A university lecturer is someone who works at a college or university in one of several different positions, the nature of which varies depending on where the person is lecturing. A lecturer in the United Kingdom, for example, is someone who works at a university as an entry-level position, similar to an assistant professor in the United States. Lecturers in the United States, on the other hand, are usually university professors who aren’t full-time and aren’t on the tenure track. A university lecturer can also be someone working for a university under a special arrangement for a limited time.
Depending on the context, the term “university lecturer” has a variety of meanings. It is a term used in the United Kingdom to describe someone who has started on the tenure track as a university professor and researcher. In the United Kingdom, a university lecturer is similar to an assistant professor in the United States, and he or she is often working toward a tenured position at that university. The lecturer position is followed a position as a university “reader,” which is followed an official professorship, at which point the professor has likely attained, or is close to attaining, tenure.
A university lecturer in the United States, on the other hand, is typically someone who teaches but is not on the tenure track and is not involved in research at that university. At some research universities and colleges, this title is given to instructors who teach lower-level classes, allowing tenured or research professors to focus on graduate-level courses. A university lecturer can also be an instructor on a tenure track who does not conduct research, depending on the college or university. These positions are unusual, but they provide a career path for teachers who prefer to focus on teaching rather than research.
In the United States, a university lecturer can also refer to someone who is on a temporary assignment at a university. This is frequently used for a politician, a well-known writer, or a well-known legal professional who does not have time to teach on a long-term basis but may be instructing for a single semester. In this sense, a university lecturer is almost never on a tenure track and only teaches or works at a university for a short time. To distinguish such positions from “guest lecturers,” who may appear for only one day, this position can also be referred to as a “distinguished lecturer” or “senior lecturer.”