Professor of practice vs adjunct faculty

The differences between professors of practice and adjunct faculties can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a professor of practice and an adjunct faculty. Additionally, an adjunct faculty has an average salary of $83,069, which is higher than the $70,670 average annual salary of a professor of practice.

The top three skills for a professor of practice include curriculum development, professional development and graduate courses. The most important skills for an adjunct faculty are student learning, syllabus, and philosophy.

Professor of practice vs adjunct faculty overview

	Professor Of Practice	Adjunct Faculty
Yearly salary	$70,670	$83,069
Hourly rate	$33.98	$39.94
Growth rate	12%	2%
Number of jobs	19,517	26,791
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	4	4

What does a professor of practice do?

An expert in their respective field, a professor of practice is in charge of facilitating discussions and activities in adherence to a curriculum. Their responsibilities include developing lesson plans, creating coursework assessment and test structures, liaising with internal and external parties, establishing objectives and guidelines, monitoring the students' progress, and providing assistance as needed. Furthermore, as a professor of practice, it is essential to hold activities while maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for the students.

What does an adjunct faculty do?

Adjunct faculty is the collective term for adjunct professors or lecturers. The adjunct faculty teaches students based on the limited-term of their contract. Oftentimes, they teach preparatory or introductory courses by semester arrangement for the entire academic year. Most of them are employed in higher education. Unlike regular professors, adjunct faculty do not have benefits and are not required to be present in meetings. They can work as either a contract professor or a part-time professor.

Professor of practice vs adjunct faculty salary

Professors of practice and adjunct faculties have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Professor Of Practice	Adjunct Faculty
Average salary	$70,670	$83,069
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $136,000	Between $45,000 And $152,000
Highest paying City	Troy, NY	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	Harvard University	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego
Best paying industry	Education	Government

Differences between professor of practice and adjunct faculty education

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

	Professor Of Practice	Adjunct Faculty
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Professor of practice vs adjunct faculty demographics

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

	Professor Of Practice	Adjunct Faculty
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 56.5% Female, 43.5%	Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 11.4% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 11.2% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between professor of practice and adjunct faculty duties and responsibilities

Professor of practice example responsibilities.

Used blackboard online to manage students tests, grade papers and assign materials.
Mentore student leaders into institutionalizing broad policies and actions that better support international students, and the annual multicultural celebration.
Direct all administrative aspects of Psy.D.

Adjunct faculty example responsibilities.

Lead early childhood program initiatives.
Provide detail academic instruction for college students in anatomy & physiology, and medical terminology.
Prepare lectures, in-class exercises, and collect entirely new course materials to create a personalize syllabus
Inform students about course requirements, evaluation procedures, attendance and participation requirements in a course syllabus.
Facilitate teaching of online humanities course examining relationship between philosophy and ethics including issues relating to morality.
Provide instruction in accounting, economics, federal taxation, management, personnel and small business management.

Professor of practice vs adjunct faculty skills

Common professor of practice skills

Curriculum Development, 31%
Professional Development, 17%
Graduate Courses, 15%
Mathematics, 11%
Student Body, 8%
Research Projects, 6%

Common adjunct faculty skills

Student Learning, 11%
Syllabus, 8%
Philosophy, 7%
Professional Development, 6%
Course Syllabus, 5%
Course Content, 5%

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Professor Of Practice vs Adjunct Faculty

Updated January 8, 2025

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