Faculty vs. Staff: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
Faculty refers to the academic staff of a university or college, responsible for teaching and research, while staff encompasses all employees in an organization, including administrative and support roles.
Key Differences
Faculty members are educators and researchers in an academic institution, primarily involved in teaching, scholarship, and academic service. Staff, on the other hand, includes a broader range of employees who support the institution's operations, such as administrators, IT personnel, and maintenance workers.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
The role of faculty is typically focused on creating and disseminating knowledge, guiding students, and contributing to academic fields. Staff roles are more varied, ranging from administrative duties to facility management, playing a crucial role in the smooth functioning of the institution.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Faculty positions usually require specialized academic qualifications and expertise in a particular field of study. Staff positions, while they may also require specialized skills, are more diverse in terms of educational background and job functions.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Faculty members are often involved in governance and policy-making within the academic sphere of the institution. Staff members, although essential to operations, are generally not involved in academic decision-making but may have roles in administrative governance.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
The career progression and evaluation of faculty typically depend on academic achievements like research and publication. For staff, career advancement is often based on administrative or technical expertise and job performance.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
Comparison Chart
Focus Area
Academic and educational
Varied, including administration, IT, maintenance
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Involvement in Governance
Academic policy and curriculum
Institutional administration, not academic policy
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Career Progression
Based on academic achievements
Based on job performance and expertise
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
Faculty and Staff Definitions
Faculty
Academic staff involved in teaching and research.
The faculty at the university is renowned for their research.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Staff
Employees who support the operations of an organization.
The staff includes both administrative assistants and maintenance workers.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Faculty
Collective body of teachers and researchers.
The faculty collaborated on a multidisciplinary project.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Staff
Collective term for employees in various roles.
The school’s staff are dedicated to supporting student success.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Faculty
Group of academic staff in a particular department or field.
The Faculty of Science includes several distinguished physicists.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
Faculty
A talent or natural ability for something
Has a wonderful faculty for storytelling.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
(used with a sing. or pl. verb) The teachers and instructors of a school or college, or of one of its divisions, especially those considered permanent, full-time employees.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
Pl. staffs A rule or similar graduated stick used for testing or measuring, as in surveying.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A group of assistants to a manager, executive, or other person in authority.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A group of military officers assigned to assist a commanding officer in an executive or advisory capacity.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
The personnel who carry out a specific enterprise
The nursing staff of a hospital.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
The academic staff at schools, colleges, universities or not-for-profit research institutes, as opposed to the students or support staff.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
A division of a university.
She transferred from the Faculty of Science to the Faculty of Medicine.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
(Music) A set of horizontal lines and intermediate spaces used in notation to represent a sequence of pitches, in modern notation normally consisting of five lines and four spaces. Also called stave.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
(Often in the plural): an ability, power, or skill.
He lived until he reached the age of 90 with most of his faculties intact.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A building material of plaster and fiber used as an exterior wall covering of temporary buildings, as at expositions.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
Ability to act or perform, whether inborn or cultivated; capacity for any natural function; especially, an original mental power or capacity for any of the well-known classes of mental activity; psychical or soul capacity; capacity for any of the leading kinds of soul activity, as knowledge, feeling, volition; intellectual endowment or gift; power; as, faculties of the mind or the soul.
But know that in the soulAre many lesser faculties that serveReason as chief.
What a piece of work is a man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in faculty !
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
Special mental endowment; characteristic knack.
He had a ready faculty, indeed, of escaping from any topic that agitated his too sensitive and nervous temperament.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
The employees of a business.
The company employed 10 new members of staff this month.
The company has taken on 1600 more highly-paid staff.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
Power; prerogative or attribute of office.
This DuncanHath borne his faculties so meek.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
(uncountable) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.W
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
Privilege or permission, granted by favor or indulgence, to do a particular thing; authority; license; dispensation.
The pope . . . granted him a faculty to set him free from his promise.
