VAP vs. Assistant Professor Pay

VAP vs. Assistant Professor Pay

anon SJ (guest) 05 Feb 2016 13:41

Does anyone have knowledge about the typical pay differences between visiting assistant professor positions and assistant professor positions?

What about visiting assistant professors and full-time lecturers?

I understand the pay difference is "significant," but what does this mean? Are we talking 10% difference? Are we talking closer to 20%? Are we talking "might as well take a post-doc because the pay for these positions is about the same as a post-doc"?

asstprof (guest) 05 Feb 2016 14:16

It really depends on the school. Sometimes they're paid the same. Sometimes it's less than a 10% difference. At my first institution it was something like $53K for VAPs and $57K for new assistants. I've also heard of it being a bigger pay gap, like a 20% difference. Seldom do VAPs pay as low as the NIH postdoc payscale, though there are some postdocs that pay more than VAPs (and assistant profs at some places) because they have more funds to do so.

As for VAPs vs full-time lecturers, some schools don't have both of these positions, so it's hard to compare. I think they get paid around the same amount.

I think the reason to take a postdoc over a VAP has less to do with pay and more to do with what job you want later as well as what your current credentials are. If you want to work at a SLAC and you don't have teaching experience, take a VAP.

anon (guest) 05 Feb 2016 14:18

It varies a lot but in many places the salary is just the same. VAP may not get some of the benefits such as full relocation costs or summer salaries but the base rate is often identical as a new asst. prof.

Re: VAP vs. Assistant Professor Pay

DocJ 05 Feb 2016 22:54

At my institution (decent tier SLAC, not Ivy or Elite) our VAPs are paid at the same level as faculty. When I was on the job market, I had a VAP offer at a really good SLAC, but it paid $10,000 to $15,000 less than what their tenure-track assistant professors make (per Chronicle data), so I passed on it. Asstprof's comment is also spot on - if you want to work at a SLAC or maybe even a regional university and lack solid teaching experience, a VAP can pay off. I always recommend going for multi-year VAPs, though. A one year VAP is somewhat lousy as you'll be right back on the job market when the VAP starts.

Anon (guest) 08 Feb 2016 17:37

In two different SLACs I've been at, VAP salary is about 2/3 of first-year TT salary.

IsItWorthIt (guest) 09 Feb 2016 00:04

A Midwest R2 with an R1-ish department. ~64K TT (2/1 teaching load) for 9 months vs 50K for VAP (3/3 teaching load) 9 months.
Postdoc usually around 40K

Seems like a significant different across all 3 stages

double man (guest) 12 Feb 2016 06:28

Been a three-timer VAP at SLACs. One was roughly equal. Two were 15-20% lower - and about subsistence pay. Those two were ironically richer and more highly-ranked than the first. VAP is not about pay, but about getting some good experiences to boost yourself up in the market. The big danger of VAP is not the pay, but being abused (teaching large courses, higher course load, no support for research) - these are what to watch out for.

Re: VAP vs. Assistant Professor Pay

DocJ 12 Feb 2016 13:02

I agree with Double Man (above). In my experience, though, many VAPs came with equal or even lower loads than tenure-track faculty. Usually VAPs also have zero service or advising expectations, which is a huge advantage. So, a good VAP = fair teaching load for the institution + opportunity to do some research. If you're considering VAPs, find out exactly what the teaching load will be, exactly what courses, and whether you'll have access to a participant pool, lab space, and maybe some research funding.

One more thing - teaching a 3/2 or 3/3 as a VAP isn't necessarily bad if it only involves two preps. If you're doing 3 different courses in one semester, though, or forbid 4 - watch out! That'll eat up all of your time.