What are the steps needed to become a college professor as a graphic design teacher?

Hi, I live on Long Island and I am finishing up my bachelors degree in graphic design and I after that I want to go for my masters degree. I want to try to become a college professor by teaching the graphic design programs and how the graphic design world works but what are the steps that you have to do in order to become a college professor? Also, what would be good colleges on Long Island to get your masters degree in graphic design? Any other advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

What are the steps needed to become a college professor as a graphic design teacher?
Most schools are going to want that Ph.D. to be a professor. You can be an INSTRUCTOR with a Masters, but PROFESSOR requires a Ph.D. in the subject you wish to profess. (A number of institutions are lax in this last standard, but if they make too many exceptions, this is a definate indicator of the quality of the school.)





This is an academic prospective, not a graphic design one... to complete the degree of education you will need, be prepared to attend school away from your home. It will be a couple years (4-5), but definately worthwhile.
Reply:I disagree with the other posters. The penultimate professional degree in the arts is the MFA. With an MFA, you are qualified to teach at a university level, in the arts. In other fields, you'd need a PhD. But in graphic design, you need an MFA.





But that's not all you need. You also need to be doing work at a very high level, professionally. You need a professional portfolio, with work for clients. You may want to take a couple years between undergrad and grad school to work in the field. This would make you a stronger candidate both for grad school admissions, and for finding a job as a professor. But if you don't - if you can get into an MFA program right away - be sure to do such work as part of that program.





To be able to find a job as a professor, you not only want to be producing top level work yourself, but you also want to get into the strongest possible grad school.





In your area, the top programs in Graphic Design are at:


- Yale (a bit of a haul from Long Island, but drivable)


- School of Visual Arts (in NYC)


- Pratt (right on LI, more or less)





These are actually among the top 5 programs in the US, so you're lucky that they are so close.





Other strong programs in the field can be found near you at:


- Parsons (NYC)


- Columbia University (NYC)


- Bard College (upstate)


- Rutgers (NJ)


- New York University





Some of these are a drive, but they are driveable. There are others, like RIT, that are great, but are further, and I don't think would be a realistic commute from Long Island.
Reply:Try these links:


http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/sto...


http://www.cca.edu/academics/graduate/de...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/sto...


http://groups.google.com/group/alt.obitu...


http://www.massart.edu/at_massart/academ...


http://www.howtodothings.com/careers/c24...


http://www.edra.org/resources/seven-post...

trading cards