Art Professor Career Tips
For those who enjoy flexible work hours and prefer a creative field of employment, the career of art professor has few rivals. The salary for an art professor is usually lower than the other university fields. The amount varies quite a bit, depending on the number of years employed, the size school and its location. To give a rough salary range for 2010-2011, Payscale.com lists an average salary for M.F.A. degreed employees at Yale University to be about 50-70K. I believe this is about 12K less in my state of Tennessee.
Generally, the art professor teaches three studio courses, usually a fundamentals course such as drawing or design, an introductory sophomore course in one’s area of expertise, and lastly, an advanced course for intermediate and senior students. This equates to eighteen hours per week of actual teaching. Although this may seem like a very light work load, we must not forget to include the many hidden hours that are required of the job. Time must be spent with independent study students, graduate students, graduation committee work, personal creative research, advisement, prep time for classes, participation with social and community functions, and maintenance of the studios.