Policy on
Endowed Chairs, Professorships,
Lectureships and Programs
February 10, 1997
To request an official copy of this policy, contact:
The Office of the Governing Council
Room 106, Simcoe Hall
27 King's College Circle
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1A1
Phone: 416-978-6576
Fax: 416-978-8182
E-mail: governing.council@utoronto.ca
Website: http://www.utoronto.ca/govcncl/
Table of Contents
I. CHAIRS
A. Funding
B. Disestablishment
II. PROFESSORSHIPS
A. Funding
B. Disestablishment
III. LECTURESHIPS
A. Funding
B. Disestablishment
IV. PROGRAMS
A. Funding
B. Disestablishment
VI. ADMINISTRATION OF THE POLICY
This policy guides the establishment and designation of Chairs, Professorships, Lectureships, and Programs as a means of recognizing and promoting academic programs and fields of study which are consistent with the University's scholarly plans, objectives, and mission.
Initiatives may arise from a variety of sources: individual benefactors, ethnic or cultural organizations, trade unions, government agencies, corporations, academic units themselves, or from unrestricted funds available to the University. From whatever sources, the initiative should advance the University’s academic goals and objectives. That advancement constitutes the principal criterion governing the establishment of endowed or designated appointments and programs.
A Chair, Professorship or Lectureship will from its inception be attached to a faculty, college, school, centre or institute of the University. The holder will receive an academic appointment and be expected to develop the field of interest through both teaching and, in the case of Chairs and Professorships, research. The Policy and Procedures on Academic Appointments (as amended from time to time) shall be followed for appointment to a Chair, Professorship or Lectureship. Research advisory committees may be formed at the discretion of the respective division head.
The University may wish to honour a corporate or individual benefactor, a prominent scholar or individual(s) through a formal naming of an endowed or designated appointment or Program. In such cases, the University's Policy on Naming shall apply.
The establishment of a Chair by the University implies a broad and continuing commitment to the position and the discipline or sub-discipline. The holder of the Chair should be of great distinction. The appointment will be full time, normally at the rank of professor, and carry tenure except in instances where one condition of the Chair's establishment is that all occupants of the Chair hold a concomitant appointment, for example, in a hospital or where the Chair is part of a government or granting agency program. The Chair, as opposed to the individual's appointment, may be held for a fixed term where, for example, the holder is Chair of the academic unit (usually a department) or where a term to the Chair is appropriate.
Funding must be sufficient to cover the salary and benefits of the incumbent, and an appropriate measure of unrestricted support for scholarship and research, normally equivalent to at least ten per cent of salary and benefits. As the establishment of a Chair creates a continuing commitment by the University, full funding must also be continuing.
There shall be several categories of allowable Chairs.
Chairs
An endowment for a Chair may be provided by a perpetual gift from a source external to the University and restricted by the terms of the donation or bequest, or the Governing Council of the University may establish an endowment for a Chair from any unrestricted funds available to the University. In either case, the terms of the endowment thus designated are determined by the Governing Council. A Chair may be established from one type of endowment or the other, or a combination of both. The University of Toronto's Policy for the Preservation of Capital of Endowment Funds shall apply to the endowment however it is created.
Joint Chairs
An endowed Chair may be established jointly by the University of Toronto and an institution affiliated or federated with the University, including teaching hospitals. For designated endowed joint Chairs, the endowment may be established on terms jointly agreed on by both parties. For joint endowed Chairs, the endowment may be held either by the University or by the affiliated or federated institution. Or there may be two endowments, one held by the University and one held by the affiliated or federated institution, both supporting the same chair. If some or all of the endowment is held outside the University, one of two conditions must be met:
i. The University of Toronto's Policy for the Preservation of Capital of Endowment Funds must be followed to preserve the real value of the endowment, orii. The affiliated or federated institution must formally commit to provide perpetually the levels of funding required by this policy.
In either case, if the endowment is held by the affiliated or federated institutions, that institution shall provide a tax receipt for charitable purposes, unless the donation is made through the University of Toronto Foundation.
Value of Chairs
The University shall from time to time, normally for a three-year period or for the period of a capital campaign, determine a minimum value for any and all newly established Chairs. The standard value shall be based on the requirements of this policy, and on the average salary and benefits for full professors, plus research support at a minimum of ten per cent of salary and benefits. The value shall be $2.0 million (in current dollars as of the date of the agreement). If that amount is not sufficient to fund a particular appointment under the terms of this policy, the recipient division must submit a plan for meeting the balance of the cost from funds already available to it. In cases where an additional position will be created outside a division’s complement plan, the standard value may be increased in negotiation with the prospective donor.
Professorship/Chair
An endowment may be established with the objective of providing funding sufficient to support an Endowed Chair within five years of its initial establishment. During the interim, the initial endowment may be used to establish an Endowed Professorship under the terms of this policy in which case the balance of the annual cost of the appointment must be met by the respective academic division or department. The Endowed Professorship may be converted to the Endowed Chair at any time within the specified period without further review or approval, provided that the necessary funding is realized.
Flexible Endowment of Chairs
A Chair may be established on the basis of a combination of an endowment of less than the formally stated minimum value for an Endowed Chair, and a commitment to a formal schedule of annual expendable gifts that, when added to the revenue from the endowment, will produce the amount that an endowment of the minimum value would have produced were it fully in place, adjusted for inflation. As the endowment increases, either from additional capital contributions from the donor, or from net investment of the original capital, the amount of the annual expendable gifts may decrease until the Chair is fully funded by the endowment. Commitments to Flexibly Endowed Chairs must include a commitment to fund an Endowed Chair fully within ten years or fewer from the date of the initial endowment or, through a bequest. The initial endowment must be at least one-tenth of the minimum value of an Endowed Chair. All gifts for a Flexibly Endowed Chair--endowment and annual expendable gifts--will be non-refundable. An endowment thus created may not be used to expand tenure-stream complement until and unless the Chair is fully endowed, or bridging arrangements satisfactory to the President on the recommendation of the Vice-President and Provost are made.
