professors?

[sweetiepeas]

What do you call your instructors? !st quarter it was the first names and this quarter the want to be call professor (least name). I am a bit confused by this, I always thought a professor was someone with a higher degree, such as a Phd.

[guiltysins]

All college teachers are professor's. They don't have to have a Ph.D to be called professors. Ph.D teachers/professors usually like to be called Dr's. Like one of my professor we called him Dr. S (not using his full name since it's not allowed) because he had a Ph.D. Everyone else is just Professor and their last name. My professors would never allow us to call them by their first names, half the time we didn't even know their first names!

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

I always called them by their professional title or Mr. or Mrs. Last Name, until told or asked to do otherwise. Now that I see many of these people in the clinical setting during their rotations with new students, we're on a first name basis. I'm not quite used to that yet!

[Do-over, ASN, RN]

I use Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr. unless I am asked to use a first name instead.

I don't think I've ever addressed any as "Professor", but would if that is what was requested...

[AOx1]

It depends on the school and the degree as to whether they are titled as an instructor or professor. At some schools, you are an instructor unless you hold a doctorate and hold tenure.

It really is the preference of your instructor. I prefer to be called by my first name, but that is just my personal preference.

[tokyoROSE, BSN, RN]

We call all of our professors by their first names here. It is very laid back.

[CuriousMe]

Most of my Prof's do have their Doctorate. I always call them Dr. in a first meeting, they've all asked to be called their first name.

My favorite answer was from one of my favorite Profs. He said that the alphabet soup and titles are for written documents, please just call him Bob.

[Lajimolala, BSN, RN, NP]

At our orientation, we were told that the expected relationship between student and instructor is a professional one. So If they are an instructor, we always call them "Professor," unless they hold a PhD degree, then we would call them "Doctor So-so."

[tbell2]

Pretty much all my teachers have been first name. One wanted first name in class and Mrs X in clinical. Got confusing. Especially since she is the kind of teacher who would freak out about it if she was in a bad mood. If she was in a good mood she would laugh about it.

[sh1901]

I work in higher ed and I asked a couple folks around here how this works. Basically, it's up to each institution how titles are designated. Here, Instructors are adjunct faculty and are non-tenure. If you have the title professor, you at least have a Masters Degree, but may also have a PhD, and with this title you are on the Tenure track. You can be Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or a full Professor. Those with a PhD can be called Dr. Whatever.

Where I go to school, most are instructors rather than professors and we call them all Ms. Smith, or Mrs. White or whatever, although many of the clinical instructors have us call them by their first names. I think that you really need to just get a feel for what each individual prefers.

[llg, PhD, RN]

As others have said, the form of proper address between individuals is a cultural norm that varies from place to place.

Personally, I enjoy being called "Professor" every now and then. I am an Adjunct Associate Professor who only teaches 1 or 2 classes a year while working full time in a hospital. At the hospital, everyone is on a first-name basis and my PhD is totally ignored. While I am fine with being called by my first name, sometimes it seems as if I never made that big educational investment as the "world around me" doesn't acknowledge it in any way. My job (and pay) are no different than a lot of other people without PhD's.

So ... it's kind'a fun for me to go to the university and get called "Professor" every once-in-a-while. However, on a daily basis when I am interacting with students, I tell them that they can call me by my first name. I think most people are more comfortable with that and I don't want any of them to have to call me "Professor" or "Dr." at school and then see me at the hospital and feel awkward about being my collegue and use my first name.

The only thing that really irks me ... is when students call me "Mrs." They assume that any woman my age must be married. That's not true -- and they look foolish in my eyes when they assume that I am married. "Ms." is the proper term if you don't want to specify a marital status that you are unsure of.

I am fine with "Miss," "Ms.," "Dr." or "Professor" or my first name. The only reason to use "Mrs." is because you wrongly assume that I am married. It makes those people who use it look bad.

[Music in My Heart]

All college teachers are professor's.

No, they're not. Many adjunct faculty are simply instructors or lecturers.