You are right on the money there!

On the other hand, there are vocabulary mis-uses that need careful
correction.  One of the worst is "fellow", when used for those who do not
hold fellowships.

And in terms of what the feds are doing with the term "Principal
Investigator", a few of us can remember the ancient term "Corresponding
Principal Investigator" for the single person in a group of academic peers
who had the responsibility for managing the bothersome administrative
aspects of a project.

Chuck

At 12:53 PM 1/31/2005, you wrote:
>Academic titles imply the other structures and traditions that come with
>academic organizations, such as tenure.  Anyone joining your
>organization might reasonably expect such things to be in place; if you
>don't have them you may be perceived as having academic form without
>substance, existing employees may expect you to implement them a few
>years down the road, etc. etc.   If your institute's principal purpose
>is to conduct research, the existing titles reflect that purpose more
>accurately than "professor."
>
>In general it seems to me that one type of organization should borrow
>the vocabulary of another only with great caution.  The notion that
>students are "customers" instead of "students," for example, is fraught
>with difficulty: the values, responsibilities and traditions that
>accompany the terms are different.  Another instance I saw recently was
>a seminar on how to "market" your proposal to NIH.  Your question
>suggests you're thinking of just such issues: names carry baggage with
>them.
>
>A better approach is to borrow the concept but assign your own name, as
>when industrial firms began establishing university-like committees on
>the shop floor, but called them "quality circles."  Don't know how this
>applies to your situation, so off with the amateur sociology hat and
>back to work!  Good luck!
>
>Peter J. Dolce, Ph.D., Director
>Office of Research Support Services
>Meharry Medical College
>1005 D. B. Todd Boulevard
>Nashville, TN  37208
>
>Phone 615 327 6703
>Fax 615 327 6716
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On
>Behalf Of Brill, Linda
>Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 10:31 AM
>To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
>Subject: [RESADM-L] Title for Principal Investigators
>
>Our senior management staff is contemplating changing the titles for our
>Principal Investigators.  Since we are strictly a research organization,
>not an academic institution, traditionally the titles for our Principal
>Investigators at our organization have been "Senior Investigator",
>"Associate Investigator" or "Investigator".  Our senior management is
>contemplating changing titles of these individuals to "Professor" or
>"Assistant Professor" since they have some teaching/training
>responsibilities such as training medical residents, graduate students
>and summer interns (approximately 10% for some PIs).
>
>May I have the opinions of others on this subject?  Do you see a problem
>with this change in titles?  Why or why not?  Thank you in advance for
>your replies.
>
>
>
>
>Linda Brill, CPA, MBA
>Associate Director of Finance
>Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
>100 Lancaster Avenue
>Wynnewood, PA  19096
>610-645-2760
>610-645-8299 (fax)
>xxxxxx@mlhs.org
>
>
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Herbert "Chuck" Chermside, CRA
Director Emeritus, VCU Sponsored Programs
Executive Director, Research Administrators Certification Council
1915 Robindale Rd.
Richmond, VA 23235-3931
804-320-5502
xxxxxx@verizon.net

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