31.08.01.R1 Emeritus Designation Rule

Effective: 09/01/96

Supplements System Policy: System Regulation 31.08.01

1. Criteria

1.1 The honorary title “Emeritus” confers continued academic appointments on retired presidents, vice presidents, deans, and faculty, normally without remuneration or authority. Persons who have been granted emeritus status, however, may be reappointed for part-time service after official retirement in accordance with System policies and regulations. The payroll title for such appointments will be appropriate to service performed and will not include the term “Emeritus.”

1.2 To be considered for emeritus status, a person must normally hold a tenured faculty appointment and have served the university for at least 10 years. In appropriate situations, however, non-tenured faculty, administrators, and those who have served less than 10 years may be considered.

2. Selection Procedure

2.1 Nominations for emeritus status may be made to the appropriate administrator. The nomination should be accompanied with supporting justification.

2.2 Emeritus status shall be conferred upon individuals who have made significant contributions to the university through long and distinguished service. When an individual is to be considered for emeritus status, the department or unit head shall convene the departmental tenure and promotion committee (or the college committee where departmental committees do not exist) to begin procedures. The decision for granting emeritus status must be based on comprehensive consideration of career involvement in the institutional context.

Each candidate for faculty emeritus status, working with the appropriate tenure and promotion committee, will prepare a dossier that contains the following:

(1) a recommendation cover sheet available from the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs;

(2) a comprehensive vitae;

(3) a narrative statement of no more than two pages regarding the candidate’s teaching, research and service prepared by the tenure and promotion committee, i.e., courses taught, graduate committees chaired, major grants and projects obtained; and

(4) an autobiographic statement of no more that two pages of the candidate’s career history at A&M - Commerce indicating involvement with the university as well as personal accomplishments beyond those delineated in the vitae.

2.4 A departmental meeting will be scheduled to which all available tenured faculty members are invited for discussion of the dossier and recommendation. The tenured faculty in the department should be provided access to the dossier for ten working days before conducting the discussion meeting and all tenured faculty shall be polled and may vote yes, no, or abstain. In many departments a paper ballot has worked well for this step. The dossier at this time would include items (1)-(4) above.

2.5 The recommendation of the tenured faculty in the department (including any information gained from the discussion meeting) shall be forwarded to the department head for endorsement/non-endorsement and comments. The department head’s recommendation along with the complete dossier shall be forwarded to the dean.

2.6 The dean shall add a recommendation and letter of support or non-support.

2.7 The entire dossier shall be forwarded to the vice president for academic affairs, who, with advice from the deans council, will review it and make a recommendation to the president.

2.8 The president will then make a recommendation, which will be sent to the chancellor who will make a recommendation to the board of regents for their confirmation.

2.9 The consideration of an administrator for emeritus status shall be initiated by the appointment of an ad-hoc committee by the president or chancellor. The committee shall follow the above procedures to the extent they are applicable and reasonable in the situation.

3. Office Use and Privileges

3.1 Emeritus personnel are encouraged to continue their participation in the many varied activities associated with campus life and, consistent with established policies, to avail themselves of university facilities.

3.2 With appropriate approval, emeritus personnel may be invited to participate in graduate faculty activities and to accept appointment on graduate committees.

3.3 Holders of the title “Emeritus” may be eligible for service on university committees upon appointment by the president of the university.

3.4 The privilege of receiving an allocation of office space and use of laboratory facilities is dependent upon appropriate space being available and the extent to which the activity of the retired individual contributes directly to the instructional or research programs of the department involved. This may be different space from that previously occupied by the emeritus person.

A request for such space is to be made in writing by the faculty member to the department head who shall forward a recommendation through normal administrative channels. The request will describe the allocation needed and indicate how its use will contribute to the instructional or research programs of the department involved.

The department head may support or fail to support the request from the emeritus faculty for office space. If supportive of the request, the department head will write to the appropriate dean describing and requesting the allocation. The dean will forward his recommendation for or against the request to the vice president for academic affairs.

The vice president for academic affairs is responsible for allocating academic space and shall be the final authority. The basic need of the university for the specific abilities and talents of the retired individual shall be the basis for all such allocations.

References: Prior ETSU Policies II N 7 and F-62; approved July 13, 1988; revised __________, 1997.