Awarding of Emeritus/Emerita Title

To set forth campus-level policy regarding the conferral of emeritus/emerita faculty titles, as prescribed under Executive Policy 9.209.

No policy specific or unique definitions apply.

1. Objectives of this campus policy are:
   1. To honor well qualified and respected retired UH West O‘ahu faculty members and chancellors.
   2. To recognize and retain the expertise of retired UH West O‘ahu faculty and chancellors as valued University resources.
   3. To establish guidelines and procedures for the awarding of the emeritus/emerita title and accompanying specific privileges and service opportunities.
2. Eligibility
   1. Faculty members retired from UH West O‘ahu with the rank of full professor or its equivalent (e.g. who have five or more years of service at that rank) are eligible for emeritus/emerita status.
   2. Chancellors retired from the University who have five or more years of service at that classification at UH West O‘ahu.
3. Award Procedures:
   1. The Division/Unit requests the granting of emeritus/emerita status to a specific retired faculty member through a memo issued by the Division Chair or Director. The Division Chair/Director routes a memo with the subject heading “Emeritus/Emerita Faculty Request” via the supervising Vice Chancellor to the UH West O‘ahu Chancellor. Since the emeritus/emerita title is an honor bestowed, not applied for, no documentation is expected or required from the awardee. Similarly, the Division Chair/Director need not provide supporting documentation.
   2. The Chancellor reviews the petition with the campus executive team and makes a preliminary decision.
   3. The Human Resources Office, acting on behalf of the Chancellor, verifies the eligibility of the individual under consideration for emeritus/emerita status.
   4. If the Chancellor’s recommendation is positive and, if the eligibility of the nominee has been verified, the Chancellor endorses the request and forwards it, along with a cover memo, to the UH Office of General Counsel (OGC), which conducts its own vetting process, signs either in support or not in support of the recommendation, and returns the documents to the Chancellor. The OGC response will become part of the request package.
   5. The Chancellor submits the campus request via the Office of the Vice President for Academic Planning and Policy (OVPAPP). The Vice President then reviews the request and, if s/he is in support, indicates this with a signature on the “via” line. The Vice President then forwards the request to the President. If the VPAPP does not concur, the request is returned to the Chancellor with the reason noted.
   6. The President approves/denies the request. Once approvals have occurred, the President’s Office informs ITS and OHR and drafts a notification letter to the recipient, to be signed by the President. The President signs the notification letter and distributes it to the recipient and originating Chair. The original package and notification are uploaded to DTS and the documents are returned to the UH West O‘ahu Chancellor.
   7. In cases in which the emeritus/emerita title request does not fall within the terms of Executive Policy 9.209, the Board of Regents is the approving authority, following the President’s written support.
4. Privileges:
   1. After approval by the President (or Board of Regents), the UH West O‘ahu Chancellor shall send a letter to the awardee explaining the campus privileges associated with emeritus/emerita status.
   2. To the extent that resources permit, the emeritus title may confer certain privileges and courtesies associated with regular faculty status, including lifetime UH West O‘ahu library privileges. In addition, at the discretion of the Chancellor, the individual may be invited to participate at commencement and other formal ceremonies; may be included in such publications as the campus catalog or on division stationery; and may, at the discretion of the institution, be allocated office space and parking privileges dependent on available resources.
5. Service Opportunities:
   It is intended that emeriti faculty and executives will provide the University community with expert and mature counsel on a variety of matters. Emeriti faculty and executives may serve as guest lecturers and participate in seminars, colloquia, lectures and other scholarly meetings at the invitation of the sponsoring UH West Oʻahu unit. The UH West O‘ahu community is encouraged to call upon the services of its emeriti faculty and executives to assist with special committees, task forces, projects, etc., that can benefit from their experience and knowledge.
6. Designation:
   1. The honorary emeritus/emerita title will be added postpositively for eligible individuals. Thus, retired instructional faculty at UH West O‘ahu shall be awarded the title of Professor Emeritus or Professor Emerita. Retiring specialists recognized as emeriti shall receive the title of Specialist Emeritus/Specialist Emerita. Retiring executives shall be awarded the title consistent with their executive service, such as Chancellor Emeritus/Chancellor Emerita.
   2. An individual may be awarded only one emeritus/emeriti title from the University.

1. The President is delegated the authority to award the emeritus/emerita title to individuals who meet the stated criteria.
2. The President may recommend to the Board individuals deserving of honor who do not meet the stated criteria.

Office of the Chancellor, 689-2770.

Regents Policy 9.211, “Health Fund and Retirement Benefits.”

Attachment 1: Sample letter for recommendations.