Appointment, Review, and Renewal of Endowed Professorships in the School of Medicine

Date: January 4, 2024
Number: 1.905
Status: Final

Contact Office:
Director of Faculty Affairs
PO Box 800793
Phone: (434) 243-4078

Oversight Executive
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development
PO Box 800793
Phone: (434)-924-9030

Applies to:

Full-time tenure-ineligible, tenure-eligible, and tenured associate and full professors, and new hires being considered for such appointments.

Policy Contents

Definitions & Background
Reason for Policy
Policy Statement
Candidates Qualifications
Appointment Information
Procedures
Revenue Generated from an Endowed Professorship
Related Policies and Documents

Definitions

Bicentennial Emerging Scholar Professorship: A named account intended to recruit or retain early career faculty who show potential as a scholar by providing support to protect the faculty member at a critical point in the career development.

Collaborator: An individual with whom the candidate has worked on a common goal, e.g., a fellow member of a department or center, trainee or mentor, co-publisher, etc.

Enabling Language: The terms that establish and define the endowed professorship.

Endowed Professorship: A named account, established for distinguished full or associate professors, that recognizes excellence in a field of study or practice and provides funds to support continued excellence in that field.

Background

The bestowing of an endowed professorship or a Bicentennial Emerging Scholar Professorship (“professorship”) by the University supports recruitment and retention efforts by recognizing significant accomplishment through scholarship and/or application of knowledge.

Reason for Policy

The provost’s policy on the Appointment of Faculty to Endowed Professorships requires that each school have a written policy governing the appointment of faculty members to professorships. This policy documents procedures for how both non-term limited and term-limited professorships will be appointed, reviewed, and, if appropriate, renewed to help to promote good fiscal stewardship and to ensure that the intention of the donors, as stated in the enabling language, is honored.

Policy Statement

Individuals who have been appointed to a professorship are expected to carry out work that supports the enabling language. Each professorship holder shall submit a comprehensive written report at the end of the appointment period to document effort as it relates to the professorship. This report shall, in part, inform the decision whether or not to renew a term-limited professorship.

A professorship is awarded based on accomplishments and shall not be awarded solely to provide financial support. Salary support from a professorship may not be used to exempt a faculty member from the requirements of his/her appointment. Clinical faculty who hold a professorship are expected to meet the department’s requirements for providing clinical care; faculty members in a basic science department who hold professorships are expected to submit grants that will provide salary support; and faculty who hold professorships recognizing excellence in education are expected to support the requirements of the School of Medicine (SOM) and the department in meeting teaching and training needs.

The enabling language of a specific professorship may carry additional conditions (e.g., required annual reporting, a limit to the number of renewals). Should a condition arise where there is a conflict between this policy and the enabling language, the enabling language shall take precedence.

Candidates Qualifications

Endowed professorships

Demonstration of a high level of excellence in their field and, specifically, in the area recognized by the professorship
National and international stature as demonstrated by:
- Letters supporting the nomination
- Invited lectures and other presentations
- Awards
- Leadership and significant service in national or international societies and professional organizations
Scholarship and academic contributions
Must model the health system’s ASPIRE values

Bicentennial Emerging Scholar Professorships

Demonstration of accomplishment in clinical or basic research
National recognition as an emerging scholar as noted by independent, external referees
May not be tenured, does not require appointment on a tenure track
Must model the health system’s ASPIRE values

Appointment Information

An endowed professorship may be awarded with or without term; a Bicentennial Emerging Scholar Professor is awarded with term. The length of the term for each term appointment must be specified at the time it is awarded, and the professorship holder shall be notified in writing that renewal is contingent upon recommendation following a formal review. The review shall consider achievements that reflect the enabling language, as well as the faculty member’s academic productivity and continued performance in the criteria outlined in Candidate Qualifications. Faculty awarded professorships without term must also be notified that the professorship is without term and that the professorship is subject to review to determine that the holder is carrying out the work intended by the enabling language.

The majority of endowed professorships are awarded to full professors. Associate professors who are awarded endowed professorships will receive term appointments. If the letter appointing a faculty member to a professorship does not contain language that defines a term, the School of Medicine follows the provost’s policy practice of assuming the professorship is awarded without term.

Bicentennial Emerging Scholar Professorships may be awarded to assistant or associate professors, on or not on the tenure track. Appointments carry a term limit and can be renewed.

Procedures

Nomination

The department chair shall submit the following portfolio to the Office of Faculty Affairs:

letter of nomination
candidate’s updated CV
candidate’s personal statement and documents demonstrating excellence in their field and, when applicable, in the area recognized by the chair, not to exceed 10 pages
list of referees who can provide letters of support addressing the nominee’s excellence in research, patient care, and/or medical education, scholarship, and national reputation
1. contact information (names with correct titles, email address, and phone number) of five to seven external faculty who are at or above the nominee’s current rank; it is recommended that at least five of these faculty be endowed chair holders
2. contact information for a maximum of five additional individuals (with titles, email address, and phone number) who are current or former University of Virginia faculty members

A minimum of three letters from external endowed chair holders must be received to move forward with the nomination.

The dean’s office will request the referee letters. No member of the department will contact the referees at any time.

