By JOE COLLARINI

Contributing Reporter

Why would someone want to become a professor?

Academic enlightenment aside, why would someone want to invest years of their time and thousands of dollars of their money to spend the rest of their lives making less money than they could elsewhere?

Many students attend school in order to attain a good job.

But when you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that, for some people, college isn’t just about getting a degree. In fact, some people go to college because they enjoy learning and are there to experience academic fulfillment of the highest level.

Some students choose to experience academia by obtaining a doctorate degree to follow their goal of becoming a professor.

These students invest thousands of dollars and spend many additional years to become a member of a profession that will typically pay less than others in the private sector.

These people take the road less traveled and don’t follow the traditional collegiate path.

THE CALLING

Joseph Callaghan, professor of accounting at Oakland University, says that the dollars-and-cents mentality that some college students possess can be damaging.

“I think it’s a mistake for a student to consider job pay as a critical criterion for selecting an academic program or career,” he said. “Financial reward is a by-product of excelling at some area that is of interest to the person.”

Callaghan says that while he makes considerably less money than he would have had he continued to work in the private sector, he is happy with his choice to become a professor, placing emphasis on areas other than just financial gain.

Callaghan stressed that the freedom that being a professor provides him combined with his enthusiasm for the academic world is well worth it.

“I don’t like the restrictions that accompany ‘real-world’ jobs,” said Callaghan.

As an assistant professor of communication at OU, Jacob Cayanus says that before deciding to pursue becoming a professor, a student must consider both the pros and cons of the situation.

“If a student is interested, I strongly suggest talking with one of their favorite professors and learning some things. My last class I took before I graduated with my first degree, I had a professor that actually changed what I wanted to do,” he said. “She was funny and we had several conversations about being a professor. From there, I decided I wanted to be one.”

He added that a high salary isn’t everything to him.

“It would take a high amount of money for me to trade jobs. I love teaching and doing research. Something starting around $200,000 might do it. Anything lower than that I am staying in the professor business,” said Cayanus.

Cayanus said it was expensive for him to complete his graduate studies, and is a little upset with the amount of student loans he had to take out to pay for his education. However he says that the time spent obtaining his doctorate was well worth it.

Unlike many many students and those in the coporate world, money is not as much of a priority for Cayanus and Callaghan in regards to finding a worth-while career.

ROAD TO  SUCCESS

Obtaining a Ph.D. requires extensive schooling and serious financial commitment.

Sandra Ceraulo of the Princeton Review says that, according to a 1999 study, the median number of years new Ph.D.s were registered as graduate students was 8.9 years for arts and humanities Ph.D.s, 7.5 for social science Ph.D.s, 7.0 for Ph.D.s in life sciences, and 6.8 for Ph.D.s in the physical sciences.

The University of California-Berkley estimates that in a typical year of graduate school, total expenses can be in excess of $30,000 for residents, and an additional $15,000 for non-residents.

Even with the completion of a doctorate degree, the road to becoming a full-time professor isn’t always readily accessible.

Ceraulo adds that taking an alternate route to get your foot in the door or pay the bills is more than an acceptable road to travel down.

She says that many times it is necessary to acquire a temporary job before being able to find a tenure-track position. She also recommends not listening to those who might provide negative remarks about your desires to find a job outside of the academic arena to pay the bills before a job opens up.

Cayanus also echoed Ceraulo’s thoughts and stated that his road to becoming a professor was a very narrow one.

“When you apply for a tenure-track position as a professor, there are only so many jobs that fit your specialty. Oakland was one that did and I knew nothing about this area,” said Cayanus.

FINANCIAL OPTIONS

After their graduate studies are completed, and a job opens up, and they are able to acquire a full-time faculty position, are all the hurdles finally cleared? Not quite. Obtaining a full-time position doesn’t necessarily offer as large a payout for all of a graduate’s hard work and commitment.

According to a 2005 study by the U.S. Department of Labor, the average salary for a full-time professor in the U.S. is approximately $91,000, with a substantial drop-off for associate professors, assistant professors and instructors.

The study notes a higher salary is more likely for professors in areas with more non-academic opportunities available, such as law, medicine, business and engineering, while sometimes lower in areas such as education and the humanities.

THE PATH OF ‘ENLIGHTENMENT’

So, why become a professor? And why would someone want to be a professor at Oakland University?

For Cayanus and Callaghan, the trade-off of academic enlightenment and being able to do what they truly enjoy is well worth the lower salary and extreme commitment and perseverance required to “make it.”

And for Callaghan, the added bonus of knowing the area made Oakland a particularly attractive destination.

“My extended family and I are from metro-Detroit and OU has the best [Business] School in this area,” Callaghan said.

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