Eminent Scholar Search Procedures

To facilitate compliance with the provisions of the Florida Statutes and Florida Administrative Code , the following guidelines must be followed in the selection and appointment of an Eminent Scholar Chair Holder:

1. All appointments, including visiting appointments, to the Chair are made at the recommendation of the Selection Committee established by the President. The President makes the final selection and extends a written offer to the candidate to occupy the Chair.
2. After the Chair has been established, the Dean of the College designated to receive the Chair submits a request to the Dean of the Faculties to initiate the process of appointing a Selection Committee. This request should recommend the number of members the Committee should have and provide a list of faculty suggested for the majority faculty membership of the Committee along with the names of any non-faculty persons who should be considered for membership. The Dean of the Faculties, on behalf of the President, will appoint the Committee after evaluating these recommendations. A majority of the Committee must be faculty members.
3. The Selection Committee must recommend to the President those criteria that will be used in the selection of the holder of the Chair. After the President approves the criteria, the Committee will apply them in the selection process under the rules and advertising requirements governing faculty selection. The Selection Committee will recommend to the President for his approval one or more eligible candidate to fill the Chair documenting the extent to which the individual chosen to occupy the Chair meets the selection criteria established for the Chair.
4. All searches are to be conducted in compliance with the hiring policies and procedures as outlined in The Search and Screening Guide (June 2010) issued by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance (http://compliance.hr.fsu.edu/).  This website address should be provided to each Selection Committee.
5. The President will make the final selection and extend a written offer to the candidate to be offered the Chair. If a candidate is not selected by the President or if the approved candidate does not accept the Chair, the selection process is repeated.
6. Note that University policy stipulates that appointment of regular ranked faculty is through departments or schools (or college if not departmentalized) only . This means that each Eminent Scholar position must be established in the academic department or school (or college if not departmentalized) in which the Scholar will hold rank (and tenure-status, if applicable).
7. After a Chair has been filled, the Selection Committee will provide the President with a set of measures for evaluating the success of the Chair in achieving the goals implied in the selection criteria for that Chair and the purpose of the Eminent Scholars Program. A copy of this report should be sent to the Office of the Dean of the Faculties so it will be available for the next Program Review of the department in which the Chair resides.
8. In cases where it is desirable to use the Chair to bring in several visiting scholars for short periods throughout the year rather than make a permanent appointment, compliance with the rule can be achieved by having the Selection Committee consider the entire group of visiting scholars at the beginning of the year in question and make recommendations to the President to cover the entire year.
9. If “tenure upon appointment” is being recommended, the Dean should follow the following procedures:

The following evidence should be organized in a binder and submitted in quadruplicate to the Dean of the Faculties for distribution to the 5-member subcommittee of the University Promotion and Tenure Committee for review. Upon completion of the subcommittee's review of the evidence, the Dean of the Faculties will forward the results of the subcommittee's action with the compiled evidence to the President via the Provost.

Evidence to be compiled:

1. Approval by the unit's P&T committee via each individual member's secret ballot.
2. Approval by the unit's tenured members via each individual member's secret ballot.
3. Approval by any other regular reviewing committee in the college or, if appropriate, by a subcommittee approved by the full committee via each individual member's secret ballot.
4. Approval by the Dean.
5. An endorsement letter from the Dean that includes detailed information on the candidate's teaching, research, and service history as well as an explanation of why this individual is worthy of tenure upon appointment. Any additional contents of the binder are left to the discretion of each Dean, as different program areas value different supporting documentation to make a case for granting tenure.
6. Approval by a 5-member subcommittee of the university wide P&T committee via each individual member's secret ballot. This subcommittee is developed by the university P&T committee and is a standing subcommittee that will review individual cases on an as needed basis. Any member of the 5-member subcommittee may request a meeting of the subcommittee to discuss whether a candidate's record meets the criteria for tenure in the candidate's department.
7. Approval by the Provost.
8. Approval by the President.

Upon the approval by the President, include the following statement in the offer letter: “The President will report to the Florida State University Board of Trustees that he has approved granting you tenure upon appointment in the Department of/School of ___________.” If the candidate is a nonimmigrant, the following statement should be used in the offer letter: “The President will report to the Florida State University Board of Trustees that he has approved granting you tenure in the Department of/School of ___________ effective upon the date of your obtaining permanent residency.”

Authority: Chapter 1011.94, Florida Statutes , Chapters 6C-9.019 and 6C2-6.011, Florida Administrative Code.

Contact Dr. Andrea Novak in the Office of the Dean of the Faculties at 644-6876 or anovak@admin.fsu.edu.

December 2, 2011.