Chairs may be disestablished by mutual agreement of the University and the donor.
A Professorship is associated with a term appointment of distinction which may be held for a limited period. Individuals appointed to Professorships normally should hold the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. Such appointments need not carry tenure and may be made on a contractually limited basis.
Funding from all sources must be sufficient to cover the salary and benefits of the incumbent, and an appropriate measure of unrestricted support for scholarship and research support, normally equivalent to at least ten per cent of salary and benefits. The commitment may be for a limited term. Support for Professorships may come in a number of forms but excludes revenue from research grants and contracts. External support may be for a fixed period of time or may be set up on a continuing or endowed basis.
Endowed ProfessorshipsA Professorship may be established from the same range of sources as a Chair is established, but at a minimum of 15 per cent of the value of a Chair. The balance of the annual cost of the appointment must be met by the respective academic division or department.
Limited Term Professorship
A Professorship may be established from an expendable--as opposed to endowed--gift. The gift must be sufficient to support the Professorship for at least three years and at a level at least equivalent to 20 per cent of the annual costs of the appointment, including salary and benefits and a provision for support of unrestricted research. The balance, if any, of the annual cost of the appointment must be met by the respective academic division or department, excluding revenue from research grants and contracts.
The disestablishment of Professorships shall either be provided for at the time of establishment, or by mutual agreement of the University and the donor following the expiration of the term of the appointee.
A Lectureship is an appointment which may be made at any of the ranks, including visiting scholars, on a renewable term basis. Such appointments may arise where there is a special need (for example, for language Tutors), for appointments which will assist in renewal of established fields or in developing new areas, or where a visitor from outside the University is desired.
Funding should cover the salary and benefits of the appointee for the term of the appointment. A combination of sources of funding may be possible to support the Lectureship and provide some support for the teaching activities associated with it.
LectureshipA Lectureship may be established on the same basis as a Limited Term Professorship, but annually and without a provision for research support.
The disestablishment of Lectureships shall either be provided for at the time of establishment, or upon recommendation to the Academic Board following the expiration of the term of the appointee.
A Program is a program of study that has unique, or special characteristics, which the University wishes to recognize. Support for a Program may be for appointments, conferences, equipment, supplies, or for other expenses associated with the program.
Funding shall be sufficient to provide for the costs of the Program.
i. An existing Program may be Endowed or Designated provided an endowment or comparable source of funding (for example, a Flexible Endowment) is established to meet a minimum of 50 per cent of the direct cost of the program.ii. A new Endowed or Designated Program may be established provided an endowment or comparable source of funding (for example, a Flexible Endowment) is created to meet a minimum of 50 per cent of the annual direct and indirect costs of the Program. The balance of the annual cost of the new Program must be met by the respective academic division or department, except on the express approval of the Governing Council, normally through the budget process.
Programs shall be disestablished as any program would be disestablished under the terms of reference of the Academic Board, through the Committee on Academic Policy and Programs and the Planning and Budget Committee, and subject to the terms of the endowment.
The University holds a number of Chairs, Professorships, and Lectureships that were established before there was a Policy on Chairs, Professorships, Lectureships, Public Lectures and Programs, or a Policy on Naming. The terms of those arrangements were duly approved and coincide with the terms of the various bequests and gifts that gave rise to them. This policy shall apply to all new initiatives. It has no retroactive application. When, however, a previous gift has become sufficient to upgrade, for example, a Professorship to a Chair, that may be done in accordance with the terms of this policy.
VI. ADMINISTRATION OF THE POLICY
The President, on the recommendations of the Vice-President and Provost, and the Vice-Provost and Assistant Vice-President (Planning and Budget), may approve the establishment of endowed chairs, professorships, lectureships, and programs which are in compliance with the policy from any source of funds allowed by the policy. At the end of each academic year, the President will report to the Planning and Budget Committee on all of the chairs, professorships, lectureships, and programs that have been thus established. The delegation of authority does not extend to the establishment of programs which otherwise require academic approval.
Proposals for endowed chairs. professorships, lectureships, and programs which depart from the policy shall be brought forward for review and approval by the Governing Council through the Planning and Budget Committee and the Academic Board. In these cases the President, on recommendation of the respective Principal, Dean, or Director, will propose the establishment of a Chair, Professorship or Lectureship to the Planning and Budget Committee. The establishment of a Program shall follow the normal procedure of recommendation to the Committee on Academic Policy and Programs and then to the Planning and Budget Committee. Final approval shall be given in accordance with the terms of reference of the Academic Board of the Governing Council.
Funding shall be sufficient to provide for the costs of the Chair, Professorship, Lectureship, or Program. Funding for the costs of Chairs, Professorships, Lectureships, or Programs may, in addition to endowments, be supplemented from the University's operating budget, government agencies, other gifts, or combinations of all three. In the case of Chairs, supplementary funding will be designated as a restricted fund by the Governing Council to create a larger endowment. The sum and kind of resources required shall be determined by the head of the division and the Vice-Provost and Assistant Vice-President (Planning and Budget), acting under the aegis of the Vice-President and Provost.
December 3, 1996
Approved by Academic Board (January 30, 1997) and confirmed by Executive Committee (February 10, 1997). Changed section on Flexible Endowment of Chairs, added reference to U of T Foundation, updated names of committees.
