Korean Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

Are you a teacher or a professor? I mean, what's on your contract? Is a professor a coveted term that only few foreigners ever get, kind of like getting tenure? DO you need a PhD or tons of publications to be a professor?

[jinks]

'Professor' is a courtesy title. Most contracts use 'instructor', though if your university gives you a business card they will probably describe you as 'professor'.

[scorpiocandy]

I work at the language institute of my university so my contract refers to me as "lecturer".

The foreigners, who teach the credit-based courses have business cards that say "Visiting Professor".

I find the whole "professor" thing here odd, because I'm from South Africa and there you don't automatically get the title when you get the job.
"Prof" is bestowed by the university. Until then you're Mr or Ms or Dr if you have the degree.

[Draz]

Pretty sure my contract says instructor, it might be lecturer, it definitely doesn't say professor.

Sometimes people still call us professors though.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

My department's contracts have the categories of instructors, assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors, based on education and experience. The staff and students do call us all professors as a courtesy.

[bassexpander]

My job title said, 'Full-time assistant professor." I told them to change it to full-time lecturer" and they did. Students will call you professor.

So basically, I profess that I am a lecturer.

BTW, my friend has a BA, works 3 part-time jobs, and easily pulls down 2 million per month more than any true foreign professor in Korea. Basically, I don't respect the title of "professor" (as far as English is concerned) very much unless the person is a Rod Ellis or Dave Nunan. Why? Because those are the movers/shakers that truly deserve the title for the materials they make, etc.. They're a cut above because of what they have achieved, in my book. Just about anyone else can get a Ph.D. if they care to invest the time and money. Hell, I could, but I have no interest at this point in my life.

Too many universities. Too many Ph.D's. VERY few people publishing anything that actually makes a hill of beans difference. Blue collar workers that paid a lot more for a title. A Ph.D in waste management would be more useful.

If they can teach well, put together a successful program, and actually help people learn.... THEN they can have my respect. Otherwise, they're just a product of the education industry selling pieces of paper in exchange for rank and title.

[PRagic]

At Korean universities, most new tenure track hires (almost exclusively Doctorate/terminal degree holders) are currently required to go through the following schedules:

1. Full-time Instructor/Lecturer: 2 years
2. Assistant Professor: 4 years
3. Associate Professor: 4 years
4. Full Professor

Most universities review tenure track teaching staff on an annual basis, including reviews of teaching feedback/performance, publishing, professional involvement (conference organization and participation, etc..), and a list of other 'little things' that non-tenure track staff don't have to worry about.

Some universities offer 'teaching track' or ' research track' options. Those on a 'research track' generally teach one course per semester, but are under more pressure to aquire outside funding and produce articles for internationally reviewed journals and texts.

Visiting (full-time) instructors and professors, what N. Americans would recognize as adjunct instructors/professors, are hired on a renewable contract basis. They are not required to publish, but those with Ph.D.s usually feel they have to in order to remain professionally viable. Foreign ESL teaching staff are usually placed under 'Visiting' status, although my understanding is that some of the bigger schools such as Yonsei are moving toward career longevity enhancing policies that promote long-term 'visiting' instructors to 'regular' instructor status, thus placing them in line with tenure track standards.

Some Korean universities are trying to have their cake and eat it too; they want to maintain and strengthen a reputation as a 'learning university' with a focus on classes and students, yet increase their international competitiveness ranking by increasing the number of publications in internationally ranked, competitive journals. Bassexpander's lamentations are felt across a broad range of diciplines, but only reflect one side of the coin. If you want to keep teaching and publishing, you have to keep a lot of material in the pipeline. Given time and funding constraints, not all jobs allow for all of the papers in the pipeline to be ground breakers and earth shakers.

In the near future, many (if not all) of Korean universities will begin shifting to competitive-based hiring and promotion policies so that more productive faculty can be either hired at higher ranks or promoted faster than is the current norm.

