What does a visiting assistant professor do?
A visiting assistant professor's responsibilities revolve around performing support tasks and conducting lectures while under the supervision or directives of a more experienced professor. Typically working for a limited period, a visiting assistant professor's duties are no different from full-time workers as their responsibilities revolve around assessing student progress through activities and examinations, developing a series of lectures, and preparing coursework. They may also monitor the progress of students, all while maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for everyone.
Visiting assistant professor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real visiting assistant professor resumes:
- Conduct weekly one-on-one and small group seminar meetings with multiple graduate students.
- Instruct freshman-level mathematics courses, serve on departmental committees, and advise students.
- Develop, organize, and teach university courses in sociology and behavioral sciences.
- Conduct research in sea lamprey neurobiology and physiology in the laboratory of Dr. Weiming Li.
- Offer a course in Bayesian dynamic time series models to graduate students in statistics and economics.
- Research and instruction in mathematics and finance with a focus on the fields of aviation and aerospace.
- Develop and deliver popular undergraduate core course and electives as well as popular MBA electives and a PhD seminar.
- Co-Authore textbook on skeletal anatomy.
- Mentore and advise students pursuing specialization in architecture.
- Teach courses in macroeconomics, microeconomics and introduction to economics.
- Develop software base upon analysis of individuals teams, and underlying literature.
- Develop syllabus including multimedia materials, discussion topics, and grade assignments.
- Foster a student-centered learning environment which focuse on teaching leadership skills, ethics, and responsible television journalism.
- Create and facilitate writing seminars that demonstrate American literature's impact on contemporary culture.
- Understand entrepreneurship, small business and franchising.
Visiting assistant professor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Visiting Assistant Professors are proficient in Philosophy, Literature, and Mathematics. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Visiting Assistant Professors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Philosophy, 24%
Updated department curricula and served on resource committees for Women's Studies and Philosophy.
- Literature, 7%
Created and facilitated writing seminars that demonstrated American literature's impact on contemporary culture.
- Mathematics, 6%
Designed, developed and administered Mathematics courses.
- Economics, 4%
Developed curriculum and communicated introductory economics concepts to novice audiences in Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics.
- Research Methods, 4%
Investigated student interns' learning-to-teach experiences in a partner school setting utilizing narrative qualitative research methods and design.
- Fine Arts, 3%
Instruct studio classes in Fine Arts: Painting and Drawing.
Most visiting assistant professors use their skills in "philosophy," "literature," and "mathematics" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential visiting assistant professor responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a visiting assistant professor to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what visiting assistant professors do because "postsecondary teachers need to work well with others for tasks such as instructing students and serving on committees." Additionally, a visiting assistant professor resume shows how visiting assistant professors use interpersonal skills: "developed and taught curriculum for oral communication classes, including basic speaking and listening skills, public speaking and interpersonal communication. "
Speaking skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling visiting assistant professor duties is speaking skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "postsecondary teachers need good communication skills to present lectures and provide feedback to students." According to a visiting assistant professor resume, here's how visiting assistant professors can utilize speaking skills in their job responsibilities: "crafted and presented complex topical analysis in political science to both undergraduate and graduate students. "
Writing skills. visiting assistant professors are also known for writing skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to visiting assistant professor responsibilities, because "postsecondary teachers need strong writing ability to publish original research and analysis." A visiting assistant professor resume example shows how writing skills is used in the workplace: "teach courses including sociology, skill-intensive composition, and creative writing. "
The three companies that hire the most visiting assistant professors are:
- Loyola Marymount University9 visiting assistant professors jobs
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi8 visiting assistant professors jobs
- New York Institute of Technology8 visiting assistant professors jobs
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Compare different visiting assistant professors
Visiting assistant professor vs. Faculty
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.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a visiting assistant professor are more likely to require skills like "research methods," "anthropology," "political science," and "general chemistry." On the other hand, a job as a faculty requires skills like "patients," "rehabilitation," "student learning," and "professional development." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Faculties tend to reach higher levels of education than visiting assistant professors. In fact, faculties are 7.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 21.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Visiting assistant professor vs. Summer school teacher
A Summer School Teacher is a teacher who works during the summer period. They develop and implement schemes of work and lesson plans in line with curriculum objectives. Generally, they have the same duties as a school teacher.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real visiting assistant professor resumes. While visiting assistant professor responsibilities can utilize skills like "philosophy," "economics," "research methods," and "social justice," summer school teachers use skills like "classroom management," "math," "kids," and "professional development."
On average, summer school teachers earn a lower salary than visiting assistant professors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, summer school teachers earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $51,590. Whereas visiting assistant professors have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $71,258.summer school teachers earn similar levels of education than visiting assistant professors in general. They're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 21.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for visiting assistant professors in the next 3-5 years?
Rebecca Sarver
Lecturer in Human Services Studies, Elmira College
Visiting assistant professor vs. Adjunct faculty
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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, visiting assistant professors are more likely to have skills like "research methods," "c++," "anthropology," and "research projects." But a adjunct faculty is more likely to have skills like "student learning," "professional development," "course syllabus," and "learning environment."
Adjunct faculties earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $115,189. Visiting assistant professors earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $71,258.Most adjunct faculties achieve a higher degree level compared to visiting assistant professors. For example, they're 13.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 22.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Visiting assistant professor vs. Resource teacher
A Resource Teacher is responsible for providing curriculum support systems for students, teachers, and administrators. Another role of a Resource Teacher is to assist the class teacher and provide additional support for children with moderate learning difficulties.
Types of visiting assistant professor
Updated January 8, 2025
