Faculty Emeriti

Owner: Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer

1. Introduction

   This Policy is adopted in accordance with Section II.C.7.h of the University System of Maryland (USM) Policy 11-1.00 on Appointment, Rank, and Tenure of Faculty (ART), which grants each institution the right to bestow emeritus status on the basis of both quality and length of service, according to guidelines and procedures established by the institution. Emerita/Emeritus is an honorary title which may be bestowed on a member of the faculty who has retired, or for adjuncts, who has notified their supervisor in writing of their intention to permanently cease teaching by a designated effective date, from University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) in recognition of significant contributions of faculty to teaching, research and service. The awarding of emeritus status is intended to recognize faculty who have adhered to UMGC's stated core values, including "Students First" and "Excellence." A distinguished record of research and service may support the decision to award emeritus status, but in all cases, the candidate must possess a record of exemplary teaching. Emeritus status is a distinction that is not automatically bestowed upon retirement or end of service, but is conferred by the President upon recommendation by the Emeritus Review Committee and the Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer (SVP/CAO).

2. Definitions
   1. "A total of twenty years of service" refers to teaching or librarianship conducted over a span of years that is equal to at least twenty years, but is not necessarily continuous. Visiting professorships, Fulbright Scholarships and similar appointments at other institutions will be counted toward the total span of service, as long as the visiting professorship was formally approved by UMGC. Additionally, approved medical leave will be counted toward total length of service. For adjuncts, years in which the adjunct was staffed for at least one course each calendar year will be counted toward the minimum of twenty years, but subject to a certain minimum of total credits taught over the years, as required under the eligibility criteria for adjunct faculty as stated below.
   2. "Designee of the Academic Advisory Board" shall be an elected member of the Academic Advisory Board (AAB) who shall be designated, for a one-year term, by the Chair of AAB to provide recommendations on nominations to emeritus status.
   3. "Emerita/Emeritus" is an honorary faculty title that indicates that the faculty member continues to be associated with UMGC.
   4. "Emeritus Review Committee" shall be a standing committee of UMGC composed of the Dean of each school, the Vice President and Director for Asia, and the Vice President and Director for Europe.
   5. "Exemplary record of teaching" refers to teaching that is consistently at the upper end of the scale.
   6. "Good standing" means that the member of the faculty was not terminated for cause, did not have their contract non-renewed, or was not offered a reappointment of a contract.
   7. "Member of the faculty" refers to full-time or part-time collegiate faculty, adjunct faculty and librarians.
   8. "Nomination packet" is used interchangeably with "supporting evidentiary materials."
   9. "Notification to cease continuous service in teaching" refers to formal written notice from an adjunct faculty or other non-regular faculty member to the immediate supervisor of the intention to cease teaching in continuous service to UMGC as of a designated effective date.
   10. "Retire" refers to formal retirement of a member of the full-time, 12-month collegiate faculty or of a librarian from UMGC according to the eligibility requirements and procedures set forth by the State of Maryland. Simple cessation of teaching, in and of itself, does not constitute retirement for collegiate faculty and librarians.
   11. "Sponsor of the nomination" is the member of the Emeritus Review Committee who initiates the assembly of the nomination packet and who presents the nomination for vote by the other members of the Review Committee.
   12. "Supporting evidentiary materials" refers to written evidence in support of the nomination for emeritus status provided by the nominee. Supporting materials may include, but are not limited to, student evaluations; peer evaluations and peer observations of teaching; letters of testament provided by current or former students; letters of testament provided by peers external or internal to UMGC; letters of support from supervisors; documentation of publications and other scholarly works; documentation of service.
3. Eligibility
   1. Collegiate Faculty:In order to be eligible for emeritus status, a full-time, 12-month member of the faculty must satisfy the following requirements:
      1. Have attained the rank of Associate Collegiate Professor or Collegiate Professor;
      2. At the time of retirement, have completed a total of at least twenty years of service as a full-time faculty member at UMGC;
      3. Be retired or retiring from full-time service on the UMGC faculty;
      4. Have an exemplary record of teaching at UMGC;
      5. Research, scholarly, or creative artistic activities and service activities may be considered as additional evidence toward awarding emeritus status, but are not sufficient in themselves.
   2. Librarian: In order to be eligible for emeritus status, a Librarian must satisfy the following requirements:
      1. Have attained the rank of Librarian III or Librarian IV.
      2. At the time of retirement, have completed a total of at least twenty years of service as a full-time Librarian at UMGC;
      3. Be retired or retiring from full-time service on the UMGC faculty;
      4. Have an exemplary record of librarianship and performance in fulfilling the the UMGC Library's mission of educating students, faculty, and staff and of developing and managing online library resources and user-centered services.
   3. Adjunct or Other Non-Regular Faculty: In order to be eligible for emeritus status, an adjunct or other non-regular member of the faculty must satisfy the following requirements:
      1. Have attained the rank of Adjunct Associate Professor or Adjunct Professor or the equivalent;
      2. At the time of the cessation of teaching, have completed a total at least twenty years of service and a minimum of 180 credit hours of instruction as an adjunct or other non-regular faculty member at UMGC;
      3. Submitted written notification to their supervisor of their intention to permanently cease teaching for UMGC by a designated effective date;
      4. Have an exemplary record of teaching at UMGC;
      5. Research, scholarly, or creative artistic activities and service activities will be considered as additional evidence toward awarding emeritus status, but are not sufficient in themselves.