It had not only faculty to inspect all bishops' dioceses, but to change what laws and statutes they should think fit to alter among the colleges.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
A constable's staff
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
A body of a men to whom any specific right or privilege is granted; formerly, the graduates in any of the four departments of a university or college (Philosophy, Law, Medicine, or Theology), to whom was granted the right of teaching (profitendi or docendi) in the department in which they had studied; at present, the members of a profession itself; as, the medical faculty; the legal faculty, etc.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
The body of person to whom are intrusted the government and instruction of a college or university, or of one of its departments; the president, professors, and tutors in a college.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
The body of teachers and administrators at a school;
The dean addressed the letter to the entire staff of the university
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
Educators and scholars at a higher education institution.
She joined the faculty as a professor of history.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Staff
(surgery) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Faculty
Teaching staff at a college or university.
The faculty meeting discussed new curriculum developments.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Staff
(military) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
(transitive) To supply (a business, volunteer organization, etc.) with employees or staff members.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or stick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike.
And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal.
With forks and staves the felon to pursue.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds.
The boy was the very staff of my age.
He spoke of it [beer] in "The Earnest Cry," and likewise in the "Scotch Drink," as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff.
Methought this staff, mine office badge in court,Was broke in twain.
All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
The round of a ladder.
I ascended at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; - formerly called stave.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See État Major.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendent or manager; sometimes used for the entire group of employees of an enterprise, excluding the top management; as, the staff of a newspaper.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
Plaster combined with fibrous and other materials so as to be suitable for sculpture in relief or in the round, or for forming flat plates or boards of considerable size which can be nailed to framework to make the exterior of a larger structure, forming joints which may afterward be repaired and concealed with fresh plaster.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
Personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task;
The hospital has an excellent nursing staff
The general relied on his staff to make routine decisions
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
The body of teachers and administrators at a school;
The dean addressed the letter to the entire staff of the university
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
A strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose;
He walked with the help of a wooden staff
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
Building material consisting of plaster and hair; used to cover external surfaces of temporary structure (as at an exposition) or for decoration
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
(music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Staff
All non-faculty employees at an educational institution.
The staff meeting addressed changes in administrative procedures.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Staff
Group of people employed for specific functions.
The IT staff quickly resolved the network issue.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Staff
Personnel responsible for non-academic aspects of an institution.
The administrative staff plays a crucial role in university operations.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 16, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
Can staff be involved in teaching?
Typically, staff do not teach, as this is the role of faculty.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Do faculty participate in institutional governance?
Yes, faculty often partake in academic governance and policy-making.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Are staff involved in academic decision-making?
Generally, staff are not involved in academic decisions but may have administrative roles.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
What kind of support do staff provide?
Staff provide operational, administrative, and technical support.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Do staff members need specific degrees?
Staff roles may require specialized skills but not always specific degrees.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Who is considered faculty?
Faculty refers to academic professionals like professors and lecturers.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
What roles do staff members have?
Staff members include administrators, technical support, and maintenance workers.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Do faculty members conduct research?
Yes, faculty members often engage in research alongside teaching.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Are faculty qualifications different from staff?
Faculty qualifications usually include advanced academic degrees.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Is a faculty member's role static?
No, faculty roles can evolve with research, teaching, and service contributions.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
What is the role of staff in student affairs?
Staff often handle administrative aspects of student affairs.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Do staff members interact with students?
Staff interact with students, mainly in administrative or support capacities.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Can faculty have non-teaching roles?
Yes, faculty can hold research-focused positions without teaching responsibilities.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
What benefits do staff receive?
Staff benefits depend on their role and the institution's policies.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
How is professional development handled for faculty and staff?
Both faculty and staff have opportunities for professional development, often tailored to their roles.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Can faculty members have administrative duties?
Faculty can have administrative duties, especially in leadership positions.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Can a staff member become faculty?
Transitioning to faculty typically requires additional qualifications.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Is job security different for faculty and staff?
Job security can vary, with some faculty positions offering tenure.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Are there faculty-only departments?
Departments are generally faculty-focused but supported by staff.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
How are faculty evaluated?
Faculty are evaluated based on teaching, research, and academic service.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Share this page
Link for your blog / website
HTML
Link to share via messenger
About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
Hifza Nasir
Shumaila Saeed
Dua Fatima
