The primary distinction between faculty and staff is that the term faculty is used to describe the academic staff of a university or an academic division, or a group of departments within a university, while the term staff refers to all individuals employed by a particular organization.
Key Takeaways
- Staff refers to all employees in an organization, including management and support staff.
- Faculty specifically refers to the academic staff of a university, such as professors, lecturers, and researchers.
- Faculty may also refer to a division or a group of departments within a university that is dedicated to one subject area.
What is Staff?
Staff encompasses all employees in an organization, including management and support staff. For example, hospital staff include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, pathologists, therapists, administrative officials, and support staff. Similarly, a restaurant staff consists of a manager, chefs, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, etc. Accountants, assistants, managers, registrars, clerks, peons, engineers, etc., are some examples of roles included in the staff of a general office. Most of these individuals typically have regular working hours.
What is Faculty?
In academia, the term faculty has two meanings. Faculty can refer to a division or a group of departments within a university that is dedicated to one subject area. For example, a university may have several faculties, such as the faculty of medicine, faculty of commerce, faculty of engineering, faculty of humanities, faculty of law, faculty of education, etc. However, faculty can also refer to the academic staff of an academic institution, particularly a university. This usage is especially common in North American English. Academic staff or faculty may include professors of various ranks (adjunct professors, associate professors, assistant professors, etc.), lecturers, and researchers. It is important to note that this term is specifically used for the academic staff of a university, but not for the staff of a primary or secondary school. Moreover, not all staff in a university are called faculty; those officials involved in administrative and support tasks are called non-academic staff, not faculty.
What is the Difference Between Faculty and Staff?
Staff refers to all the people employed by a particular organization. Faculty can refer to either an academic staff of a university or an academic division within a university. The basic difference between faculty and staff is that staff refers to all members of an organization, whereas faculty specifically refers to the academic staff of a university. Moreover, faculty typically includes professors of various ranks, lecturers, and researchers, whereas staff includes various ranks within an organization, such as managers, doctors, engineers, assistants, accountants, secretaries, and clerks.
Summary – Faculty vs Staff
The basic difference between faculty and staff is that staff refers to all members of an organization, whereas faculty specifically refers to the academic staff of a university. Furthermore, faculty can also refer to a division or a group of departments within a university that is dedicated to one subject area.
