Academic personnel, also known as faculty member or member of the faculty (in North American usage) or academics or academic staff (in British, Australia, and New Zealand usage), are vague terms that describe teachers or research staff of a school, college, university or research institute. In British and Australian/New Zealand English "faculty" usually refers to a sub-division of a university (usually a group of departments), not to the employees, as it can also do in North America. Universities, community colleges and even some secondary and primary schools use the terms faculty and professor. Other institutions (e.g., teaching hospitals or not-for-profit research institutes) may likewise use the term faculty. The higher education regulatory body of India, University Grants Commission, defines academic staff as teachers, librarians, and physical education personnel. In countries like the Philippines, faculty is used more broadly to refer to teaching staff of either a basic or higher education institution.
