Faculty Honors & Special Titles

Per University System of Georgia (USG) policy, the Board of Regents (BOR) must approve the establishment of new endowed chairs, professorships, fellowships, and administrative positions before they are advertised or announced publicly. The appointment of an individual to an endowed position requires separate BOR approval and cannot occur if the BOR has not already established the position. However, the request for appointment of a faculty member can be submitted simultaneously with the request for establishment of an endowed position (see the next section “Appointing a Faculty Member to an Endowed Position” for more details). This section describes the steps that schools and colleges should take to establish an endowed position at UGA.

The UGA provost and president must approve all establishment requests before they can be submitted to the BOR. The Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) manages this internal approval process. All documents supporting an endowed position request (detailed below) should be submitted to OFA via Endowed Smartsheets. The BOR meets monthly during the academic year and reviews establishment requests submitted by OFA, and their schedule is posted annually at the USG website. Any position requests that miss the agenda deadline for a given BOR meeting will be submitted for consideration at the next BOR meeting.

When establishing an endowed position, several steps must be completed prior to the search or appointment of a faculty member:

Part 1: Preparation of the Fund Agreement

1. Once funding has been gifted/pledged from a donor, an email should be sent to Jennifer Hancock ([email protected]) in the UGA Foundation with the following information:
   1. Fund name
   2. Benefitting department name and number
   3. Purpose of the fund
   4. Amount of fund: Specify the final fund value and indicate if the endowed position will be fully funded at its creation or if it will be a pledge. If it is a pledge, specify the number of years in which the pledge will be complete (not to exceed five years).
   5. Designation: i.e. distinguished chair, professorship, etc. The minimum funding levels for different types of endowed positions can be found here. If the funding is received at UGA instead of the UGA Foundation, this information will be forwarded to Judy Scott at the UGA bursar’s office.
2. The UGA Foundation will prepare a fund agreement for review and eventual signature by the donor, department head, and dean. Keep in mind that the UGA Foundation is only creating a repository for the endowment at its office. The foundation is not authorized to approve the establishment of the position.

Part 2: Seeking the Board of Regents’ Approval

Submit the Endowed Position Request Smartsheet. Please list the supporting documents in the below order:

1. 1. Letter of request from the VP or dean to the provost; this must match the fund agreement fund name (example 1, example 2).
      • The request letter to the provost should contain the following information:
        • Paragraph 1: “The [name of school/college] has completed arrangements for funding the [official name of the endowed position – this name must match the name given to the UGA Foundation]. I request that the Board of Regents approve the establishment of this endowed position.”
        • Paragraph 2: Provide information on the endowment supporting the position – funder, honoree, why established, etc. Be sure to include the amount of the endowment supporting the position (e.g., current minimum for a professorship is $250,000). If position is named, also refer to attached biography of the honoree.
        • Paragraph 3: Provide information on the endowed position – where it will be housed, its purpose, duties of the appointed professor (including instruction, research, and/or service roles), and how a candidate will be identified (search or internal appointment).
        • Paragraph 4: Request that the provost submit the request to the BOR for approval. If the provost approves the request, OFA will ask the president to verify that the endowment fund meets the UGA minimum amount required. After that, OFA will send the request to the BOR for review at their next meeting.
   2. Biography for donor establishing a new fund (establishment and amendment of named funds only)
   3. Signed fund agreement (Foundation Report)
   4. Addendum document signed by donor for modifying an endowed position, if applicable (see below section “Modifying an Endowed Position” for more details)
   5. Previous month’s financial statement (Foundation Financial Gift Statement)/bursar’s office balance statement (bursar office funds only)
   6. Candidate’s curriculum vitae (CV) or resume if submitting a faculty appointment request simultaneously with an endowed position request (see below section “Appointing a Faculty Member to an Endowed Position” for more details)
   7. Appointment letter if submitting a faculty appointment request simultaneously with an endowed position request (see below section “Appointing a Faculty Member to an Endowed Position” for more details)
   8. Fund certification letter (example) for newly established funds

* Please note: All requests must be a single PDF (see this helpful tool: PDF Combiner). Additionally, units should inform OFA of any known external timing constraints at the time of submission. Early notification allows OFA to determine whether the requested meeting date is achievable, allowing that additional approval steps outside of OFA are required and not within its control.

If you want to check the status of your submissions, you can use your [email protected] to access the status dashboard for anything you’ve submitted.

Once the BOR approves a request to establish an endowed position, the BOR Smartsheets will notify all designated delegates submitted on the initial Smartsheet submission request. The endowment fund will then become active in the UGA Foundation for spending. Please note: A spending budget for the position will not be calculated or available for use until the establishment of the endowed position is approved by the BOR and the funds have been invested for 12 months.

The appointment of an individual to an endowed title requires separate BOR approval and cannot occur if the BOR has not already approved establishment of the title. This section describes the steps that must be taken to appoint an individual to an endowed title at UGA.

