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Section III.7

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE APPROVED POLICIES

NAMED FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

Approved by Executive Committee April 18, 2017
Revised by Executive Committee October 28, 2026

This document is a supplement to Provost Communication No. 6, which governs the campus procedures and processes regarding named faculty appointments. The intent of this document is to clarify the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ guidelines on internal processes and oversight.

In exceptional cases a named chair or professorship may be appropriate for a clinical, research, or teaching professor when permitted by the fund agreement. A named fellow or scholar appointment may likewise be appropriate for a clinical, research, or teaching professor at the assistant or associate level, a lecturer or senior lecturer, or an instructor or senior instructor when permitted by the fund agreement.

These policies and guidelines provide college-wide standards for all named positions. In cases where these policies specifically contradict a previously executed fund agreement, the terms of that fund agreement would prevail unless it can be re-negotiated with the donor. The Dean will have the final decision as to any exceptions to the policy.

Types and Nature of Named Appointments:

Professorial Scholars (within unit or college) / Fellows (inter-unit):
Spending Allowance: Typically $5-$15k/year
Salary: Typically no salary stipend is allowed1
Eligibility: Assistant (occasionally based on fund agreement), Associate and Full Professors2
Term: One to five years
Renewal: Typically not renewable

Named Professorship:
Spending Allowance: Typically $10-25k/year
Salary: up to $10,000/year stipend is allowed1. Salary stipend comes from spending allowance. Ideally, some portion of the base salary would be covered by endowment funding as well, if available.
Eligibility: Full Professors / Associate Professors3
Renewal: After usual 5-year term, renewal is based on review by the applicable committees in the Department and College and the recommendation of the Department Head, Dean, and Provost as appropriate.

Named Chair:
Spending Allowance: up to $60K /year
Salary: up to $15,000/year stipend is allowed4. Salary stipend comes from spending allowance. Ideally, some portion of the base salary would be covered by endowment funding as well, if available.
Eligibility: Full Professors5
Renewal: After usual 5-year term, renewal is based on review by the applicable committees in the Department and College and the recommendation of the Department Head, Dean, and Provost as appropriate

1University policies require that fringe-benefits costs be charged to these stipends. Those costs would be covered by the spending allowance.
2As noted in Provost Communication #6, “In exceptional cases, a named fellow or scholar appointment might be appropriate for a clinical, research, or teaching professor at the assistant and associate level, lecturer or senior lecturer and, instructor or senior instructor, if it is consistent with the provisions of the fund agreement.”
3As noted in Provost Communication #6, “An associate professor may be appointed to a named professorship (distinguished from a named fellow or scholar, discussed below) when truly extraordinary merit can justify it. Such an appointee would carry a title modified to reflect the actual professorial rank…. In exceptional cases, named professorships might be appropriate for a clinical, research, or teaching professor if it is consistent with the provisions of the fund agreement.”
4University policies require that fringe-benefits costs be charged to these stipends. Those costs would be covered by the spending allowance.
5In exceptional cases, named Chairs might be appropriate for a clinical, research, or teaching professor if it is consistent with the provisions of the fund agreement.

Additional Funding Policies

Endowment Allowance Distributions

  1. Named appointments will not be awarded until the funding for the position is received from the donor. However, a donor with a fully executed fund agreement, may agree to provide current use funding in advance of the endowment to allow for the creation of the named appointment. Should the donor not continue the donations with current use funds before the endowment begins, then the unit would be responsible for either funding the appointment or ending the appointment. 
  2. The yearly discretionary funds associated with a college-level appointment are always available to the chair/professorship holder; however, they are transferred to the holder’s account on a yearly basis and only if the account balance is less than two year’s allowance. A faculty member may request an exception to the two-year allowance minimum indicating a specific academic purpose. Exceptions require the approval of the unit executive officer and the dean. 
  3. In the case of excess income, the chair holder should consult with the Unit Executive Officer and, when appropriate, the Dean regarding its use. The chairholder is encouraged to use excess funds to support students, scholarly programming, research initiatives, and other activities that strengthen the intellectual life of the academic community and are consistent with the documented purpose of the chair.

Chair and Professorship Holders on Leave of Absence (not including sabbatical leaves)

  1. Holders of a chair or professorship appointment who are on an approved leave of absence (100%) for a period not to exceed one year will continue to receive full privileges of the discretionary funding. They will not receive the salary stipend.
  2. For those cases where an approved leave of absence is extended beyond one year for a total period not to exceed two years, the chair/professorship holder:
    1. maintains the designation of the position;
    2. maintains access to the funds left in the account; however, no additional spending allowance is accrued to the holder’s discretionary funds account;
  3. In the unlikely event that an approved leave of absence is extended beyond a two-year period, the chair/professorship holder:
    1. relinquishes the named position;
    2. maintains access to the funds left in the account; however, no additional spending allowance is accrued to the holder’s discretionary funds account;

Timeline and Process

Timeline: Appointments will normally begin in August or January at the start of the academic semester, following the formal approval.

Appointment Process: Appointments will follow the process outlined in Communication No. 6. It is expected that all named appointments originating in departments will have been reviewed by the Named Appointments Committee or Advisory Committee in that department. All appointments in the college will be reviewed by the College Executive Committee or a specially constituted faculty committee.

Renewal Process: For professorships and chairs, renewal will be recommended by the unit head in consultation with unit, Dean, and Provost using the same form of consultation as was used in the initial appointment. It is assumed that professorship and chair appointments will be renewed for faculty who continue to be active and productive members of the faculty. In the renewal process research, teaching, scholarship, and service to the university and society will be considered.

College–level Appointments: These appointments will be managed by the Office of the Dean. With advice from the departments and the College Executive Committee, College positions will be available to the Dean for recruiting and retention cases. In addition, when positions are available, the college may solicit nominations from the departments.

Announcements: After all approvals have been received, appointments to College-level chairs and professorships will be announced by the Dean and likewise Department Heads will announce appointments to unit-level chairs and professorships.

Stewardship: The Associate Dean of Advancement’s office will develop a best practice document for stewardship and will assist named endowment holders in properly communicating with donors.

Investiture Ceremonies: Investiture ceremonies will be held for appointments of Named Professors and Chairs, but not of Professorial Scholars. The College Office will coordinate and cover the expenses for investiture ceremonies for college-level appointments. College event staff will assist units with planning for department-level appointments. Units are expected to cover investiture expenses for department-level appointments. Endowment funds may be used to cover these expenses.