The dean’s office shall submit the nomination packet to the School of Medicine Endowed Professorship Committee, which, after review, shall forward its written recommendation to the dean. The dean, after review and approval, will forward the nomination packet, the written recommendation of the SOM Endowed Professorship Committee and the dean’s letter of support to the provost of the University. After review and approval by the provost the request will be submitted to the Board of Visitors (BOV) for approval. A department may access professorship funds once approval is received from the provost’s office even if formal BOV approval has not yet occurred. If the dean does not support the nomination, s/he will inform the department chair in writing and the nomination packet will not be forwarded to the provost.

If the requested action is to move a faculty member from one professorship to another, a letter of request from the department chair to the dean is required. The dean will then write a letter of request for submission to the provost. Upon approval by the provost, it will be forwarded to the BOV.

If a department chair is being nominated for a professorship, he or she will follow the process for a faculty member.

Review and renewal or removal of term-limited professorships

Professorships awarded for a term limit and are eligible for renewal shall be reviewed within six months prior to the expiration of the term. The review shall be conducted by the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) and the Office of the Dean. The dean may ask a professorship holder with expertise in the area of the professorship or other areas to contribute to the review.

The department chair provides OFA with a statement supporting the faculty member’s reappointment in the endowed professorship. In the case of a chair held by the dean’s office, the review for renewal will be done at the discretion of the dean.

The review of term-limited appointments will consider the professorship holder’s:

scholarly output as related both to the enabling language of the endowed professorship and to the
demonstration of sustained scholarship and reputation (e.g., publications in peer-reviewed journals, national presentations)
productivity in other areas that contribute to the department and/or the institution as a whole; and
other criteria outlined in Candidate Qualifications

OFA requests the following documents from the professorship holder: an updated CV and a written report (maximum of five pages) summarizing their work in relation to the enabling language of the endowed professorship. The portfolio will be evaluated by the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development (SADFAFD). The SADFAFD shall make a written recommendation to the dean’s cabinet whether to renew the professorship and shall specify the facts upon which the recommendation is based. The reappointment packet and the SADFAFD’s recommendation will be discussed by the dean’s cabinet who will make a final recommendation to the dean. It is within the discretion of the dean to accept or reject the Cabinet’s recommendation.

If the dean decides to renew the professorship holder, the OFA will forward a copy of the signed renewal letter to the provost. If the dean decides not to renew the appointment, the professorship holder and their chair shall be notified in writing of such decision.

Review or removal of non-term-limited professorships

Professorships that do not carry a term limit shall be reviewed every five years. The review shall be conducted by the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development (SADFAFD). The dean, at his or her discretion, may appoint additional review committee members with expertise in the area of the professorship or other areas. The department chair provides OFA with a statement supporting the faculty member’s continuation in the endowed professorship.

The review will consider the professorship holder’s:

scholarly output as related to the enabling language and to the demonstration of sustained scholarship and
reputation (e.g., publications in peer-reviewed journals, national presentations);
productivity in other areas that contribute to the department and/or the institution as a whole
other criteria outlined above in “Qualifications for candidates”

OFA requests the following documents from the professorship holder: an updated CV and a written report (maximum of five pages) summarizing their work in relation to the enabling language of the endowed professorship for evaluation by the SADFAFD. The endowed professorship packet and the SADFAFD’s evaluation will be discussed by the dean’s cabinet who will make a final recommendation to the dean. It is within the discretion of the dean to accept or reject the Cabinet’s recommendation.

If the review by the SADFAFD, cabinet, and dean determines that the professorship holder is no longer carrying out the work specified by the enabling language, the dean may request provost approval to remove the holder from his/her professorship and may provide another professorship aligned with the work being carried out. The election to another professorship is not a right and is subject to the usual process for award of a professorship.

Relinquishment of professorship associated with a position

Faculty members appointed to professorships that are associated with a specific position (such as a school dean appointment), either through enabling language or through established practice (e.g., for some reason specific to the appointment or when a professorship has been held only by the chair of the department since its inception), shall relinquish the professorship upon leaving that position, regardless of reason. The appointment letter for a professorship associated with a position shall notify the professorship holder that the professorship is so associated and will be automatically inactivated upon the faculty member’s departure from that position. When professorship holders vacate their associated positions, the dean has discretion to determine whether to request that they be moved to a new professorship.

Removal for cause

Regardless of the term limits, a faculty member’s appointment to a professorship may be removed for cause. “Cause” for removal includes:

failure to provide necessary leadership or achieve the goals or fulfill the responsibilities specified in the enabling language;
failure to adhere to the intent for which the professorship was established;
failure to abide by applicable policies of the University, the School of Medicine, the Medical Center and/or the Bylaws of the clinical staff; and/or
failure to adhere to the health system’s ASPIRE values.

The dean, at his or her discretion, may request a review of the professorship holder’s work to determine if the faculty member is carrying out the intent of the professorship.

The review shall be conducted in a manner consistent with review of term appointments to a professorship.

Voluntary relinquishment

A faculty member may voluntarily relinquish a professorship at any time and for any reason by submitting their intention in writing to their department chair.

Revenue generated from an endowed professorship

Faculty are expected to generate salary support as outlined in the School of Medicine’s salary support expectations policy. The utilization of revenue generated from endowed professorships is not intended to be the primary source of salary support or a replacement for effort to generate salary from extramural sources.

It is the expectation that professorship income be utilized according to donor intent. This may include using the income to support research efforts, including coverage of compensation over the NIH salary cap as well as teaching efforts, career development, and other scholarly pursuits of the Chair holder, where the enabling language allows. Departments may work with the Development Office if any uncertainty exists regarding enabling language.