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[ExPat in UK]

Did anyone see the story about Warwick adopting US titles of Asst. Prof, Assoc Prof and Prof?

Does this suggest a change in the UK?

[Libby]

I don't know, but I'll be interested to see! People in my department were all very grumpy about it...

[yedis]

Doubt that this will catch on in the UK - it's just Warwick being a buch of w***ers as usual.  Probably with their eye on recruiting more fee-paying US studnets.

[Kermit]

They've made themselves look like total muppets.

Predict it will be quietly dropped in a couple of years.

[Expat in US]

Why a bad thing? (surely just following other US precedents like semesterization, "modules," etc).

Ugh. Just remembering the word "module" makes me weep with whatever the opposite of homesickness is.

[%sig%]

[BubaHoTep]

Can you post a link  to the story please?

[glaswegian babe]

I saw it in the THES I think but was so concerned over the stories about the scrapping of the RAE (not a bad thing to scrap, of course - but worried about the 'merit' replacement scheme!!) that I couldn't concentrate on the silly Warwick professor story...

[Kermit]

Because "Professor" is a major rank given as evidence of a contribution to the discipline.......not something you become once you pass your viva at age 26.

Its all part of the dumbing down process

All shall have prizes.

[Globetrotter]

Kermit wrote:

> Because "Professor" is a major rank given as evidence of a
> contribution to the discipline.......not something you become
> once you pass your viva at age 26.
>
> Its all part of the dumbing down process
>
How about it being part of the internationalization process ?

Haven't you noticed that the British "lecturers" are viewed in the US as something like "eternal adjuncts" rather than serious academics (because that's what "lecturers" in the US are, I guess) ? It may sound stupid, but this makes it harder for someone who might later move on from GB to take on a lectureship in GB in the first placce. So Warwick is probably trying to recruit people from the US, and that isn't necessarily with the goal of "dumbing down" but rather "RAE-ing up".

[%sig%]

[Kermit]

What I particularly love is when Americans start trying to tell me that the rank of senior lecturer isn't equivalent to assoc prof.

Classic ignorance.

[ExPat in UK]

Kermit wrote:

> What I particularly love is when Americans start trying to tell
> me that the rank of senior lecturer isn't equivalent to assoc
> prof.
>
> Classic ignorance

I wouldn't call it ignorance.

And in some cases I wouldn't say that the ranks are actually equal. It's rare in the US for someone to be promoted to Assoc Prof without getting tenure. I don't need to say anything about the stress of getting tenure. In the UK that is a hurdle we don't have to jump through. And, yes, I do know folks in the UK who have been promoted to Senior Lecturer just on the basis of 'time served' so the two ranks aren't always equal.

I would say that the ability in the UK to be promoted to Reader or Professor is harder than the tenure hoop, but a tad more comparable.

I was promoted to Professor here in the UK at about the same time as some US colleagues were promoted to Full Professor. I had more hoops to jump through and my title (in context) is seen and being higher.

I just think that a title is a title and doesn't really mean much. I'm always slightly taken aback when I'm addressed as 'Professor' because in the US that generally is seen as a lower title than being addressed at Dr.

But again... none of it really matters does it? It's who you are, and not what you're called that's important.