# Academic staff

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**Academic staff**, also known as **faculty** (in North American usage) or **academics** (in British, Australian, and New Zealand usage), are vague terms that describe teachers or research staff of a [school](/source/School), [college](/source/College), [university](/source/University) or [research institute](/source/Research_institute).

In British and Australian/New Zealand English, "faculty" usually refers to a [sub-division of a university](/source/Faculty_(division)) (usually the teaching/research staff of one or a group of departments).

In contrast, in North America "faculty" refers to the people who teach and research, and is distinguished from "staff", who are hired in administrative, operations, and support roles. For example the *Faculty Handbook* at [Boston University](/source/Boston_University) defines faculty as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professors, those with professorial titles modified by “Research,” “Clinical,” and “of the Practice, Lecturers of all ranks, and Instructors.[1]

In the United States and parts of Canada, universities, [community colleges](/source/Community_college) and even some [secondary](/source/High_school) and [primary](/source/Primary_education) schools use the term *faculty*. Other institutions (e.g., teaching [hospitals](/source/Hospitals) or not-for-profit research institutes) may likewise use the term *faculty*. [clarification needed] the term *academic staff* can be synonymous with just *staff*, which instead refers to staff that is not primarily involved with teaching or research.[citation needed]

The higher education regulatory body of [India](/source/India), [University Grants Commission](/source/University_Grants_Commission_(India)), defines academic staff as [teachers](/source/Teacher), [librarians](/source/Librarian), and [physical education](/source/Physical_education) personnel.[2][3]

In countries like the Philippines, faculty is used more broadly to refer to teaching staff of either a basic or higher education institution.

## Overview

See also: [Academic administration](/source/Academic_administration)

In many universities, the members of the administration (e.g., department chairs, [deans](/source/Dean_(education)), vice presidents, presidents, and [librarians](/source/Librarian)) are also faculty members; many of them begin (and remain) as professors. At some universities, the distinction between "academic faculty" and "administrative faculty" is made explicit by the former being contracted for nine months per year, meaning that they can devote their time to research (and possibly be absent from the campus) during the summer months, while the latter are contracted for twelve months per year. These two types of faculty members are sometimes known as "nine-month faculty" and "twelve-month faculty". Faculty who are paid a nine-month salary are typically allowed to seek external funds from grant agencies to partially or fully support their research activities during the summer months.

Librarians are a special case in that they are educators like faculty who belong to degree granting departments, not necessarily administrators who have management responsibilities like Deans, Presidents, and Vice Presidents.

Most university faculty members hold a [Ph.D.](/source/Ph.D.) or equivalent [highest-level degree](/source/Terminal_degree) in their field. Some [professionals](/source/Professionals) or instructors from other institutions who are associated with a particular university (e.g., by teaching some courses or supervising [graduate students](/source/Graduate_students)) but do not hold professorships may be appointed as adjunct faculty.

[citation needed]

## See also

- [Professor](/source/Professor)
- [List of academic ranks](/source/List_of_academic_ranks)
- [Tenure](/source/Tenure)

## References

1. ["BU Faculty Handbook"](https://www.bu.edu/handbook/). *Boston University*. Retrieved 2024-01-26.

1. [University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2010](https://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/regulations/englishgazette.pdf#page=2), retrieved 06-09-2021.

1. [University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018](https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/4033931_UGC-Regulation_min_Qualification_Jul2018.pdf#page=57), retrieved 06-09-2021.

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