Part 1: Comparing candidates’ credentials to the fund agreement 

Compare candidates’ credentials to the fund agreement supporting the endowment to ensure that they meet or exceed the requirements stated in the fund agreement. Candidates for endowed titles must meet or exceed all requirements for the position (e.g., correct tenure status, faculty rank, research expertise, teaching accomplishments, etc.). If a candidate does not meet these requirements, they will not be approved by the provost for the appointment. If need be, you may obtain a copy of the fund agreement for an endowment held by the UGA Foundation from Jennifer Hancock ([email protected]), or for an endowment held by UGA from Judy Scott ([email protected]) at the UGA bursar’s office.

Part 2: Seeking the Board of Regents’ Approval 

If establishment of the endowed title has not already been approved by the BOR, please refer to the above section “Establishing an Endowed Position” and follow the instructions.

If establishment of the endowed title has been approved by the BOR but appointment of a faculty member to the endowed position has not, the UGA provost and president must approve all appointment requests before they can be submitted to the BOR. OFA manages this internal approval process. Please submit the following appointment documents to OFA via this Smartsheet:

1. 1. Appointment letter to the provost, which should contain the following information:
      • Paragraph 1: Request that the BOR approve the appointment of the selected candidate to the endowed position (using full name of the position – must match fund agreement)
      • Paragraph 2: Summarize the candidate’s credentials and your reason(s) for recruiting him/her for this endowed position. Include details on search procedures, faculty vote, and approvals as applicable (e.g., tenure on appointment requires positive faculty recommendation, as well as separate provost’s approval)
      • Paragraph 3: Request that the provost submit the request to the BOR for approval
   2. Signed fund agreement (Foundation Report)
   3. Addendum document signed by donor for modifying an endowed position, if applicable (see below section “Modifying an Endowed Position” for more details)
   4. Previous month’s financial statement (Foundation Financial Gift Statement)/bursar’s office balance statement (bursar office funds only)
   5. Candidate’s curriculum vitae (CV) or resume

The BOR meets monthly during the academic year and reviews appointment requests, and their schedule is posted annually at the USG website. Any appointment requests that miss the agenda deadline for a given BOR meeting will be submitted for consideration at the next BOR meeting.

Changes to the title, designation, or selection criteria for an endowed position all require approval from the donor/donor representative, the head of the unit (e.g., dean), the provost, and the president. This approval is granted when all parties sign an addendum to the fund agreement defining the endowed position. In addition, changes to an endowed position’s name or designation (e.g., upgrading a “professorship” to a “distinguished professorship” due to an increase in its endowment) require the approval of the BOR before any changes in the position are announced or implemented or a new recipient is appointed.

If a faculty member is appointed to an endowed position that is later amended, they must be reappointed to the newly named position following the guidelines in the above section “Appointing a Faculty Member to an Endowed Position.”

The steps for modifying an endowed position and requesting BOR approval are outlined below. The school/college housing the endowed position should initiate this revision and approval process.

Part 1: Steps for Creating an Addendum to a Fund Agreement

1. The unit housing the endowed position should contact Ms. Jennifer Hancock ([email protected]) at the UGA Foundation to learn exactly what will be needed to create an addendum for the corresponding fund agreement. The initial email to her should include the name of the fund, the fund number, and the requested change.
2. The unit will need to:
   1. Solicit written pre-approval (email is acceptable) for the requested change from the donor/donor representative and the provost/president; and
   2. Forward all written pre-approvals to Ms. Hancock. Ms. Hancock will prepare an addendum to the fund agreement and then send it to the unit to obtain signatures from the donor/donor representative and the unit head.
3. The unit will return the addendum to Ms. Hancock, who will obtain signatures from the UGA Foundation’s executive director, the provost, and the president.
4. The original of the fully-executed agreement will be returned to Ms. Hancock for retention in the UGA Foundation’s files. A second original will be forwarded to the donor, when applicable, via the development officer. Copies will be sent to the unit head and to OFA.

Please contact the UGA Foundation ([email protected]) if you have any questions regarding the addendum process. These steps typically take 15 to 30 days to complete if all documents are approved/signed promptly. Some of the particulars in this process will vary depending on the nature of the changes that are sought. Staff at the UGA Foundation can provide guidance on these details. The UGA Foundation, or in some cases the UGA bursar’s office, acts as a depository for the donations that support endowed positions; neither entity sets the rules for endowed positions nor can they change fund agreements without permission from all parties to the original agreement.

Part 2: Seeking the Board of Regents’ Approval

The UGA provost and president must approve all modification requests before they can be submitted to the BOR. OFA manages this internal approval process. Required documents for seeking BOR approval can be found in the above section “Establishing an Endowed Position.”

Please contact OFA at 706-542-0547 or [email protected] if you have any questions about establishing, appointing faculty to, or modifying endowed positions at UGA.