College Glossaries:
By term: A - H | I - R | S - Z
By subject: Academic Terms | Financial Aid Terms | Greek Alphabet | Residence Life Terms
College Academic Terms
Learning the lingo of your new college can sometimes seem like learning an entirely new language. With a little explanation, though, you can quickly master this new "vocabulary" and seem like you've known the terms since before you arrived.
- Professor: Most students come from high schools where their teachers were called . . . teachers. In college, most of your "teachers" are called professors. This indicates that you are 1) in a college environment, and, more often than not, 2) being taught by someone with a PhD. Drop the "teacher" reference the moment you start unpacking!
- Visiting Professor: Just like the "professor" term mentioned above, a visiting professor usually has a PhD. However, a visiting professor is usually someone not normally associated with your college or university. He or she may only be there for one semester or one academic year, and is usually also doing research or other work. It's hard to gauge what a visiting professor will be like, since you usually can't check with other students about their experiences with someone who hasn't taught classes on campus before.
- Instructor: An instructor is often someone who is teaching at a college or university but who does not have a PhD. They often, however, have quite a bit of experience in their fields and are otherwise very qualified. Treat an instructor like a professor, since their roles -- and power -- in the classroom are often the same.
- Faculty: The faculty, or a faculty member, is generally anyone who teaches at the college.
- Tenure: Tenure is something unique to higher education. A traditional path of someone who wants to teach at a college is to get their PhD and then get a job as a professor on a campus. For the first six years or so that they are teaching, they are usually in a "tenure-track" position. This means that they are focusing on teaching, doing research, getting published, and contributing to the campus community. If all goes well, the professor is then granted tenure. Earning tenure is equivalent to ensuring one's job on a campus. If you have a tenured professor teaching your class, it means you have someone who has been at the school for a while and been judged, by a committee of their peers and the academic dean, to be an essential member of the faculty and campus community.
- TA, GI, GSI, GSA, GA: While these all look completely different, these are very common terms for people, besides the professor, who might be in your classroom. A TA is a Teaching Assistant or Adviser; a GI is a Graduate Instructor; a GSI is a Graduate Student Instructor; a GSA is a . . . are you seeing the pattern? . . . Graduate Student Assistant or Adviser; a GA is a Graduate Assistant or Adviser. Each campus uses one of these terms to more or less denote someone who helps the professor out and who is usually a graduate student or upper-class student. They may lead smaller seminars, grade your papers, and be available during office hours.
- Office Hours: Professors are usually required to hold office hours on a regular basis throughout the semester, which is when students are able to drop in or make an appointment to meet with them. Often, if you can't make it to a professor's office hours, you can work with them to schedule a different time that works for both of you. If you can take advantage of office hours, you should! It can be a great opportunity to get feedback on your papers or other assignments, and a great chance to get to know your professors a little bit better.
(Think you've mastered academic lingo? Time to move on to financial aid terms and the lingo you'll see peppered throughout your residence hall!)
