- The word, ‘academician’, sounds so powerful and tempting that many are often eager to use it. They remember the academic environment and know that lecturers are the ones who call the shots there. So, who deserve to be called ‘academicians’ if not the knowledge-wielding ones?
The word, ‘academician’, sounds so powerful and tempting that many are often eager to use it. They remember the academic environment and know that lecturers are the ones who call the shots there. So, who deserve to be called ‘academicians’ if not the knowledge-wielding ones?
As a result, it is not unusual to come across statements such as:
My uncle is an academician at the University of Ibadan.
Seven academicians from different universities assessed the thesis.
But note that ‘academician’ does not refer to a lecturer in the sense the speakers in the above clauses intend. It does not mean a lecturer. Rather, an academician refers to a member of an academy while an academy is really neither a university nor a polytechnic. It is ‘a place of study in a special field’ or, according to Cambridge Dictionary, ‘a society or institution of distinguished scholars and artists or scientists that aims to promote and maintain standards in its particular field.’ As a result, the way we can have a science academy, we can also have a police or football academy:
Some members of the Nigerian Academy of Science are in Abuja to see President Muhammadu Buhari.
The academicians want to discuss some matters arising at colleges of science with him.
What this further means is that while a lecturer can be an academician – by belonging to an academy – an academician may not be a lecturer. He may never have been. Instead, he could be working in other areas that include research and production.
Also, the other correct name for a lecturer – which is usually mixed up with ‘academician’ – is ‘academic’:
Being an academic, Dr Olugbile is always involved in one research or the other.
Many of our academics need to work harder to improve the quality of education in the country.
Other synonyms of lecturer/academic are teacher, professor, don and egghead. A don is a lecturer, as is particularly known in Oxford and Cambridge universities. There is also something to note about ‘egghead’, defined as ‘a person, especially a man, who is very clever and interested only in studying and other mental activities’, still according to Cambridge Dictionary. The fact is that he may not necessarily be a university or college teacher!
You also need to be careful in the way you use these two terms – doctorate and doctoral. The reason is that first is a noun while the second is an adjective:
He has started a doctorate programme at UNILAG. (Wrong)
He has started a doctoral proggramme at UNILAG. (Correct)
He is preparing for his doctoral at UNILAG (Wrong)
He is preparing for his doctorate at UNILAG. (Correct)
Here are two examples further showing the use of ‘doctoral’, from Longman Dictionary:
Hasse wrote his doctoral dissertation on ragtime music.
His doctoral dissertation was entitled History, Historians and Poetry.
In terms of other grammatical errors associated with academic institutions, you should also note that you do not need to start ‘university’ with a capital letter if you are not fully indicating the name of a particular institution. The reason is that it is only when you write the name in full that the word assumes the status of a proper noun:
I studied hard when I was at the University. (Wrong)
I studied hard when I was at the university. (Correct)
I studied hard when I was at the University of Port Harcourt. (Correct)
Also, the preposition to use with campus is ‘on’, not ‘in’:
James and I met in campus. (Wrong)
James and I met on campus. (Correct)
