(University Policies and Procedures, #5432)The designation of university professor has been established in order to recognize
faculty members at the university who are outstanding teachers. Only tenured
faculty members will be considered for this honor. Designated faculty members
will hold the title permanently, be so identified in university publications,
and will receive $2,500 per year of discretionary funds to support their professional
development for the four years following their appointment. The names of all
university professors will be engraved on a plaque to be prominently displayed
at the university. Faculty holding the designation of university professor may
not be reappointed.
Nomination will be by a tenured departmental colleague in the nominee's
discipline. The chair shall conduct a secret ballot of all tenured members of
the department/school and submit the vote with the nomination. Upon affirmation
of a majority of those voting, the chair shall forward the nomination(s) to
the dean. The dean of the college shall evaluate the credentials and submit
the names of no more than 10% of the tenured faculty in their college for nomination
to the University Professors Committee. The University Professors Committee
shall be comprised of eight tenured faculty members, two each from the Colleges
of Arts & Letters and Sciences and one each from the Colleges of Business
& Public Administration, Education, Engineering & Technology, and Health
Sciences, selected by the college promotion and tenure committee, with preference
given to faculty who have previously been selected for university professor
designation. A non-voting faculty administrator, selected by the provost and
vice president for academic affairs, will serve as an executive secretary to
the University Professors Committee and chair the committee to facilitate the
selection process. The University Professors Committee may, by an affirmative
vote of at least five members, recommend designation to the provost and vice
president for academic affairs who will make the final designation not later
than January 1 for the next year. This date may differ for the initial year
of implementation.
Each nominee shall ordinarily teach a minimum of three courses per year, which
shall ordinarily include one undergraduate course. Nominees shall have student
ratings above the departmental mean for the average overall effectiveness of
the instructor, averaged for all courses per semester. Priority should be given
to those nominees who have won a college or university teaching award or have
been nominated by the university to SCHEV for their award.
Faculty nominated for consideration as university professors shall have a record
of superior accomplishment in teaching. The nomination shall document this record
with evidence such as results of student evaluations, peer evaluation, statements
from former students, and other relevant information. The nomination packet
shall include[1]:
Personal statement by the person nominated describing key contributions
and innovations in teaching and general teaching philosophy [maximum two
pages double spaced].
Curriculum vitae with priority given to activities and awards that focus
on teaching [maximum two pages].
Professor's teaching log listing courses taught in the last five
years with number of students, numerical student evaluations for the
last five years, grade distributions from the last three years, and all
student comments for the last three years.
In addition to the nomination letter, no more than six letters of support
with at least two written by former students who have graduated from the
university and at least two written by campus colleagues. The other two
may come from persons in the community of his or her profession including
former students [maximum 12 pages]. All letters should be solicited by
and sent to the nominator not the nominee.
