Can I contact my professor during the summer? (2024)
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
Do professors get summers off?
As a former professor, I am going to tell you exactly why I never took one summer off.
See, I loved teaching, but I also loved spending time with my family. However, the pay most faculty receive just isn’t enough. Especially if you are the only one working within your family and are head of your household.
In this article, I will also explain which professors are most likely taking their summers off and how it can impact students. And what professors actually do during their summers.
Professors who take summers off can impact students and their learning so it’s important that you know this information because it might apply to you.
So, if you are trying to get ahold of your professor during the summer, you may be out of luck.
What types of professors take off during the summer?
First, let’s talk about the different types of professors. I have this outlined in much more detail here, but I will give you a brief overview.
In the higher educational system, there are different levels of professors. Some professors teach part-time while others are full-time faculty. And some professors are tenure-track while others are lecturers.
This means that some professors will almost always have summers off, and some are required to work through their summers per their contract.
Most professors will always have the ability to take summers off regardless of what type of professor they are. But adjuncts are the professors who most likely don’t work during the summer.
A full-time professor is usually employed on a 9-month contract. The length of the contact entirely depends on the length of terms for that institution. But most universities in the United States have 16-week fall and spring semesters.
The professors usually aren’t required, by contract, to teach during the summer.
So these professors will get extra pay to teach during the summers. This can really help increase their pay. While their summer pay is usually much smaller than their salary, it can offset the lower wages they might receive.
How a professor taking summers off impacts students?
If your professor is taking summers off, they aren’t required to respond to emails or engage in any type of school-related activities. Of course they could have some special contract that states otherwise, but this is usually how it works.
So, if a student tries to reach out to their professor during the summer, they won’t likely get a response. Their offices will be empty. So it would be really hard to reach your professor because they wouldn’t hold office hours.
Also, student related activities will usually cease if professors aren’t on campus. Some student organizations may still meet over the summer but if their professors aren’t there during the summer, these meetings stop too.
Finally, programs who have many professors out during the summer lose out on the ability to recruit and have a strong presence on the campuses. This lowers student engagement and could impact future enrollment.
Therefore students can be impacted because professors aren’t there to take calls, recruit students, and field questions about their program from future enrollees.
Do professors get paid over the summer?
If professors are on a 9-month contact (most full-time are) they can usually elect to get paid over 9 or 12 months. Some universities and colleges will require their employees to get paid over 12-months while others allow their faculty to request their salary disbursements over 9-months instead.
But even if the professors are getting paid over the 12-months, it doesn’t mean they are actually getting paid for the summer.
What I mean is that the university is electing to distribute their salary over the entire year but their salary is for their contract period, which is usually 9 months. So while they probably get a paycheck in the summer, it’s still from their 9-months of previous work.
The university will take a professor’s salary for 9 months and divide it by 12. The professor is technically getting paid during the summer but for the work they did for those previous 9 months.
Now, some professors do elect to work over the summer. I always taught summer courses. I never took off summers. I don’t regret it because the extra salary helped me give my children the ability to participate in extracurricular activities and take memorable vacations.
While I got a salary during the summer because my college paid us our salary over 12 months for our 9-month contract, I got extra pay for teaching summer classes too.
This is usually how it works.
There are some professors who are actually on longer contracts. Some work 10, 11 or 12 month contracts.
What do college professors do over the summer?
Since most college professors are on a 9-month contract, and summer classes are becoming more popular, most full-time professors will voluntarily elect to teach summer classes.
This gives them extra pay, and it helps the college because the more professors that are teaching, the more involved they will be on campus.
If professors aren’t teaching over the summer, they are probably preparing their courses for the fall semester, or working on research.
Sometimes college activities continue during the summer like student organizations and their activities. Professors who are involved in certain committees may still be required to meet and be present on their campuses too.
I have also seen plenty of professors teaching summer camps to high school students. This helps with recruitment for their programs.
Other times professors may choose to take off for the summer and spend time on vacations or simply relaxing.
But I can tell you that in my 15 years in the profession, I rarely ever saw a professor take off for the summer. It was very common with adjunct (part-time) professors because summer courses usually go to full-time faculty first.
When I was applying to become a professor, I remember that the Dean during my interview told me that he always tells professors to try and take at least ONE summer off. You can see how engrained it is at most institutions for professors to work through their summers if the Dean is trying to encourage people to take a break at least ONCE.
Do college professors get vacation time?
Most full-time professors get very little vacation time. As a former professor, I would get sick days and few personal days that I could use however I wanted.
But we are talking about a handful of vacation days.
I NEVER used them for vacation because I couldn’t afford to cancel classes for a vacation or personal leisure.
Since professors usually have major holidays, winter break, and summer vacation, they aren’t expected to take vacations during their long semesters.
There are too many other opportunities to take a vacation during those times, and it would be entirely too disruptive to take a vacation during the semester.
This is why summers are used for vacations for most faculty. Summers are usually slower for professors, even if they are teaching.
How much time off do professors get?
Well, as mentioned above, professors may get a few days off a year. But most professors’ contracts are usually 9-months long so they get summers off. Still, most professors teach during the summers so they don’t really take the time off.
And some professors, who are part-time, won’t get any paid leave but they can still miss class if they had to without any docked pay. You can learn more about the different types of professors here in my detailed article.
RECENT POSTS YOU’LL LOVE