A lot of it is political. Non-PhD holding instructors are a grey area. On the one hand, if they are placed on tenure track status (e.g. minus the 'visiting' blurb), then the instructors may be counted toward their total number of foreign faculty. At the same time, these full-time lecturers may be required to publish. Both actions potentially increasing the university's international ranking.

And I say 'it' is political meaning 'ESL positions'; other departments at Korean universities don't have this delemna because they don't hire anyone without a Doctorate or terminal degree in their dicipline. Because there is less of a grey area in the hierarchy, there are less complications. However, as some of the above posts reflect, there are professional ESL/TESOL teachers at Korean universities who do not want to pursue their Ph.D. They want to teach. That's great, but it places the university administration in a bind.

To what extent can/should non-terminal degree holders be included in administrative decisions? Is it fair if they don't have to publish, if they don't generate funding, if they don't provide Master's and Doctoral mentoring and participate in those processes, if they don't have to (or, because of language barriers cannot) attend or help to organize conferences.

It is quite easy to dismiss research contributions, set criteria for the receipt or allotment of personal respect, or to choose a personal teaching career focus. Not everyone has that luxury, especially at different job tiers within the educational hierarchy. Some seek to contribute in the classroom and recognize that this is where their contribution to the organization ends. They're good at their jobs and just want to be left alone to do them. Many of my good friends recognize that this, along with their chosen degree level, necessarily limits their input in administrative functions.

Few tenure track professors are in it for the money, and from time to time, many question why they're in it at all! It's highly competitive and the pay could be better. And when you spend a lot of time researching and writing something, it's tough to put your cojones on the chopping block by sending it in for professional review, revision, and publication.

Just my 2 cents. End babble...

[Goon-Yang]

My contract says prof. My card says prof. I'm called a prof by most. I'm not a prof.

For the first year or so I cringed at being called that. Now it's just a meaningless title like all the others Koreans throw around. Don't worry so much about your title and worry about you rapport with your students and what you teach them.

[Triban]

I've got a BA and a TESOL, no time for a Master's ATM. I crave university jobs though

[naturegirl321]

Ok, thanks. Makes sense now.

[Hyeon Een]

At my university we have lecturers, visiting professors and there is one westerner who is tenure track. Oh there is also a full tenured professor who only has an MA but he's been there since time began.

My title is "Visiting Professor" and.. it is what it is. I didn't request it, it's what was given to me. Different countries give out academic titles in different ways. In the UK for example probably less than 1% of Phd holders teaching/doing research at a university will have the title 'professor' as it is an honorary title usually given to very senior people who've often done groundbreaking work. In the US the title 'professor' in some form is given out to pretty much anyone with a Phd working at a university. And in Korea.. sometimes people with only a BA will be given the title.

Anyway my contract says visiting/invited professor depending on how you want to translate 초빙. I don't have an English contract actually.

I don't think the title is important anyway. When people ask what my job is I say "I work at a university" I never say "I'm a professor". If someone insists on asking my job title I'll tell them but I really don't like to say it to westerners haha. When Koreans ask me though I always tell them exactly what my official position is, because they 'understand' it and won't think you're some crazy boastful person. Also, they'll be more respectful, and I like being respected

[HapKi]

조 교수 means assistant professor
부 교수 means associate professor
장 (or something) 교수 means tenured professor above associate

These are normally faculty postitions requiring publishing and other responsibilites, on par with Korean colleagues.
Salaries and advancement comes from national requirements and standards, though I'm sure it varies with each case (National, private, 2/4 year schools, etc..) See for example the 호봉 point system.

초 빙 usually pairs with 강 사, which means visiting full time lecturer. Typically 1 year contracts.

[withnail]

Bassexpander

You should hate the term "lecturer" and do everything possible to disassociate yourself from it.

EFL teaching is the complete opposite of lecturing. If you lecture your students, you need to have a long hard think about that. Perhaps you believe your students will acquire English through Vulcan mind meld...

[Hyeon Een]

[Goon-Yang]