My name is Ashley S. Love, DrPH, DHSc, MPH, MS, CPH. I have been teaching for over 20 years in traditional and online settings – from a community college in NYC to universities in TX and overseas. I have worked at 12 different schools/universities so far. I have worked as a full-time professor and as an adjunct as well.

Job Title

Associate Professor, Dreeben School of Education, The University of the Incarnate Word.

My Typical Day

My typical day at work involves preparations for teaching, conducting research and publishing its results, advising graduate students, and providing public, departmental, college, and university service.

I usually attend regular university, school, and/or department meetings as well as my professional organization meetings; meeting with masters and doctoral students and colleagues on projects, courses, and/or dissertations; I spend a significant amount of time prepping for the lectures to tailor my lectures to my current students enrolled in my class; I deliver lectures and hold regular office hours to be available for my students. If there are pockets of time between these activities, I usually read current articles in my field and write for publications to continue the discourse in my field.

Pros

Flexibility and intellectual freedom to pursue one’s research interest in hopes to make a difference; an opportunity to teach and mentor emerging scholars who will further advance the field; Ability to travel and network with colleagues to discuss one’s research and teaching; Learning is part of the job; Freedom over how one allocates and manages time – autonomy

Con

A job market for full-time tenure track positions is highly competitive – more talented job seekers compared to positions available; a frequent rejection of work submitted in peer-reviewed journals (performance and advancement depend on publishing in peer-reviewed journals); effective, good teaching takes an enormous amount of time to plan and deliver; long hours (can be stressful); long years of educational training (usually need a doctorate).

Advice for students who are looking to become Associate Professors

First, you have to start as an Assistant Professor on the tenure track.  It is an entry-level position for those who recently graduated with a doctorate and/or post-doctorate training. To obtain this position, one has to demonstrate strong potential as a promising research scholar and expert in the field; demonstrated as a teacher.  Once one lands an assistant professor position, one has to usually apply for tenure at 3 to 6 years to be promoted to associate professor.

If one is serious about becoming a professor, one has to enjoy conducting research and teaching.  Curiosity, passion for knowledge, persistence, patience, humility, and flexibility are needed.

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