Academic rank
Academic organizations typically have a rather rigid set of ranks.
United States
Within the United States the hierarchy of ranks is:
- Full Professor
- Associate Professor
- Assistant Professor
- [Various statuses requiring a Ph.D. that are neither professorships nor post-doctoral fellowships, varying from one university to another. Among these are Lecturer and Instructor. At some universities, those titles are held by persons without doctorates; at some others, they are held only by persons with doctorates.]
- Post-doctoral fellow
- Graduate assistant including teaching assistants and research assistants.
- Graduate student or professional student (law, medicine, music, nursing,accounting, etc.)
- Undergraduate student
There is a parallel system of administrative ranks
- President
- Chancellor (sometimes higher than President in a few universities)
- Provost
- Vice President
- Vice Chancellor
- Vice Provost
- Associate Vice President
- Associate Vice Chancellor
- Associate Vice Provost
- Assistant Vice President
- Assistant Vice Chancellor
- Assistant Vice Provost
- Dean
- Associate Dean
- Assistant Dean
- Director of Department (Administrative Department)
- Associate Director of Department (Administrative Department)
- Assistant Director of Department (Administrative Department)
- Head of Department (Academic Department)
United Kingdom
Academic ranks:
- Professor
- Reader
- Principal Lecturer (usually only used in New Universities)
- Senior Lecturer
- Lecturer
- Research Fellow
- Teaching assistant / Research Assistant (either Post-Doctoral Students 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