1 of 1

ACADEMIC LIFE: WHAT DOES A “LECTURER” DO?

RESEARCH

SERVICE

TEACHING

NOTES:

  • This chart attempts to summarise a standard full-time ‘lecturer’ position at a New Zealand tertiary institution. Job titles differ in other countries (e.g. ‘professors’ in the USA). Specific tasks may vary depending on institution, academic discipline, and career level.
  • The balance between teaching, research, and service and may also vary at different times, and for different people, depending on factors such as research funding, teaching load, and also positionality (e.g. Māori academics often fulfil many extra service roles, incl consultation, cultural advice, providing mihi whakatau at events; Senior academics typically take on more service and leadership roles)
  • Many of these tasks could be filed in different locations, or span more than one category. They had to go somewhere, for the chart!
  • Full-time ‘research-only’ or ‘teaching-only’ roles do exist. Additionally some people who lecture in tertiary courses may be employed on part-time (and/or precarious, fixed-term, or ‘adjunct’) contracts with a more limited schedule of responsibilities.

DELIVERING LECTURES, SEMINARS, TUTORIALS

WRITING OR REFRESHING COURSE CONTENT

SETTING UP AND MANAGING E-LEARNING MATERIALS

EMAILS, RESPONDING TO STUDENT QUERIES

MARKING AND MODERATING ASSIGNMENTS

WRITING GRANT APPLICATIONS

READING NEW PUBLICATIONS, STAYING UP TO DATE, CITATION MANAGEMENT

ACADEMIC CONFERENCES

ETHICS APPLICATIONS, CONSULTATIONS, REPORTING

ANALYSING DATA, INTERPRETING DATA, APPLYING THEORY

GATHERING DATA, e.g. interviews, experiments, surveys, fieldwork (depending on academic field)

DISSEMINATING DATA TO PUBLIC e.g. writing for media, talks, interviews or expert panels, performances or creative outputs

WRITING AND PUBLISHING SCHOLARLY TEXTS, e.g. research articles, technical reports, books, book chapters, reviews, editorials

EXAMINING THESES & DISSERTATIONS

PEER-REVIEWING JOURNAL ARTICLES, EDITORIAL ROLES FOR ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS, OR PUBLISHERS

SERVING ON (OR LEADING) UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES OR BOARDS

PUBLIC OR COMMUNITY SERVICE e.g. public lectures, serving on boards, etc.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/TRAINING

DESIGNING COURSE MATERIALS

ORGANISING CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIUMS, SEMINARS

SERVING ON PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATION

  • Blackboard/moodle
  • E-reserve
  • Library course reserve
  • Echo/Capture recordings
  • Zoom links

​

​

  • Assessing and processing applications
  • Supporting paperwork for ethics, funding, fieldwork, etc
  • Meetings and emails
  • Feedback on written work
  • Selecting examiners and organizing examinations
  • Attending graduations
  • Career advice, professional development, mentoring

​

​

COURSE ADVICE, CAREER ADVICE, PASTORAL CARE FOR STUDENTS

  • Staff meetings, emails
  • Planning academic programmes, paperwork
  • Health and Safety, paperwork
  • HR and staffing , planning and strategy, recruitment
  • Space and resources planning, emails, paperwork
  • Coordinating outreach materials and events
  • Course approvals, student administration
  • Consultation documents, auditing and review documents

RESEARCH (PBRF) REPORTING, AUDITING, EVALUATION

COURE EVALUATIONS , TEACHING EVALUTIONS, PEER EVALUATION

  • Updating lecture materials
  • Reviewing and selecting appropriate course readings
  • Sourcing AV material
  • Designing tutorials/practicals
  • Revising programme offerings, writing new courses

​

  • Course outlines
  • Slides and notes
  • Handouts & worksheets
  • Assignment guidelines and resources

​

​

  • Teaching symposiums, conferences
  • Seminars/forums/workshops on topical teaching issues
  • Training sessions for new classroom/online technologies, or techniques
  • Regular meetings, emails
  • Reviewing documents
  • Writing and formulating documents (e.g. policy, strategy

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

  • Promotion applications
  • Professional/peer reviews and evaluations
  • Applying for awards
  • Additional training or qualifications
  • Updating online profiles, self-promotion, networking

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

  • Setting and managing budgets, expense accounting, budget reports
  • Recruitment and hiring
  • Supervising, and mentoring other/junior staff
  • Team meetings, emails, shared documents
  • Timelines and workflow management
  • Health and safety (planning, paperwork)
  • Grant reporting, outcomes

COLLEGIALITY AND LEADERSHIP

  • Leadership roles within depts, schools
  • University leadership roles (Deanships, etc)
  • ECR mentorship
  • Coordinating and attending social events
  • Convening examinations
  • Guest seminars
  • Chairing events

​

​

ASSESSMENT PLANNING

  • Designing assignments
  • Writing assignment rubric
  • Setting exam content
  • Paperwork (to be audited by academic committees) for any changes

​

​

PAPER ADMINISTRATION

  • Timetabling requests
  • Organising placements, practicals, fieldtrips, guest lectures
  • Extensions and special considerations
  • Liaising with disability support services
  • Handling academic integrity issues (e.g. plagiarism investigations)
  • Paperwork (to be audited by academic committees) for any changes to course delivery

​

​

​

Created by Susan Wardell

Twitter: Unlazy_Susan

22nd June 2021

(Updated 28th June)

Susan Wardell

(Twitter: Unlazy_Susan)

  • Submitting abstracts
  • Paperwork for travel funding
  • Writing and presenting papers
  • Convening panels
  • Chairing sessions
  • Drafting and editing
  • Liaising with co-authors
  • Responding to peer-review comments, revising
  • Coordinating special issues
  • Editing multi-author books
  • Book proposals, publication design, promotion

​

SUPERVISING POSTGRAD STUDENTS