Responsible Administrator(s):
Responsible Office(s):
Originally Issued: March 2011
Revision Date: May 2016

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to guide academic and administrative faculty applications for emeritus status. Emeritus status is granted to encourage continued association with the university for the purposes of university service, academic instruction, and scholarly investigation.

Entities Affected by this Policy

All academic and administrative units are potentially affected by this policy.

Who Should Read this Policy

All academic faculty, administrative faculty, and administrative officers contemplating an application for emeritus status should read this policy, as well as individuals in supervisory roles, including but not limited to Deans, Directors, Chairs, and Vice Presidents of university units.

Policy

Emeritus status is a rank awarded by the President to full time academic faculty and administrative faculty at the time of retirement in recognition of distinguished service to the university in teaching, research, service, or administration in a professional field. Emeritus status may also be granted to administrative faculty upon retirement from NSHE following endorsement and approval as set forth below. Emeritus status of the university president is described in the Board of Regents Handbook (Title 4, Chapter 3, Section 32).

Consistent with the Board of Regents policy, eligibility for emeritus status normally requires full-time employment by the university for at least ten (10) years. Academic faculty, administrative faculty, and administrative officers must have met that requirement prior to beginning a phase-in retirement program in order to be considered for emeritus status. Employees awarded emeritus faculty status by the President have lifetime faculty status at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ.

An application for emeritus status must include a letter of intent including effective date requested, forwarding address, phone number, and curriculum vitae, and must be submitted either during the final academic year of employment or no later than one year after the date of retirement.

For academic faculty, the application is reviewed by the department faculty and proceeds as follows:

  1. a recommending vote of the departmental faculty;
  2. endorsement by the department chair;
  3. endorsement by the college/school dean;
  4. endorsement by the Provost;
  5. endorsement by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee; and
  6. approval by the President.

In the case of administrative faculty, the application is reviewed by the immediate supervisor and proceeds as follows:

  1. a recommendation is made by the immediate supervisor;
  2. endorsement by an appropriate peer employee group1
  3. endorsement by the dean or appropriate vice president;
  4. endorsement by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee; and
  5. approval by the President.

In the case of administrative officers, the application is reviewed by the immediate supervisor and proceeds as follows:

  1. endorsement by the academic council (Deans and Directors) or the President's Cabinet (Vice Presidents, Athletic Director and General Counsel), as applicable;
  2. endorsement by the Provost;
  3. endorsement by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee; and
  4. approval by the President.

Emeritus academic faculty, administrative faculty, and administrative officers are eligible for grant-in-aid privileges in accordance with the policies set forth in the Board of Regents handbook as well as these additional benefits:

  • Email account.
  • Faculty/staff discounts on tickets to university athletic and cultural events.
  • Faculty/staff library privileges.
  • Faculty/staff parking privileges (NOTE: regular faculty/staff fee applies).
  • Faculty/staff identification card.
  • Inclusion on mailing lists for performances, lecture series, and other university events.
  • Inclusion on invitation lists to certain departmental, college, and university events.

Emeritus status is granted to encourage continued association with the university for the purposes of university service, academic instruction and scholarly investigation. Depending on the academic unit, additional perquisites and privileges may include:

  • Emeritus academic faculty will be recognized similar to active academic faculty members at all formal occasions. Emeritus academic faculty are non-voting members of their units and cannot attend personnel meetings of their departmental units, but may be invited to attend faculty meetings by the department chair.
  • Emeritus academic faculty, administrative faculty, and administrative officers are entitled to use official university stationery and other departmental office privileges for the purposes of university service.
  • Special privileges within an academic department relating to office space and use of research facilities may be granted following the approval of the Dean in consultation with the academic faculty and the department chair.
  • Retired graduate faculty appointed to emeritus status shall retain the rights and privileges associated with their level of membership in the Graduate College.

Emeritus status may be revoked by the President in his/her sole and absolute discretion if in his/her judgment the employee may have an adverse impact on the university or bring discredit, disrepute or potential legal liability upon the university.

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