In many universities, the members of the administration (e.g., department chairs,
deans, vice presidents, presidents, and
librarians) are also faculty members; many of them begin (and remain) as professors. At some universities, the distinction between "academic faculty" and "administrative faculty" is made explicit by the former being contracted for nine months per year, meaning that they can devote their time to research (and possibly be absent from the campus) during the summer months, while the latter are contracted for twelve months per year. These two types of faculty members are sometimes known as "nine-month faculty" and "twelve-month faculty". Faculty who are paid a nine-month salary are typically allowed to seek external funds from grant agencies to partially or fully support their research activities during the summer months. Librarians are a special case in that they are educators like faculty who belong to degree granting departments, not necessarily administrators who have management responsibilities like Deans, Presidents, and Vice Presidents. Most university faculty members hold a
Ph.D. or equivalent
highest-level degree in their field. Some
professionals or instructors from other institutions who are associated with a particular university (e.g., by teaching some courses or supervising
graduate students) but do not hold professorships may be appointed as adjunct faculty. ==See also==