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Professors are qualified experts who generally perform the following:

• manage the teaching, research and publications in their departments (in countries where a professor is head of a department),
• conduct lectures and seminars in their specialties (i.e., they "profess"), such as the fields of mathematics, science, humanities, social sciences, education, literature, music or the applied fields of engineering, design, medicine, law, or business;
• perform advanced research in their fields.
• provide pro bono community service, including consulting functions (such as advising government and nonprofit organizations);
• teach campus-based or online courses adopting instructional technology;
• mentor young aspiring academics (graduate students);
• conduct administrative or managerial functions, usually at a high level (e.g. deans, heads of departments, librarians, etc.).
• assess students in their fields of expertise.

Online courses are often taught by adjunct instructors, with advanced degrees. Adjunct instructors are often not involved in program design, accreditation reports, or many of the other duties that fall within the purview of tenured, or more senior faculty members. Tenured professors also offer courses online.

Other roles of professorial tasks depend on the institution, its legacy, protocols, place (country), and time. For example, professors at research-oriented universities in the U.S., Canada and, generally, at European universities, are promoted primarily on the basis of research achievements and external fund-raising success.

Tenure

Main article: Tenure

A tenured professor earns a lifetime appointment until retirement, except for dismissal with "due cause." A common justification for existence of such an unusually privileged position is the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for state, society and academy in the long run if scholars are free to examine, hold, and advance controversial views without fear of dismissal from their jobs.

Some argue that modern tenure systems actually diminish academic freedom, forcing those seeking tenured positions to profess conformance to the same views (political and academic) as those awarding a tenured professorship. According to physicist Lee Smolin, "...it is practically career suicide for a young theoretical physicist not to join the field [of string theory]."^[2] This may be even more so now that many universities require several years in non-tenure track positions (e.g. Visiting Assistant Professorships or Post-Doctoral Fellowships) before beginning the 5-6 year process preceding tenure.

Another argument against tenure is professors underperforming in research or teaching cannot be terminated, so typical performance-oriented management techniques from the business world such as reviews, audits, and incentive-based salaries are the only tools available, as the threat of firing does not exist without due cause.^[3] Nevertheless, many tenured faculty members are expected to and most do obtain research funding.

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