PDF The Top 50 Roles College Instructors Perform
How Many Hats Do You Wear?
The job of a college instructor is extremely demanding. A successful faculty member must wear many, many hats. I decided to create my list of the top 10 roles an instructor plays. Before long I had 30. I challenged myself to hit 50, and in the end identified more than 60 roles. Some of these roles relate directly to teaching; some do not. Some of these roles are thrust on instructors through no will of their own. Some of these roles are the compensation strategies that faculty develop to deal with challenges.
The roles I left off my list included band leader, coach, communicator, trip escort, trainer, and speaker. Oh, I also left off magician and mind reader. I know these are two of the most important roles, but I didn’t want those of us who lack these abilities to feel bad. 
The 50 Roles for College Faculty
Here is my list of 50 roles in alphabetical order.
- Academic Counselor
- Actor
- Career Counselor
- Cheerleader
- Classroom Manager
- College Ambassador
- Committee Member
- Community Service Worker
- Computer Specialist
- Conciliator
- Crisis/Emergency Responder
- Critic
- Curator
- Curriculum Developer
- Department Chair
- Educational Psychology Expert
- Empathy Provider
- Grant Writer
- Humorist
- Instructional Designer
- Investigator
- Laboratory Clinician
- Leader
- Learning Assessment Expert
- Learning Facilitator
- Lecturer
- Mediator
- Mentor
- Motivational Speaker
- Performer
- Personal Counselor
- Problem Solver
- Program Advocate
- Public Relations Specialist
- Researcher
- Role Model
- Social Worker
- Story Teller
- Stress Management Expert
- Student
- Student Advocate
- Student Organization Adviser
- Study Skills Instructor
- Subject Matter Expert
- Teacher
- Team Builder
- Technician
- Tutor
- Visionary
- Writer
Adjunct Faculty Challenges
Adjuncts may not be called upon to fill as many roles as full-time faculty, but that does not mean their challenges are any less. If you are an adjunct who holds down a full-time “day job” or one who teaches ate two or three different colleges, I know you will agree. You have many more roles that you play in your other positions.
The adjunct challenge is to identify and perform well in the roles that are important to your student and you, the ones you must do well if your students are to succeed.
The Faculty Role Challenge
If you are one of my frequent readers, you know I like to assign homework. You are getting off easy today. I am not going to collect and grade this assignment. However, don’t be surprised if some of this shows up on the final.
- Add other roles to the list, ones that apply for you.
- Use the list to identify the roles you play well.
- Identify the roles where you could do better, the ones that would be helpful to you and your students if you played them really well.
- Set goals for yourself and make plans to improve your ability to perform those roles.
This is my advice to help you keep your teaching career ROLLING ALONG.
© 2010 Paul A. Hummel, Ed.D.
Posted May 17, 2010
Paul, interesting list! Very helpful!
I think it would be easier to use if it were organized into some categories. Of course, different people clump roles differently. For example, one person can put Humorist with Cheerleader, under Emotional Support, and another Humorist with Visionary, under Meta-Skills. Still, a starting mind map would be nice. You can embed the outputs of online concept mapping software into your blog.
Maria,
Great suggestion! As you surely noted, I organized the list alphabetically. I did not want to convey any personal biases about which roles were more important or of a higher priority for faculty. However, I am a huge proponent of mind mapping. I hope to find some time soon to work on this. Thanks!
Paul
Paul,
You forgot textbook evaluator, committee membership, professional growth, and goal setters. I like Maria’s idea of the mind mapping method for the brainstorming and organization process.
I look forward to your posts.
What can I say. Those are great additions! I need to find an catchy alliterative title for this expanding list. Ten Thousand Teacher Tasks may be going too far. A Plethora of Professorial Prerequisites might work.
I love this list. Would you be willing to let me include it (with all your attribution, of course) in the Top Ten Productivity Tips for Professors – I think it would be a fabulous addition/change of pace. Take a look at http://www.TopTenProductivityTipsforProfessors.com and let me know.
Thanks!!
Meggin
Hello Paul, I adore your list, can see myself in many of these roles. The more the merrier, never boring, always changing. I contribute to your list with: Marketing Assistant, After-hours Administrator and an IM Buddy.
Vesna