Visiting professor vs visiting assistant professor

The differences between visiting professors and visiting assistant professors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a visiting professor, becoming a visiting assistant professor takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a visiting professor has an average salary of $116,217, which is higher than the $72,541 average annual salary of a visiting assistant professor.

The top three skills for a visiting professor include course content, student learning and professional development. The most important skills for a visiting assistant professor are philosophy, literature, and mathematics.

Visiting professor vs visiting assistant professor overview

	Visiting Professor	Visiting Assistant Professor
Yearly salary	$116,217	$72,541
Hourly rate	$55.87	$34.88
Growth rate	12%	12%
Number of jobs	27,139	27,503
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	4

What does a visiting professor do?

Visiting professors are faculty members from an institution who must visit a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic they are knowledgeable in. These professors are required to create a positive learning environment among undergraduate students by inviting them to participate and engage in classroom activities, which can consistently enhance the learning process of their students. They must serve as dissertation research chairperson for Ph.D. students in qualitative and quantitative research studies. Visiting professors must also conduct in-person lectures and direct undergraduate theses for special topics research courses.

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 professor vs visiting assistant professor salary

Visiting professors and visiting assistant professors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Visiting Professor	Visiting Assistant Professor
Average salary	$116,217	$72,541
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $241,000	Between $41,000 And $125,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	Oregon
Best paying company	UMiami Health System	University of Illinois System
Best paying industry	Education	Education

Differences between visiting professor and visiting assistant professor education

There are a few differences between a visiting professor and a visiting assistant professor in terms of educational background:

	Visiting Professor	Visiting Assistant Professor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Nursing	Mathematics
Most common college	University of Texas at Austin	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Visiting professor vs visiting assistant professor demographics

Here are the differences between visiting professors' and visiting assistant professors' demographics:

	Visiting Professor	Visiting Assistant Professor
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 60.3% Female, 39.7%	Male, 58.2% Female, 41.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 13.9% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 14.7% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between visiting professor and visiting assistant professor duties and responsibilities

Visiting professor example responsibilities.

Used blackboard online to manage students tests, grade papers and assign materials.
Teach various humanities, sociology, communications and ethics courses.
Design and teach a graduate seminar.
Graduate seminar in post-1945 art theory and criticism
Develop educational resources that supplement core BSN courses.
Review professor's syllabus and acquire full knowledge of his semester coursework in a short turnaround time.

Visiting assistant professor example responsibilities.

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.

Visiting professor vs visiting assistant professor skills

Common visiting professor skills

Course Content, 11%
Student Learning, 10%
Professional Development, 8%
Philosophy, 7%
Health Assessments, 5%
Economics, 4%

Common visiting assistant professor skills

Philosophy, 24%
Literature, 7%
Mathematics, 6%
Economics, 4%
Research Methods, 4%
Fine Arts, 3%

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Visiting Professor
Visiting Professor vs Visiting Assistant Professor

Updated January 8, 2025

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