Qualifications
The two basic qualifications of an endowed chair or named professor are:
Except in the rare case of a junior-faculty appointment made to a person of very exceptional achievement, the candidate must not only meet the qualifications for tenure, as stated in the Faculty Manual of Saint Louis University, including a proven record of scholarly productivity and instructional excellence, but must also present evidence of distinction in her/his discipline during the three years immediately preceding the appointment.
The candidate must have an actual record of, or potential for, academic leadership that will contribute to invigorating departmental instruction, curricular innovation, and/or increased departmental research productivity.
Process:
Development and the donor communicate and an outline concerning the conditions of the gift is created.
Development forwards this outline to the Dean of the School of Medicine.
After review of the conditions of the donor's gift, the Dean electronically submits to the Provost (copying the University's Office of Faculty Affairs) a request for filling an open chair or professorship, including a preferred process and a request to search nationally or to limit the search to internal candidates.
The Provost will approve a selection process which specifies the scope of the search and which may or may not involve a formal search committee.
If a national search is to be conducted, the Provost will appoint a search committee that typically will include the Dean of the College/School receiving the chair or professorship, the Dean of the Graduate School (if the Department offers graduate programs), the Chair of the Department (if applicable), and two tenured faculty members of the Department or College/School receiving the chair or professorship. The cost of a national search, which ordinarily will not exceed $5,000, is borne by the endowment which supports the chair or professorship.
Once an individual has been selected, the OFAPD will send the follow attachment (electronically) to the Provost's Office of Faculty Affairs:
A letter from the SOM Dean stating the specific salary, duties, and conditions to which the new holder of the endowed chair or named professor must adhere to
A copy of the agreement
The initial appointment will be for a term not to exceed five years, with the understanding that the appointment is ordinarily renewable upon the recommendation of the Dean, following a review of the recipient’s performance.