American academic salaries

[Pilotage]

Apologies for posting here rather than on T&E, but I thought I'd be more likely to find somebody who has a clue.

Somewhat to my surprise, I've got a job interview coming up at Embry-Riddle, the aerospace university. The actual job I understand (teaching aeronautical engineering at Associate Professor level), and the basic contract seems straightforward enough (work your balls off for 9 months of the year, then do what you like for the next three).

However, I can't find anywhere any indication of what sort of salary range to discuss / ask for. Being a Brit, used to British salaries and contracts I know what to ask for here, but I've no idea at-all about the US and don't want to either end up with far less than I could, or (worse still) price myself out of the market when (hopefully) they ask me the standard leading question.

So, what does a middling aero-engineering prof, ex-of the UK aircraft industry, expect to make in the US?

P

[Loose rivets]

Where will you (be expected to ) live?

[Pilotage]

It's a full time, primarily teaching post on the Prescott AZ Campus, which isn't really in commuting distance of anywhere else (certainly not from where I live at the moment, the fastest available journey is about 12 hours). So - somewhere in (or very close to) Prescott.

P

[stagger]

What rank is the post - instructor? lecturer? tenure track assistant professor? associate professor?

If it's a 9 month contract check the situation with regard to benefits during the other 3 months (e.g. health cover).

[Pilotage]

Listed as assistant or associate professor (I have to confess, I have no idea as to the difference - neither term is used in the UK - is it something equivalent to senior lecturer and reader?). Thanks for the hint about checking benefits during the 3 months, I'll do that.

P

[stagger]

Assistant professor is the entry-level for tenure track academic jobs, associate professor is the next step, then just plain professor.

Assistant professor would be equivalent to lecturer in a UK university. Associate professor perhaps more like senior lecturer although the boundaries aren't precisely the same.

(Terms like instructor and lecturer are used for staff who primarily just do teaching and little or no research. Also these positions tend to be fixed-term contracts - not tenure-track).

If you've got less than five years experience as a lecturer over here I assume you'll be going in at the assistant professor rank.

There is a tremendous amount of variation across institutions and salary is generally more negotiable at US universities than in the UK.

At smaller, less prestigious colleges assistant professor salaries might range from $35,000 to $60,000

At bigger, more prestigious universities perhaps $50,000 to $75,000 or more

(these numbers could be a bit out of date)

You'll need to get some idea of the norms for Embry-Riddle and where you would fall in that range would depend on experience.

If you were staying put you'd expect to move out of the assistant scale and onto the associate scale after 5 years or so (again depending on previous experience).

[Pilotage]

Thanks, that's extremely helpful. Do you have any feel for the associate professor salary scales perchance? - I'd hopefully be looking at that rather than assistant.

P

[stagger]

I think the Associate Professor scale often has considerable overlap with the Assistant Professor scale. The maximum may not be that different from the Assistant maximum.

Getting the title Associate Professor usually, but not always, coincides with getting tenure. Starting from scratch at a US university this might typically happen after 5-7 years. Experience elsewhere would be taken into account though - if you're already senior enough you might go straight in at Associate level. However, you may not automatically get tenure - there would still be a tenure review at some point.

Perhaps send me PM if you want to discuss this more.

[20driver]

If you have a Ph.D. in engineering and they are interviewing you are in a strong position. There is a real shortage of Eng Ph.D's in the USA - especially ones with decent language skills.
Are you expected to do research, get grants etc - I suspect not - which ie good - that is a real pain.
Academic salaries in the US are really very low - which is why most Engineering faculty are not from the US.
Starting salaries for an Eng with a master degree are 45-60 K – even more if you are electrical etc.
Also ask about doing outside consulting - giving short courses etc can be very lucrative. Some places limit you to doing courses through the institution’s FE division. This is not good.
Outside consulting is often limited to so many hours per week or out of term. Again this can add up nicely. (Another issue is can you get back billed for using your office for outside work)
A lot of people really like AZ and the cost of living is low, ERU has a good reputation but I think it is real geared to produce airline people.
Unlike the UK company perks are not as common here and because of the lower taxation not such a big deal.
The general advice is never state a salary - let them offer and then don't say anything.
My guess is you should be looking toward the higher end of the associate range. They can only say no.

[Dockjock]

You could also check www.salary.com a US-based website that tracks that sort of thing. Of course it won't be entirely accurate but will probably give you a ballpark.

Cheers

[visibility3miles]

You might also discretely ask (although probably not at the interview) what percentage of their junior faculty get tenure. It varies from school to school.

At Harvard, it's only 10%. At other top schools it's more like 50%. I have no idea what it is at Embry-Riddle.

Also, some schools part of your salary and expect you to make up the rest from winning grant applications. It's worth knowing this. (My background is in science, so engineering may be different.) I don't know if you should ask about this during the interview or wait until they offer you the job.

[reynoldsno1]

Check your benefits carefully - especially health insurance. I assume you are going on a J1 visa (that's what they are basically for). Beware - you will find yourself paying a LOT of tax, as you will not qualify for ANY tax rebates and will be taxed at the highest rate (married, filing separately - no matter what your marital status is).