Titled Professorships
(IU coding: NDW)
Titled professor nominations at IUPUI are reviewed by a Titled Professors Committee, as well as the Executive Vice Chancellor, and Chancellor. The final step is approval by the Trustees, so any nomination does not become formal until the next Trustee meeting after the nomination is approved at the campus. Please note that any external candidate is likely to be hired-with-tenure, and that separate process involves six external letters (at least three at arms-length), as well as other steps. Please see this checklist.
A complete packet sent to ude[dot]iupui[at]rhdaca should include:
- Nomination letter: this may be written by a department chair but the dean must also concur. The nomination letter must include a summary of the specific titled professorship, in terms of the subject area or other aspects. Do not include the actual donor intent form.
- Candidate CV.
- External evaluation letters:
- For internal candidates (IU): three letters, addressing the specific requirements of the titled professorship.
- For external candidates--the assumption is that they will be hired with tenure (see this checklist.). This requires a total of six external letters, at least three of which must address the titled professorship requirements, and at least three of which must be at arms-length.
Degree of eminence of the applicant
- The basic assumption is that the candidate is already a full professor. Most titled professors in the IU system are at full rank.
- If someone is at the associate level but will be promoted to full (e.g. is employed at another university at associate level but will be hired at IUPUI as full), include a statement from the promotion and tenure committee of the school attesting to their satisfying the school criteria for the rank of full.
- If someone is at the associate level and will not be promoted upon hire, you may give them the title of Scholar of XXXX (rather than Professor/Chair of XXXX). Or, contact acadhr@iupui.edu for an exception, explaining how this person is nationally qualified for that particular titled professorship.
Search process for external candidates
- Please indicate if the endowed position was searched as such. For example, your unit may have an Endowed Professorship in This Specialty; you conduct a full national search for the most eminent available person in This Specialty.
- Check the purpose of the reference letters. Six letters are required when the candidate is being hired-with-tenure. At least two or three of the letters should specifically address the qualifications for the endowed position; that is, not all of them should be routine employment-letters-of-reference. At least 3 should be at arms-length. You may begin with the references the candidate supplies but three must be arms-length.
Special notes:
- There are funding distinctions between titled professorships and titled ‘chairs’. Please consult with IU Foundation or the school’s development officer.
- School of Medicine follows a separate procedure. Contact ude[dot]ui[at]nmdadaca for details.
After a nomination is approved by the committee, the Executive Vice Chancellor, and the Chancellor, the nomination is returned to the school. The school's HR staff will enter an admin post for the professorship, and that action will trigger the listing of the nomination on the next Trustee agenda.
Reviewed and revised 6/15/2023.