Endowed Chairs and Endowed Professorships

Endowed Chairs and Endowed Professorships

Endowed Chairs and Endowed Professorships are established to attract, retain, and provide honor and recognition to outstanding UM faculty members who have distinguished themselves through their scholarly/creative activity and service to the profession as well as through their teaching. Faculty selected to hold an endowed chair or an endowed professorship will have demonstrated the potential to enhance the academic reputation of the University of Montevallo through their professional work.

Eligibility Criteria

Full-time faculty (excluding department chairs and deans) who hold tenure and the rank of Associate Professor or Professor in an appropriate academic discipline at the time of application are eligible.

Terms of Appointment

• Three-Year Term, continuation from year to year subject to annual faculty performance review

While a chair or professorship will typically rotate to allow for recognition of more faculty members, it is possible for a chair holder’s term to be renewed.

• Minimum $3,000 annual award for professorships and $5,000 annual award for chair; subject to provisions of the chair/professorship, the amount may be taken as additional salary or to cover allowable expenses associated with research or creative endeavor. (Note: Certain professorships specify that the annual award is to be taken as additional salary only.) If the option to use the award to cover allowable expenses is available, funds may be used to cover the following:

–Student research assistant (at prevailing rate of compensation)

–Travel expenses (subject to state guidelines)

–Equipment, software, books, supplies, etc. used for research or creative endeavors (items purchased with endowment funds must be obtained through standard procurement procedures and remain property of the university)

If funds are taken as additional salary, fringe benefits will be included in the award total.

Application Process

• The Office of the Provost will solicit applications and nominations.
• The application packet should include the following:
  • A letter outlining achievements in teaching, scholarly/creative endeavor, and service to the profession and explaining the goals to be pursued during the three year term of appointment
  • A current curriculum vitae
  • A portfolio of up to seven artifacts (copies of publications, reproductions of creative works, grant reports, etc.) representing work completed in the last five years that reflects qualifications for the chair or professorship
  • Two letters of support: one from a UM faculty colleague and one from a colleague external to UM who are knowledgeable about the applicant’s work
  • Letters from the appropriate Department Chair and Dean confirming eligibility and discussing the merits of the application
• The Faculty Development Advisory Committee will review applications and issue a recommendation to the Provost based on the strengths of the applicants.
• The President, in consultation with the Provost, will make the appointment to the chair or professorship.

Periodic Review

• Endowed chair or professorship experiences will be discussed annually through the faculty member’s term of appointment by the department chair or dean during the course of the regular faculty evaluation process.