Section III.7

Named Faculty Appointments

Approved by Executive Committee April 18, 2017
Revised by Executive Committee November 29, 2021

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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.

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 Professors
• Term: One to five years
• Renewal: Typically not renewable

Named Professorship:

• Spending Allowance: Typically $10-25k/year
• Salary: up to $7500/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 Professors²
• 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.

¹ University policies require that fringe-benefits costs be charged to these stipends. Those costs would be covered by the spending allowance.
² As 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.”

Named Chair

• Spending Allowance: up to $50K /year
• Salary: up to $10,000/year stipend is allowed³. 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
• 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

³ University policies require that fringe-benefits costs be charged to these stipends. Those costs would be covered by the spending allowance.

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.

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
   • maintains the designation of the position;
   • 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:
   • relinquishes the named position;
   • 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