Policy Name: Selection of Regents Professors and Compliance with Terms of Award
Policy Number: F/UNTHSC/RES/OR-005
Scope: All Faculty
Created/Revised: Revised 03/23/07
Effective: 04/01/07

The Award

The purpose of the Regents Professorship award is two-fold:

1. To provide recognition and salary support for individuals currently at the rank of professor who have performed outstanding teaching, research or both.

2. To provide teaching in appropriate introductory courses of the discipline by outstanding faculty.

The award consists of the designation "regents professor," and a continuing salary supplement of not less than $10,000 per year to the 12-month salary base.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this award, an individual must:

1. Be a tenured professor.

2. Have a distinguished record of teaching, research or both.

3. Give evidence of the potential for continuation of distinguished service.

Selection Procedure

Nominations for the regents professor award may be initiated by a candidate's chairman. Action on the nomination should proceed utilizing the process and committees associated with promotion and tenure for the nominated individual. Alternatively, a departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee may recommend a candidate for regents professor in the course of the post-tenure review process. School or college nominations shall be forwarded by the school or college dean to the President's Advisory Council. Final nominations for the awards shall be submitted to the Regents by the President, acting on the recommendation of the President's Advisory Council.

Teaching Duties

All regents professors shall be involved in teaching, which may include didactic instruction, seminars, or other teaching activities. Furthermore, a Regents Professor Seminar will be established and active regents professors will deliver this seminar on a rotating basis. The remainder of the regents professors' workloads shall be adjusted to best utilize the recipient's expertise.

A regents professor on full-time paid leave is exempt from the workload requirements for the duration of the leave. If partial faculty responsibilities continue, the workload requirement shall apply. A newly selected regents professor, due to existing scheduling commitments, may defer compliance with the workload requirements for the first year of the appointment. If a regents professor is named to an administrative position, the designation of regents professor and accompanying salary supplement shall be suspended for the duration of the administrative appointment.

Review of Performance of Teaching Duties

Regents professorships are awarded on a continuing basis. Holders of the awards will be reviewed annually by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to ensure that they are performing the teaching duties of the designation. If for some reason a regents professor cannot meet the teaching load requirements of the award, the award and its accompanying salary supplement will be terminated.

Review of Continued Eligibility

The President's Advisory Council shall conduct reviews of the continued eligibility of currently active regents professors for the awards. These reviews shall occur in the sixth year following the year of a regents professor's appointment or reappointment to the designation. The reviews shall examine the extent to which each regents professor continues to demonstrate a distinguished record of teaching, research or both, and to give evidence of the potential for continuation of distinguished service. Procedures for the conduct of the reviews shall be adopted and published by the President's Advisory Council. They shall be consistent with the requirements of appropriate evaluation of faculty merit and of due process. The review will lead to a recommendation that a regents professor should or should not continue to enjoy the designation. In the event the Committee determines that a faculty member should not continue to be a regents professor, the salary supplement accompanying the designation shall no longer be a part of that faculty member's salary. Should a faculty member at a later time be reappointed to the regents professor designation after having the regents professor salary supplement subtracted from his/her salary, the reappointment will be accompanied by a salary supplement.