Academic ranks Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic rank ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

Overview

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

* Distinguished/Extraordinary Professor (must hold a PhD, except in accounting) * Senior Professor (must hold a PhD, except in accounting) (not at all universities) *

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

(must hold a PhD, except in accounting) * Associate professor (must hold a PhD, except in accounting. This is a questionable practice, ideally professorship aught to be linked to having obtained a National Research Foundation rating, yet exceptionalism is provided certain white academics, who despite not possessing Phds are awarded professorship in this field) *

Senior lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...

, Senior researcher (must hold a PhD, except in accounting, although sometimes appointed while still studying the PhD) * Lecturer, Researcher (must hold a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, except in accounting) * Junior lecturer, Researcher (must hold an

Honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

degree, except in accounting) * Research assistant *

Tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

, student-assistant, demonstrator * Administrative assistant * Senior secretary Administrative ranks * Chancellor (

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

), (

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

) * Vice chancellor * Rector/ principal & vice-chancellor ( dual title) *

Vice-rector A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

vice-principal In larger school systems, a head teacher principal is often assisted by someone known as a vice-principal, deputy principal, or assistant/associate principal. Unlike the principal, the vice-principal does not have quite the decision-making authorit ...

and deputy vice-chancellor/pro-vice-chancellor * Dean * Vice-dean/deputy dean * Programme directors/ Programme Convenor * Departmental chairperson or head of department In

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

-speaking universities the terms rector and vice-rector are common, whereas English-speaking universities tend to favour the terms principal and vice-principal. The use of deputy vice-chancellor seems to be phasing out pro-vice-chancellor.

Professorship

The appointment of professors follows the British system, and the term "professor" is never used for school teachers. However, since the university system has long been fractured between research-intensive and undergraduate teaching-focused universities, there is no absolute consistency. The description provided here refers to research-intensive universities, which are generally recognized as the top tier of the university system, and which are responsible for almost all university-based research and postgraduate (Honours, Masters and Doctoral) graduations. The academic ranking system is roughly as follows: * Associate (or assistant) lecturer (normally: contract staff) * Lecturer (full-time staff) * Senior Lecturer (distinguished by publications record, holding a Doctoral degree and/ or years of meritorious service) * Associate professor * (Full) Professor * Professor emeritus (on retirement at the age of 65, and granted on application and at university discretion) Professor positions are clearly separated from more junior faculty positions, but only (full) Professors sit on the University Senate by virtue of their positions in faculty. Other grades may be present, but only through other appointments, such as being Heads of Departments or programmes, or as elected representatives of other staff. Full "Professor" refers to the most senior academic grade, and is ideally based upon extensive publications, postgraduate supervision, academic leadership, service to the field, and recognition in the field. Professors are expected to have PhDs, but there is no equivalent to the German Habilitation system. Several universities have created posts such as "Honorary Professor" (for appointments of lay experts) and Distinguished/Extraordinary Professor (for the most exemplary Professors). Several undergraduate teaching-focused universities award various Professorial ranks, but criteria for appointment can vary quite widely.

References

{{Academic ranks overview Academic ranks Universities in South Africa Ranks