Joanne Rowling's Doctorates

[psychic_serpent]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Jeremy Davis" <jmd at j...> 
wrote:
It winds him up that leacturers in the US all seem to be called 
*Professor* just because the teach at a Univesity. (Correct me if 
I'm wrong). For that matter why are ALL the teachers a Hogwarts call 
*Professor* and not some *Doctor*????

Me:

At most universities and colleges with which I am familiar, there 
are different levels of employment for instructors that do not 
necessarily  have a direct correlation to how many degrees the 
instructor has, especially as some fields do not offer doctorates.  

Lowest in the pecking order are 'instructors' or 'lecturers,' who 
may be grad students or people with just master's degrees--this is 
entry-level for them--rather than doctorates.  Many of these folks 
are 'adjunct professors,' who are part-timers; adjuncts can have any 
level of education from mere bachelor's degrees in a field to 
multiple doctorates.  It just means they're not full-time 
employees.  Then you have 'assistant professors' (although they 
teach alone--it is not meant to imply that they help someone else 
teach).  They probably have a minimum of a master's degree, although 
this is the entry level, usually, for people with doctorates. (They 
can also be adjuncts.)  'Associate professors' are also usually solo 
teachers; it's one step up from 'assistant professor' and usually 
pays more money and requires a certain amount of teaching experience 
combined with publishing.  You're less likely to have to do grunt 
work like teaching huge freshman lectures, although that probably 
depends upon the school, but you're also less likely to be an 
adjunct.  

And then there are 'full professors,' who actually seldom teach--
although some do--and are usually department heads and researchers 
who direct students writing master's theses and doctoral 
dissertations. If you are a 'full professor,' it means that you have 
tenure.  Technically, these are the only people who should be 
called 'Professor Brown,' or whatever, although most schools refer 
to the teaching staff in general as 'the professors' and the 
title 'Professor' can be considered an abbreviation of 'assistant 
professor' or 'associate professor.'  Tenure generally comes after 
having taught for quite a number of years and attaining a certain 
level of recognition in one's field ('publish or perish' isn't just 
a catchy adage).  

Full professors are becoming rarer and rarer because schools must 
offer certain perks to tenured instructors and university budgets 
are incredibly tight these days.  That's why so many schools are 
going the route of having numerous adjunct professors who must drive 
from school to school, teaching one class at each place in order to 
make ends meet.  And that's also why teachers' unions are fighting 
so arduously against schools being permitted to hire more than a 
certain percentage of part-time teaching staff.  If the schools had 
their way there would probably be no full professors and no one with 
tenure.   

The last time I called a professor 'Professor' he was a seventy-ish 
Swiss religion teacher overseeing a graduate-level seminar who, by 
the end of the term, had us all calling him 'Sam.'  Most instructors 
I know do not stand on ceremony and have relaxed and dialogue-driven 
classes where titles like this would impede the swift exchange of 
ideas.  From what I've seen, it's largely freshmen in their first 
terms at university who all call their teachers 'Professor.'  
They're a bit overwhelmed by this new world, I think, and are afraid 
of showing disrespect to their teachers.  That wears off quickly. ;)

JKR has said that there is no wizarding university, so I don't know 
how witches and wizards would attain doctorates and therefore be 
called 'Doctor.'  I think it's possible that 'Professor' is a job 
title for those who teach full time; they have a sort of tenure, it 
seems.  In contrast, Madam Hooch does not teach full time; only the 
first years seem to require instruction in flying, and refereeing 
six Quidditch matches a year would not take up much more of her 
time.  Madam Pince, the librarian, also probably does not work full 
time, at at any rate, she does not teach and would not qualify for 
the title 'Professor.'  Madam Pomfrey also does not teach.  I cannot 
remember right now whether Dumbledore has ever referred to Hagrid 
as 'Professor Hagrid' now that he is teaching, but it's possible 
that because he never finished school that will not happen (or it 
might be because everyone has just been in the habit of calling him 
plain old 'Hagrid' for so long that it would be too difficult to 
change).

--Barb

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