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Adjunct professor vs faculty

The differences between adjunct professors and faculties can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an adjunct professor has an average salary of $98,821, which is higher than the $80,405 average annual salary of a faculty.

The top three skills for an adjunct professor include course curriculum, syllabus and semester. The most important skills for a faculty are philosophy, patients, and rehabilitation.

Adjunct professor vs faculty overview

Adjunct ProfessorFaculty
Yearly salary$98,821$80,405
Hourly rate$47.51$38.66
Growth rate12%2%
Number of jobs22,48821,142
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age4646
Years of experience4-

What does an adjunct professor do?

Adjunct professors are instructors who are employed on a contractual basis, commonly in part-time positions. They teach courses in the same manner as full-time professors do, but they are free from some of the duties of those fully employed university instructors or in tenure-track positions. They create, develop, distribute, review, and manage course syllabus materials. They teach students, evaluate their performance, and maintain records of attendance, engagement, and progress. They may also facilitate lectures, conduct seminars, and do other administrative tasks within the department. Most adjunct professors enjoy teaching as part-time because they have more flexibility in terms of schedule, can avoid the dilemma of the higher education system and it's known to be less stressful and demanding.

What does a faculty do?

A faculty member is an individual whose primary responsibility is to provide teaching and research to students in colleges and universities. Faculties must work with colleagues to design a curriculum to keep up with the changes in the discipline. They help their students choose majors and mentor them by way of face-to-face or electronic means. They also keep up their communication with alumni to assist with employment searches or career changes.

Adjunct professor vs faculty salary

Adjunct professors and faculties have different pay scales, as shown below.

Adjunct ProfessorFaculty
Average salary$98,821$80,405
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $219,000Between $42,000 And $152,000
Highest paying CityProvidence, RIWashington, DC
Highest paying stateRhode IslandCalifornia
Best paying companyRhode Island School of DesignSchool of Visual Concepts
Best paying industryEducation-

Differences between adjunct professor and faculty education

There are a few differences between an adjunct professor and a faculty in terms of educational background:

Adjunct ProfessorFaculty
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common majorBusinessNursing
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillCarnegie Mellon University

Adjunct professor vs faculty demographics

Here are the differences between adjunct professors' and faculties' demographics:

Adjunct ProfessorFaculty
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 51.5% Female, 48.5%Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 11.3% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 13.1% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between adjunct professor and faculty duties and responsibilities

Adjunct professor example responsibilities.

  • Lead outreach to community and statewide stakeholders in the PPCC entrepreneurship program.
  • Develop and prepare class syllabus and teaching materials for strategic management, business and government ethics, and organizational behavior classes.
  • Provide instruction/guidance for nursing students; deliver didactic lectures on human anatomy and physiology.
  • Identify course objectives, design syllabus, develop all instructional activities and materials, including written exams.
  • Facilitate courses in communications, economics, leadership, management, corporate finances, strategic planning and organizational behavior.
  • Develop and teach course curriculum on the subject of exercise science and clinical pharmacology to athletic training students.
  • Show more

Faculty example responsibilities.

  • Lead early childhood program initiatives.
  • Launch new BSN program and lead program review for all programs.
  • Manage curriculum to meet regulatory requirements for accreditation; teach medical coding and billing, anatomy and physiology and medical terminology.
  • Prepare course syllabus that follow the prescribed institutional format.
  • Lecture topics examine regulatory compliance and legal risks associate with medical products and healthcare administration.
  • Receive NIH RO1 research grant and launch laboratory.
  • Show more

Adjunct professor vs faculty skills

Common adjunct professor skills
  • Course Curriculum, 11%
  • Syllabus, 8%
  • Semester, 6%
  • Blackboard, 4%
  • Student Learning, 4%
  • Course Materials, 4%
Common faculty skills
  • Philosophy, 7%
  • Patients, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 5%
  • Student Learning, 4%
  • Professional Development, 4%
  • Social Work, 4%

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