New PhD Student: What is my title? Instructor, etc?

[hejduk]

I've got a Facebook profile (well actually two; one for personal and one for work) and currently I have my Facebook profile URL as www.facebook.com/professor_someone's_name. I use to adjunct, and was told by my colleagues that students could call me professor (which I know I wasn't, but was rather an adjunct or instructor).

While my new dept is laid back, I don't want to be calling myself the wrong thing. I include my Facebook link in the bottom of my email signature, as students use is a lot to contact me, etc. So now that I'm a PhD student, should I change my Facebook URL to facebook.com/instructor_someone's_name or is there another title I should be using? I include the link in every email, and I'd hate for some faculty member to be saying, "Why is so and so using the title "Professor" when he's only a PhD student?" (I'm guessing I'll hear more for Instructor.)

Hope that makes sense!

[Eigen]

You're a graduate student now.

Not an instructor, not an adjunct, and not a professor, for sure.

All three are hired positions *separate* from teaching duties as part of a graduate school assistantship. That makes your official title "Graduate Student" or "Graduate Teaching Assistant". If you want to be formal, you can have your students address you as Mr./Ms., but that's about it.

Even if you used to be an adjunct, I'd think it would be worthwhile changing the page address so it doesn't look like you're overreaching.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Eigen

[harpyemma]

Hold up--just to check: you were calling yourself "professor" before you even began your PhD?!

What?

[Eigen]

Hold up--just to check: you were calling yourself "professor" before you even began your PhD?!

What?

I'm assuming they have a masters, since they were adjuncting, in which case I would say it's reasonably acceptable.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Eigen

[TypeA]

At my undergrad, we had Graduate Student Instructors. That's precisely what we called them ("GSIs"). There's no distinction between Master's and PhD candidates, but I would assume that's a title where you can be certain you aren't misrepresenting yourself in any way. I'm friends on Facebook with a few of my former GSIs, and that's the term they use in their "employment" section.

[long_time_lurker]

As far as an online profile I think I would ditch the "professor" part. However as has been mentioned most students when you're adjuncting or for that matter lecturing as a TA (note lecturing not just grading and such) are going to call you "professor" even though you're not a Professor.

Also, at least in my department, it is customary for those of us without our PhD's yet - including TA's as well as adjuncts - to put "Instructor" on the syllabus.

[rising_star]

My facebook URL is quite simply my name, the same as it is for Gmail and Skype. That's the one I use professionally as well.

As for the employment thing, my job title is Teaching Assistant so that's what I would list. My email signature specifies my status and the course (e.g., Teaching Assistant/TA, DEPT 101 or Instructor, DEPT 301).

[runonsentence]

Well, I can understand why the OP used "professor" when teaching. The directors of the comp program have said to me before that they really don't care if we GAs let students address us as "professor" in the classroom—especially because we teach with full instruction responsibility—and even though I tell students NOT to call me "professor," they still do. To many undergrads, most especially freshmen, "professor" is just a fancy word for teacher. Most underclassmen don't understand university hierarchy.

All that said: I wouldn't put it up on the Internet somewhere, where the expectation of your audience is that it does denote your position in the hierarchy. You're a graduate student, graduate student instructor, or graduate teaching assistant. I've also occasionally seen colleagues in my field use "PhD student" or "PhD candidate."