Type of Policy
Administrative
Effective Date:
Last Revised:
Review Date:
Policy Owner
Academic Affairs
Contact Name
Jason Matt
Contact Title
Sr. Director Academic Administration
Contact Email
jason.matt@gatech.edu
Reason for Policy

This policy provides consistency of annual scholarly allowance payments to faculty members holding endowed chairs or professorships for planning of research and scholarly activities.

Policy Statement

For any named faculty position established after the date of this policy, the annual scholarly allowances will be set as following to provide consistent but impactful support:

  • Endowed chair appointments – $50,000/year
  • Endowed professorship appointments – $25,000/year
  • Termed professorship appointments -- Termed appointments would follow these values as well, but due to the variation in the terms for those positions, the allowance may be reduced based on available funding

This allowance would apply to all faculty appointments to chairs or professorships established in the recent past and going forward with donor agreements that contain the following language: Distributions from the fund shall be determined and overseen by the Provost, the Dean of the College, and the Chair of the School in accordance with Georgia Institute of Technology policies and procedures related to the administration of endowed chairs and professorships.

Scope

Employees (typically academic faculty members) holding named positions supported by an endowment or expendable fund

 

Definitions:

Scholarly allowance An amount of funding provided to a faculty member to support his/her research and scholarly activities.
Income allocation The amount generated annually from an endowed fund
Termed professorship A named faculty position supported by a restricted expendable (non-endowed) fund administered in accordance with GTF policies and a legal agreement with the donor of the funds. The value of the expendable fund can vary and the named appointment is for the duration of the fund life.

 

Procedures
5.1 Appointment of Faculty Holder to the Named Position
Offer letter At the time of appointment, the letter of offer shall include the specific amount to be provided, consistent with this policy, to the faculty member, and indicate that an allocation can be carried forward up to two years. For termed professorships, the offer letters should also note the term of the appointment to the professorship.
High value endowments Endowments of higher values may provide for increased allowances, but should be negotiated separately and based upon the needs of the department and faculty member.
5.2 Distribution of Funds
Annual income allocation As is the practice now, the entire income allocation will be distributed to the home unit, where a sub-account for the scholarly allowance will be created.
Fluctuations in annual allocations Any annual income over this amount would be available to support expenses consistent with the donor agreement. Should the annual income be less than the set scholarly allowance, the Provost’s Office and the related home unit will do everything possible to cover the remainder from other sources
Responsibilities

School Chair/Department Head
The school chair, dean or department head offering the named faculty position shall notify the faculty member in writing of the scholarly allowance associated with the appointment. He/she is responsible to steward any funds available in excess of the scholarly allowance within the terms outlined in the donor agreement. Should the amount of the restricted endowment or restricted expendable account be inadequate to support the committed scholarly allowance, it is the responsibility of the school chair, dean or department head to work with the senior administration to identify additional funding sources.

Faculty Member
The faculty member is responsible for spending the fund in accordance within the terms of the donor agreement, and this and other related Institute policies.

Enforcement

The Dean of the College or Provost is responsible to ensure that donated funds are stewarded within the terms of the donor agreement, and this and other related Institute policies.

To report suspected instances of noncompliance with this policy, please visit Georgia Tech’s EthicsPoint, a secure and confidential reporting system, at: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/en/report_custom.asp?clientid=7508

Policy History
Revision Date Author Description
April 2023 Office of the Provost Editorial update
April 2015 Provost Office Codify Memo/add to Policy Library