Difference Between Faculty And Staff

What is a Faculty?

A faculty is a group of university or college departments concerned with a major division of knowledge. It can also be said to be a self-governing and self-supporting group of scholars around an area of knowledge. The term includes professors of various ranks including assistant professors, substitute teachers, associate professors, etc. Many of the university administration members such as deans, chairs, principles, etc. are also considered as members of the faculty. 

College and university faculty members undertake research, teaching and service roles to carry out the academic work of their respective institutions. Each of these roles enables faculty members to generate and disseminate knowledge to peers, students and external audiences.

The teaching role of faculty members reflects their centrality in addressing the primary educational mission among colleges and universities. As faculty members teach, they disseminate and impart basic or applied knowledge to students and assist students with the learning process and applying the knowledge.

 Many university faculty members engage in research, thereby contributing to the knowledge base of the discipline or academic field. Research commonly is associated with conducting empirical studies, whether confirmatory or exploratory, but in some academic disciplines research also encompasses highly theoretical work.

Institutional service performed by faculty members includes serving on internal committees and advisory boards, mentoring and advising students, and assuming part-time administrative appointments as program or unit leaders. In some cases, faculty members also assume term appointments in fulltime roles as mid-level or senior level institutional administrators.

What is Staff?

A group of people who work in a institute who perform administrative functions are defined as staff. The staff people include accountants, assistants, counselors, secretary, office boy, security crew, clerk, registrar, dean, etc. It also includes the people who help in the maintenance and other works in the institute. 

The staff in a school is usually composed of employees with diverse educational backgrounds and responsibilities with the highest level being the administrators, those that manage the whole system. They are aided by junior staff that are willing to follow their orders and help make their jobs easier and more efficient.

When we talk about an educational institution, the staff consists of individuals with different educational qualifications. Further, they may be divided into two categories, i.e. academic staff and general staff. The academic staff is responsible for imparting education, i.e. faculty while the general staff includes employees of various levels –

• Top-level staff such as administrators, dean, director, president, etc.
• Middle-level staff includes those employees who perform in-office jobs and support functions like a counselor, cashier, assistants and so on. They are also responsible for looking after admissions, security, paperwork and documents.
• Low-level staff includes watchman, servants, gardener, guards, cleaners, etc.

Difference Between Faculty And Staff In Tabular Form