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Emeritus faculty appointments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are conferred by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System as provisioned in the UAB Faculty Handbook (section 2.8.5).  After ten or more years of service with The University of Alabama System, or with less service upon having made an exceptional contribution to UAB or the System, a faculty member may be considered for appointment to emeritus status.  The information to follow serves to clearly define the guidelines, processes and procedures required for submitting a recommendation for appointment to emeritus faculty status and to establish the appointment in the appropriate university records and personnel systems after the Board of Trustees confers emeritus status upon the faculty member.

Two processes are required to establish emeritus faculty appointments for faculty who have retired from UAB.

I. The initial step represents the Board of Trustees process whereby the Dean submits a recommendation for appointment as emeritus faculty to the Board of Trustees by way of the Office of the Provost (see Board Liaison guidelines for the specific details for this step in the process).

II. Once the emeritus appointment has been approved by the Board of Trustees, the “home school,” in conjunction with the Office of the Provost and Human Resources, is responsible for completing the necessary documents to complete the emeritus appointment process.

Note: Emeritus appointments are granted only after the faculty member has retired from the university. Verification of retirement is required before an Emeritus request is submitted to the Provost.

Board of Trustees Process for Emeritus Faculty Appointments

The Board Liaison’s Web site details the process for submitting a recommendation for appointment of faculty to emeritus status. Please follow this process precisely to ensure that a recommendation are submitted in a timely manner; in the appropriate format; and includes all of the appropriate materials and documents.

  1. Dean submits a recommendation for appointment to Emeritus status to the Office of the Provost to include the following items:
    • UAB Agenda Item Recommendation Form
    • Current CV
    • Letter(s) of Recommendation addressed to the Provost. (Include confirmation of the faculty members’ date of retirement.)
    • Board Resolution
  2. Electronic (Word) documents for the CV and Board Resolution are submitted to the Board Liaison;
  3. Hard copies of the Resolution, Agenda Item Recommendation Form, and Recommendation Letter(s) are submitted to the Office of the Provost (attention Faculty Affairs).
  4. Adhere to submission deadlines that are noted on the Board of Trustees Liaison Web site.
  5. The Provost forwards a favorable recommendation to the President for approval.
  6. The President submits the emeritus submission to the Chancellor’s office and requests consideration for approval by the Board of Trustees for consideration at the next available Board of Trustees’ Meeting.

 

Emeritus Faculty Appointment Process – Post-Board Approval

Following are the steps for processing emeritus faculty appointments after the appointment has been approved by the Board of Trustees. It is necessary to follow this process in order to fully establish the faculty member and/or dean as an emeritus in the university’s personnel and human resources systems. Each faculty member or dean who is awarded emeritus status by the Board of Trustees receives a congratulatory letter from the President of UAB upon confirmation of Board approval.

The Provost Office (Faculty Affairs), Records Administration, and the “home” department/dean is notified of the Board’s approval of emeritus appointments.

Departments should manage their emeritus faculty appointments based on the nature of the faculty members’ relationship/ employment status with the university at the time that emeritus status is approved. Following are instructions that detail the processes required to manage emeritus faculty appointments.

Faculty member DOES NOT have an active faculty appointment at UAB and you only wish to update their record to reflect emeritus status:

  1. Process a Faculty Data Form to update the rank to “Emeritus/Emerita” (i.e. Professor Emeritus, Professor Emerita).
  2. Attach a copy of the congratulatory letter from the President (this should be furnished to you by your Deans office).
  3. Attach a copy of the final Resolution and Current CV to the Faculty Data Form.
  4. This process completes the Emeritus appointment; and accurately reflects emeritus status for the faculty member in Oracle/HR/faculty data form.
  5. The department administrator will work with the faculty member to assure that they have access to all university benefits that are provided in the UAB Faculty Handbook.

Faculty member currently has an active Voluntary Faculty Appointment in your school; to the promote the faculty Emeritus;

  1. Submit an ACT document and Faculty Data Form (FDF) to change the faculty rank to Professor (or appropriate rank) Emeritus in Oracle.
  2. Attach a copy of the congratulatory letter from the President (this should be furnished to you by your Deans office) to the Faculty Data Form.
  3. Attach a copy of the final resolution and current CV to the Faculty Data Form.
  4. This process completes the Emeritus appointment; and accurately reflects emeritus status for the faculty member in Oracle/HR/faculty data form.
  5. Department representative works with the emeritus faculty member to fulfill the schools’ commitment regarding space, administrative support, etc. Additionally, the department administrator will work with the faculty member to assure that they have access to all university benefits that are provided in the UAB Faculty Handbook.

Faculty member currently has an active (04) Irregular Faculty Appointment in your school/department;

  1. Process ACT document; using PROMOTION document reason to change the faculty rank to Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor Emeritus/Emerita in Oracle assignment screens;
  2. Process Faculty Data Form to change the rank based on #1 which will update the faculty information in the Faculty Data Form and Oracle Faculty Data Screens. Attach to the FDF these: current CV, Final Board Resolution and President’s Congratulatory Letter.
  3. Department representative works with the emeritus faculty member to fulfill the schools’ commitment regarding space, administrative support, etc. Additionally, the department administrator will work with the faculty member to assure that they have access to all university benefits that are provided in the UAB Faculty Handbook.

Faculty member DOES NOT have an active faculty appointment (Volunteer or Irregular) at UAB and you wish to hire them as a 04 Irregular Faculty

  1. Submit Request to Rehire a Retiree Form to the Office of the Provost (see guidelines); receive approval before processing ACT document.
  2. Process ACT document; using REHIRE document reason.
  3. Process Faculty Data Form to enter faculty appointment in the Faculty Screens in Oracle; and attach the following:
    • copy of the congratulatory letter from the President (this should be furnished to you by your Deans office).
    • copy of the final Resolution and Current CV to the Faculty Data Form.
    • copy of the offer/appointment letter.
    • copy of the approved Request to Rehire Retiree
    • UAB Statement of Understanding
  4. Process a background check request as noted in the Background Check guidelines
  5. Process additional documents as required for 04-Irregular Faculty Appointments;
  6. Department representative works with the emeritus faculty member to fulfill the schools’ commitment regarding space, administrative support, etc. Additionally, the department administrator will work with the faculty member to assure that they have access to all university benefits that are provided in the UAB Faculty Handbook.

Faculty member DOES NOT have an active faculty appointment (Volunteer or Irregular) at UAB and you wish to hire them as a Volunteer Faculty

  1. Process ACT document; using REHIRE document reason. Effective date of appointment must coincide with Board approval date of Emeritus status.
  2. Process Faculty Data Form to enter faculty appointment in the Faculty Screens in Oracle; and attach the following:
    • copy of the congratulatory letter from the President (this should be furnished to you by your Deans office).
    • copy of the final Resolution.
    • copy of the offer/appointment letter and Current CV.
  3. Department representative works with the emeritus faculty member to fulfill the schools’ commitment regarding space, administrative support, etc. Additionally, the department administrator will work with the faculty member to assure that they have access to all university benefits that are provided in the UAB Faculty Handbook.