Criteria for Professors Emeriti

Graduate School policy has traditionally permitted graduate faculty members whose status has been terminated due to retirement to complete outstanding examining committee and advising assignments if they wish to do so; however, for a variety of reasons it may be desirable to continue a faculty member’s Graduate School appointment and active involvement in new graduate advising and education after the faculty member retires from the University. Continued graduate faculty membership for professors emeriti rests upon mutual agreement between the faculty member and graduate program that a legitimate need exists to continue the Graduate School appointment after the date of retirement. If such an agreement is reached, the following procedure will be required and the conditions listed below will apply.

Professors emeriti who wish to accept new advising and examining committee assignments beyond the date of their retirement, and who wish to remain actively involved in one or more graduate programs with respect to advising and evaluating the performance of graduate students and conducting and directing research, may apply for continuation of their graduate faculty membership. Application should be made by the faculty member through the Director of Graduate Studies of the program in which continued graduate faculty membership is desired, or by nomination by a member of the graduate faculty in the same program with the nominee’s consent. The Director of Graduate Studies shall submit the nomination to the members of the graduate program eligible to make a nomination to that status, or to a designated committee of the program, for review and a vote. The vote, together with a summary of the majority view expressed about the quality of the nominee’s involvement in the graduate program, and a statement describing the need for continued appointment, should be prepared by the Director of Graduate Studies and retained in the program’s records. The nominee should also provide for the program file a statement in which he or she agrees to accept the range of responsibilities associated with appointment to a particular rank, including the obligation to meet with graduate students on a regular basis during the period of continued appointment. The Director of Graduate Studies will forward the appointment to the Graduate School using the standard GS74 form (“Notification of Appointment to the Graduate Faculty”). Appointment to the graduate faculty will be contingent upon submission of a University (Human Resources) appointment, whether the professor emeritus is appointed with or without salary.

Membership will normally be for a limited term, ordinarily one to three years. Renomination will be at the request of the faculty member and will be accomplished by repeating the procedure described above.

Individuals seeking continued graduate faculty membership are not eligible to vote on their own nomination should nomination occur before the actual point of retirement.

Graduate programs must clearly identify members of their graduate faculty who are professors emeriti, including the term of their appointment, in order to assist current and prospective students in making decisions about graduate programs and advisers. When a professor emeritus is assigned to advise a graduate student, it is good practice for the program to assign a coadviser who holds a graduate faculty appointment appropriate for the purpose (for example, to ensure that an adviser is in place should the professor emeritus leave the University). The names of professors emeriti whose Graduate School appointments have been continued will be listed in the Graduate School Catalog and Graduate Faculty Roster.

It is anticipated that primary involvement of professors emeriti in the activities of graduate programs will be in advising and examining graduate students and may include limited participation in teaching graduate courses. Extension of a graduate faculty appointment beyond retirement does not entitle the bearer to participate in graduate faculty governance.

Rev 4/02