or revitalize anything at the college that furthers its academic mission. This could be an event or lunch program or a student group and journal club, or a research collaboration. Being the first to initiate something that people appreciate (as evidenced by their participation) is a sign of your ability to lead. To become an effective leader, you must first establish goals you would like to advocate for within your team. As a faculty member, you can select a goal that can aid you in your main goal of becoming a highly effective and efficient educator and scholar.

However, it must have the same impact on your colleagues to ensure that it can benefit the wider community. It should align with the larger departmental goals, like promoting undergraduate research, encouraging interdisciplinary work, or reducing energy. Be prepared to discover practical reasons that the concept isn’t feasible to implement or is not viewed as important by other people. Supporting any notion (even one that seems to be feasible and in line with the department’s culture) requires discussions. You’ll need to present specific evidence to show that your idea is feasible and lead to desired changes. You should also determine whom you should consult and when. For example, if you plan to create an online repository of syllabuses, it is important to articulate how it will assist all instructors and be aware that other faculty members have requested the same resource, and then suggest ways it could be maintained up to date. You might need to speak with the chair of the department as well as the faculty advisory committee or even administrators of your department’s website. If you are thinking of starting journals clubs to help promote research collaborations, you should think about the ways it could help the graduate education process or increase participation in the existing speaker series.

• Excellent communication skills ( both verbal and written)

The job of an assistant professor is public speaking before audiences that range from two to three persons up to hundreds in lecture theatres. Anyone who has gone into the college system will have the experience to share about a highly intelligent professor, however, simply was unable to convey information to students due to their lack of public speaking abilities. It is important to learn public speaking skills as early as possible since it can help you get through interviews and help to create an effective teaching style. Controlling your tension, pitch, and speed is more crucial than most people believe. Under pressure, most of us speak too fast, too quietly, or do not maintain sufficient eye contact with the audience. Communication is key in the classroom. Successful teaching is generally considered to require only 50% knowledge to 50% communication skills. Therefore, assistant professors should be adept in all four forms of communication, namely listening and speaking, reading and writing. They should also be able to utilize the skills effectively in the school setting. It is important to be able to accomplish this has been proven to influence the level of success that students have in their academic pursuits as well as the success of the teacher’s career. Communication skills are essential in interactions with students since the process of teaching requires the use of these skills.

 

As an assistant professor, In your job, you are responsible for understanding and dissecting complicated information, and communicating the information clearly and effectively to students (both through written and verbal sources) while presenting the information in a way that keeps the students’ attention, and also responding to their concerns or questions. Additionally, you must adapt your content to diverse learning preferences, encourage learners to be more engaged, establish strong relationships with the power of encouragement and empathy, control the classroom and provide feedback, making your classroom one that is safe and a positive learning environment. These tasks require excellent communication skills. The more proficient you are at communicating, the better you will be able to complete these tasks. Your students will be able to make greater academic advancements.

Research has proven that the academic success of students can be directly linked to the interactive classrooms that are facilitated by skilled instructors. Furthermore, the way you interact with your students could influence their perceptions of school, their roles within the class, their own as well as their capabilities, and their desire to achieve. However, this can happen in two ways, poor communication skills and consequently inadequate teaching methods in students decrease comprehension levels and can impact their academic performance negatively. It can also result in students feeling demotivated, not liking school, and believing as unable to succeed. This can have repercussions for the remainder of their life. Effective communication between students and you as an assistant professor is crucial. It helps you do your work effectively and get positive results for your students. A further benefit is that your students could use your experience as a model to help them in developing their communication skills, which are essential for their development and learning. You could also use these skills in meetings with staff or training sessions. Being capable of leading meetings, speaking before a variety of audience members, and offering feedback to staff members will show your coworkers and supervisors that you are excellent at what you do.

• Critical thinking

A critical thinking mindset is a habitual desire or the desire to engage in thoughtful discussion about ideas or claims instead of simply taking the facts as they are. It is the basis of critical thinking behavior and is characterized by the ability to take on and persevere in a difficult project, use plans and repress impulsive behavior, remain flexible or open to new ideas, abandon nonproductive strategies and be aware of the social complexities (such as the need for compromise or consensus), so that ideas can transform into actions. As an assistant professor, you need to display these elements and acquire certain thinking skills. An assistant professor should be someone who poses vital questions and concerns in a clear and precise manner, collects and analyzes relevant information using abstract concepts to understand the data, and draw well-thought-out conclusions. The assistant professor is then able to test the conclusions against appropriate criteria, and the implications of various systems of thinking and recognizes the assumptions and potential consequences and implications, as well as converses effectively with others.

• Interpersonal Communication

As an assistant professor, you must be able to debate your ideas on a personal basis with peers and students as well as share your work at conferences. As an assistant professor, you’ll interact with students on a one-on-one basis. Despite their experience with technology, a lot of students prefer to speak with lecturers face-to-face (especially when they have to discuss personal or work issues). Even though you aren’t a trained counselor, you must be able to put students at ease and allow them to talk about personal issues with you. Your conduct should reflect an open-door policy, and encourage students to believe in you as a mentor or as a parent. This is crucial if you are assigned the task of being an assistant professor.

 

How to Become an Assistant Professor

One of the first considerations is the level of education you’ll need. We’ve discovered that 43.9 percent of assistant professors hold at least a bachelor’s degree. For the higher education level, it was found that 25.0 percent of assistant professors hold master’s degrees. While the majority of assistant professors possess an undergraduate degree, however, it is impossible to become one with just a high school diploma or GED. Assistant Professors typically obtain Bachelor’s Degrees or Master’s Degrees. Other degrees of Assistant Professors include Doctoral Degrees or Associate Degrees. You must gain previous experience from other positions. Indeed some Assistant Professor positions require prior experience in a position like Instructor. Many Assistant Professors have also had previous job experiences as Lecturer or Research assistants.

 

Where to Work as an Assistant Professor

• Universities.
• Colleges
• Polytechnics.
• Private institution.

 

Assistant Professor Salary Scale

Assistant Professors in Nigeria earn between 314,018 NGN and 417,062 NGN per month.

The median salary for an assistant professor is $80,176 in the United States.

Education and Training

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