   4. Faculty with Combined Categories of Service: Faculty who have served in successive years in more than one capacity, for example, as an Adjunct Faculty member followed by an appointment as a Collegiate Faculty member, and who do not meet the criteria stated above for any one category of service, shall be eligible for emeritus status under the following conditions:

      1. The average number of credits taught while holding Adjunct Faculty status must equal at least 9 credits per year; and
      2. The total length of service must be at least twenty years.

4. Title and Rank
   If emeritus status is granted, the honorees will retain the rank held at the time of the nomination, followed by the designation of Emerita  (for women) or Emeritus  (for men), e.g., Associate Professor Emeritus, Adjunct Professor Emerita, Librarian III Emeritus. Promotions in rank are not awarded once emeritus status is conferred.

5. Procedure
   1. Any member of the UMGC community may recommend that an eligible faculty member be considered for emeritus status. Such recommendations shall be conveyed to the member of the Emeritus Review Committee who provides oversight to the school or division in which the candidate serves.
   2. Upon receipt of a recommendation for consideration of a faculty member for emeritus status, the member of the Emeritus Review Committee will consider the recommendation, and if favorably disposed, may initiate the assembly of a nomination packet. The initiating member of the Emeritus Review Committee will be deemed the sponsor of the nomination.
   3. The sponsor of the nomination will request that the nominee's immediate supervisor provide a written recommendation to grant or not grant emeritus status, along with justifications, for inclusion in the nomination packet.
   4. The sponsor of the nomination shall provide the nomination packet for review to the Associate Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs (AVP) or designee, with a request to provide a written recommendation to award or not award emeritus status, with justifications, for inclusion in the packet.
   5. Upon receipt of the nomination package, the AVP shall convene the Emeritus Review Committee to review the documents and to vote on whether to support the nomination. The sponsoring member of the committee will present the nomination to the committee with a recommendation to support or not support and will abstain from voting on the recommendation.
   6. The AVP or designee, will write a summary of the outcome of voting and recommendation of the Emeritus Review Committee, with a rationale and justifications to support or not to support the nomination, and will forward the written recommendation and the complete nomination package to the SVP/CAO and the President.
   7. Emeritus status shall be granted or denied by the President of UMGC after consideration of recommendations and justifications in the nomination package.
   8. The President may, in extraordinary circumstances, exercise discretion to waive the stated eligibility requirements for emeritus status. Such exceptions will be rare.
   9. If granted, the honor shall be effective upon completion of the process, when the candidate is notified in writing of the President's decision. Recipients of emeritus status shall be recognized at the next commencement ceremony for Adelphi, Europe or Asia, depending on where the honoree last served.
   10. Nominations will be accepted up to six months before or up to six months after the date of formal retirement of a Collegiate faculty member or Librarian or the time of effective date of the cessation of teaching of an Adjunct Faculty member.

6. Privileges of Emeriti Faculty

   Emeritus status may carry privileges as permitted by contemporary UMGC policy, license agreements and applicable State law or regulations. The privileges may change from time to time, and may include any or all of the following:

   1. Faculty Emeriti may be invited to participate in all UMGC events, including annual faculty meetings and commencements.
   2. The names of Faculty Emeriti may be listed in the UMGC commencement program and displayed on the UMGC website.
   3. Faculty Emeriti may be allowed to retain their UMGC faculty identification card. Because of military regulations and security, overseas faculty will not, however, be issued a Department of Defense  (DOD) Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card and will not have access to military bases, unless staffed to teach on base in a particular semester.
   4. Faculty Emeriti may be allowed to retain their faculty email address. If they did not have a specific faculty email address, one may be provided upon request.
   5. Faculty Emeriti may be permitted to participate in any applicable faculty purchase discounts.
   6. Faculty Emeriti may be provided with database access and borrowing privileges through the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions Consortium of Libraries  (USMAI).
   7. At the discretion of the department chair or immediate supervisor, Collegiate Faculty Emeriti and Librarians Emeriti may be staffed to teach courses on a temporary, part-time basis at the applicable adjunct course rate and under all normal UMGC policies pertaining to workload and overload. However, emeritus status should not be construed as a guarantee of future employment. Because Adjunct Faculty Emeriti or other non-regular faculty granted Emeritus status will have submitted notice to permanently cease teaching, they cannot be staffed for further teaching.