(University Policies and Procedures, #5431)The eminent scholars designation has been established in order to recognize
faculty members of unusual merit and service to the university. Only faculty
members holding the rank of full professor may be considered for this honor:
A select number of full professors may be designated as eminent scholars.
Nomination will be by any tenured departmental colleague in the nominee's
discipline and should be made no later than September 1. The chair shall conduct
a secret ballot of all tenured members of the department no later than November
1. Upon affirmation by a majority of those voting, the chair shall forward
the nomination to the University Eminent Scholars Committee no later than February
15. The chair and dean of the college shall evaluate the credentials and submit
independent evaluations and the faculty member's file to the committee
via the Provost's Office. The committee may, by an affirmative vote of
at least five members, recommend designation to the provost and vice president
for academic affairs no later than March 15. The provost and vice president
for academic affairs will make the final designation no later than April 15. [1] If eminent scholars announce their retirement after the process has begun, these vacancies will remain unfilled until the next year's cycle.
The Eminent Scholars Committee shall be comprised of one eminent scholar from
each college, selected by the college promotion and tenure committee, plus
one eminent scholar chosen by the Faculty Senate in order to reflect the affirmative
action goals of the university. If a college has only one eminent scholar who is ineligible to serve due to a conflict of interest, then the dean and full professors of that college can select a representative from among the eminent scholars from any college. The eminent scholar selected must not have been selected to represent his or her college and have no known conflict of interest that would impair or call into question his or her impartiality in evaluating the nominees. It is recommended that each eminent scholar
will serve on the committee for one three-year term. No dean, associate dean,
assistant dean or department chair shall attend, be a member or participate
in the deliberations of the Eminent Scholars Committee. The committee will
select its own chair.
Before an eminent scholar is recommended for the committee, he or she must disclose or be evaluated for actual or potential conflict of interest based on the following:
Is a close relative (e.g., spouse, minor child, sibling, or parent) or partner;
Is a close professional associate or other colleague and/or has a financial interest in the outcome of the applicant's review;
Acts as an officer, director, member, owner, trustee, expert, advisor, consultant (with or without compensation), or employee of the applicant or other organization that would be affected by his or her decision;
Negotiating or has an arrangement for prospective employment with an applicant or other organization that would be affected by his or her decision; and
Conducting research or other professional activities with an applicant or has done so within three years of the review date.
Nominees shall have met the following criteria:
The standards established by the State Council of Higher Education for
designation as eminent scholar.
Service in the rank of full professor at Old Dominion University for
a minimum of three academic years. Only when eminent scholar status is
considered as a part of the initial appointment process may this requirement
be waived.
A scholarly publication record or stature in the creative arts which
will have clearly established a national reputation as a scholar in the
nominee's discipline. Scholarly publications are recognized as those
that have received peer review or have been otherwise recognized and critiqued
by authorities in the discipline. A consistent pattern of scholarly contributions,
invited chapters, scholarly books, invited lectureships, prestigious academic
honors, officer positions in the individual's discipline, editor
of multi-authored books, organizer or coordinator of symposiums and other
similar examples would represent evidence that an individual is a contributing
scholar of note to his or her discipline. It is expected that an individual
meriting eminent scholar designation will have a long and consistent record
of achievement in at least several of the above-noted categories. Moreover,
the individual should be one who is easily recognized by other eminent
authorities in the discipline, with positive comments on his or her work.
It is also important to note that new works in the discipline frequently
cite the individual's contributions. His or her scholarly contributions
or artistic achievements should at some time or other have been a benchmark,
reflecting evolution of the discipline.
Substantial success in obtaining external funding for research - in those
disciplines in which such success is expected; and positive evaluations
by scholars external to the university who will have been solicited by
the department/school chair.
Only in exceptional cases can a candidate for a faculty position at the university
be considered for eminent scholar status. Such candidates must be exceptional
scholars in their disciplines, have held the rank of full professor for a minimum
of three years and receive endorsements and approval from the tenured department
faculty, department chair, dean and a majority of members of the university's
Eminent Scholars Committee.
Designation of persons as eminent scholars upon their initial appointment
to the university can be made by the provost and vice president for academic
affairs after recommendation by the Eminent Scholars Committee, based upon
the procedures outlined in paragraph one and using the criteria specified above.
Candidates are responsible for providing sufficient materials to enable the
department colleagues and chair, the dean, and the Eminent Scholars Committee
to decide whether they meet the criteria. In addition to an up-to-date curriculum
vitae, a letter from the candidate should explain why he or she merits this
honor and what is being provided to document the request for designation as
eminent scholar. Five letters from nationally-recognized experts testifying
to the national and international reputation of the body of the candidate's
work should be solicited independently by the department chair. The candidate
is encouraged to solicit additional letters of this kind. A curriculum vitae
from each expert should be included. Candidates should provide copies of works
(refereed articles, monographs, books, etc.) regarded as representative of
their most important contributions over time. Citations, reviews, and information
such as awards, invited lectures, and organized symposia or conferences should
also be included as evidence of a broad recognition of the importance of the
works. Quality of publications-judged by eminent presses and journals, letters,
etc.-outweighs quantity in the judging process.
Nomination materials should be organized into proper categories, e.g., books, book chapters, peer reviewed journal articles, etc., and properly referenced in the applicant's supporting documents. Each applicant's nomination material will be stored on DVD or password-protected drive that will allow committee members 24/7 access for review.
