Well, I think "professorship" might be over-dignifying it a bit - I have picked up a few adjunct classes. I am miles, light years even, from tenure! But it's a start! LOL

My hubby has been teaching 8 to 10 classes a semester for years (and working on his PhD o_0 ), and is only now getting ready to take comps in spring. As far as I am aware (in Humanities-type areas, like Lit, Philosophy, Humanities, even History, I think), the issue is course hours in the topic area you want to teach in, and a minimum of a MA/MS. (But accreditation may vary from field to field, of course.)