(Rev.) Senate Bill No.: 0708-05
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by: Governance Council
Date:
February 8, 2008
GUIDELINES FOR THE UALBANY SELECTION COMMITTEE
FOR DISTINGUISHED TEACHING PROFESSORS (DTP)
AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE PROFESSORS (DSP)
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
That the attached proposed revisions be approved by the University Senate and forwarded to the President
for implementation beginning in the 2007-2008 round of nominations for promotions to the ranks of
Distinguished Teaching Professor (DTP) and Distinguished Service Professor (DSP).
Rationale:
Since both the constitution and operation of the UAlbany Selection Committee have evolved significantly
since ~1980, the Senate proposes that current practices be formalized. The rules described in this Bill mostly
describe and formalize the nature of the UAlbany Selection Committee (post ~2005) that have generally
worked well. The two revisions to current operating procedures that are proposed in this Bill deal with the
election of the Chair of the UAlbany Selection Committee, and the number of terms that can be served as
Chair.
The Distinguished rank is the highest academic level bestowed on faculty in the State University of New
York system. As such, the elaborate process whereby the UAlbany Selection Committee solicits
nominations, reviews those nominations, and recommends individuals to the President for promotion to the
Distinguished rank is an important academic and institutional responsibility.
The Senate proposes that the Chair of the Selection Committee must have prior experience (i.e.,
participated as a member in at least one prior annual cycle of nominations, reviews, and selections).
The Chair of the UAlbany Selection Committee should be elected from among the Distinguished
members on the Committee who are not serving ex officio.
The Senate proposes that the Chair of the UAlbany Selection Committee be limited to serving two
consecutive, one-year terms (as Chair).
(Rev.) Senate Bill No.: 0708-05
Guidelines for the UAlbany Selection Committee
for Promotions to DTP and DSP
(DTP = Distinguished Teaching Professor; DSP = Distinguished Service Professor)
The Distinguished Faculty Rank programs were created by the SUNY Board of Trustees as a prestigious
system-level distinction to recognize and reward SUNY’s finest and most accomplished faculty.
The programs are governed by policies and procedures approved by the SUNY University Faculty Senate
(UFS), and are available through the office of the SUNY Provost, hereinafter referred to as SUNY Policies.
According to the SUNY Policies, campuses may follow a selection process that is more rigorous, but may
never be less stringent, than system-level requirements.
The SUNY Policies require that nominations for promotions to DSP and DTP be reviewed by a “Local
Selection Committee” that “shall be appointed by the local governance structure” with the concurrence of
the campus President. At UAlbany, the designated governance body for making such appointments is the
Governance Council of the Senate.
Consistent with the SUNY Policies, the UAlbany Selection Committee shall consist of 10 voting members:
The current Chair of the UAlbany Senate (or designee), ex officio
One member designated by the UAlbany President, ex officio
Six members of the full-time, teaching faculty appointed by the Governance Council to staggered
three-year terms that shall include:
i)
Three Distinguished Teaching Professors
ii) Three Distinguished Service Professors
One undergraduate student chosen by the Student Association
One graduate student chosen by the Graduate Student Organization
Consistent with SUNY Policies and in keeping with campus precedent, the UAlbany Selection Committee
shall operate in compliance with the following guidelines:
The Governance Council of the Senate shall ensure that members of Distinguished rank are chosen
with the goal of achieving a broad representation of disciplines and scholarship.
The Governance Council shall solicit nominations from the respective student organizations.
The list of proposed members shall be forwarded to the UAlbany President for consideration and
approval as soon as possible after the beginning of the Fall semester.
Once finalized, the membership of the Local Selection Committee shall be reported to the Senate
Executive Committee.
A quorum of seven (7) voting members shall be required for any official action of the UAlbany
Selection Committee.
The Office of the Provost and Academic Vice President shall designate a staff person to work with the
UAlbany Selection Committee.
The Chair of the Senate shall convene an organizational meeting of the UAlbany Selection
Committee. At this meeting, the Selection Committee shall elect its Chair from the members of
Distinguished rank who are continuing from the preceding year and do not serve ex officio. The
Chair of the UAlbany Selection Committee can serve for a maximum of two consecutive, one-year
terms.
All members of the Selection Committee shall be provided with copies of the current SUNY Policies
and current UAlbany guidelines. Members shall be expected to familiarize themselves with these
documents. If revisions to either-or-both of those policies and guidelines occur at any time, it is the
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responsibility of the Chair of the UAlbany Selection Committee to promptly and formally notify all
members.
The UAlbany Selection Committee shall review the names of eligible faculty holding the rank of Full
Professor, and discuss and implement a plan to encourage and solicit nominations from the campus.
Following an intensive review of all nominations received by the UAlbany Selection Committee, the
membership will vote to determine those individuals among the nominations that it considers worthy
of promotion to the rank of either DTP or DSP. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Selection
Committee to organize and finalize the nomination portfolio(s) to be submitted to the President in
accordance with all applicable procedures in the SUNY Policies. In particular, the Chair is
responsible for ensuring that the UAlbany Selection Committee has been fully informed of the SUNY
Policies that are applicable to that current year. Given possible delays at SUNY-system headquarters,
this may require that the Chair contact system headquarters to determine what, if any, changes in the
SUNY Policies have occurred from the previous year.
As of 2006-2007, the SUNY Policies include, in particular, the following general restrictions on eligibility for
promotion to Distinguished (DTP or DSP) rank (refer to http://www.suny.edu/provost/FacultyAwards.cfm,
http://www.suny.edu/provost/DSPDTP%202007-09%20guidelines.pdf for further information).
Faculty holding any Distinguished rank (e.g., DTP) may not be nominated for another Distinguished
rank (e.g., DSP).
Faculty must hold full-time academic rank (e.g., not ‘visiting’) of Full Professor to be eligible.
Faculty holding a concurrent administrative appointment above the level of department chair for
which they receive extra compensation are ineligible.
Candidates must have held the rank of Full Professor for at least five years, must have at least three
years of full-time service at the nominating institution, and must have completed at least ten years of
full-time service at the State University of New York.
Faculty who have retired or who are serving in part-time positions are not eligible.
Posthumous nominations are not permissible.
The following requirements for eligibility that are additional to the SUNY Policies are in place at UAlbany:
To be considered for Distinguished Teaching Professor, the nominee must already have received the
Chancellor’s or President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
To be considered for Distinguished Service Professor, the nominee must already have received either
the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service, or the President’s Award for Excellence in
Academic Service, or have been chosen as a Collins Fellow.
Confidentiality
The Selection Committee is responsible for soliciting nominations and selecting potential candidates for
promotion to Distinguished rank. All deliberations of the Selection Committee are strictly confidential.
Under no circumstances can faculty either self-nominate or apply for promotion to a Distinguished rank.
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