Policy on Endowed Chairs, Professorships,
Lectureships and Programs
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, or
ii. 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 Professorships
A 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.
Lectureship
A 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.
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.