Emeritus Recommendations for Partner, Clinical, Honorary and Adjunct Faculty

Emeritus status is a life-time honourable recognition of long service and contribution to the University.

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UBC Senate Criteria

Individuals holding Clinical appointments in the Faculty of Medicine, and those holding Clinical or equivalent Honorary or Adjunct appointments in other Faculties, may be eligible for emeritus status at the time of retirement from active University service if they are recommended by their Deans and Departments and meet the following criteria: 

• have at least 15 years of continuous service;
• hold the rank of Clinical Associate Professor or Clinical Professor or demonstrate a scholarly record that has been reviewed at the Department and Faculty levels according to established university procedures for the equivalent level; and,
• demonstrate service that is strongly identified with the University of British Columbia and deemed worthy of continuing recognition.

 Further information can be found in the UBC Senate Policy on Emeritus Status.

FOM Guidelines

An emeritus appointment is an honorable recognition of long service and contributions to the Faculty of Medicine and it is not automatic.  Where a Partner, Clinical, Honorary or Adjunct Faculty member has completed 15 continuous years of service at the time of retirement from active University service, and where the Faculty member’s service is strongly identified with the University of British Columbia and deemed worthy of continuing recognition, a recommendation for awarding the title of Emeritus may be made by the Dean to the Tributes Committee and ultimately to Senate on the recommendation of the Head/Director.  Each case will be decided on its individual merit. Initiation of this process may be by the appropriate Division Head, University Department Head or School Director and would require approval of the Departmental Committee on Appointments and Promotions. 

Deadlines

The Senate Tributes Committee considers emeritus recommendations 3-4 weeks in advance of the May and December UBC Senate meetings.  Therefore, the Faculty of Medicine submission deadline for emeritus nominations is normally mid-late March and mid-late October. 

Procedure

Checklist – New Emeriti Recommendations

1. If not already initiated, the Department / School initiates HR Business Processes in Workday accompanied by the faculty member’s original retirement notice, to bring their appointment to an end. Please ensure that the faculty member’s current address records are up to date.
2. The Department Head/School Director submits a letter recommending that the individual be awarded emeritus status, as per the criteria outlined in the Senate policy.  This nomination must be accompanied by a copy of the faculty member’s CV. 
3. The submission is reviewed against the criteria, the Dean writes a letter of support to the Senate Tributes Committee, and the nomination package is forwarded to Senate and Curriculum Services. A copy is kept on file at the Dean’s Office.
4. If the recommendation is approved by Senate, and the status is confirmed via notification by Senate and Curriculum Services, the following occur:
   1. Faculty Relations requests that Payroll update the faculty member’s appointment in HRMS to an emeritus job code.
   2. Senate and Curriculum Services updates the Roll of Convocation (UBC Calendar) to include all newly approved emeriti faculty. See: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?page=appendix3
   3. The Registrar sends a letter confirming the new status to the new emeritus faculty member, with cc to Faculty Relations and the Dean of Medicine.  Attached to this letter is a list of Privileges for Professors Emeriti.
   4. The Faculty Affairs Secretary mails a letter of congratulations from the Dean to the individual (cc Department Head / School Director).

Emeritus Post-Retirement Appointments

Emeritus faculty may be appointed into active faculty positions post-retirement.  The following information is taken from the Faculty Relations website regarding Post-Retirement Appointments.

Retired faculty members can be re-hired as a new hire or into a post-retirement appointment under UBC Policy AP1 (formerly Policy #27), Reappointment of Retired or Retiring Members of Faculty (PDF). For more information, please refer to Faculty Relation’s website.  Please review the Checklist – Post-Retirement Appointment + Reappointment when re-hiring an emeritus faculty member. 

FAQs

• Faculty members do not automatically receive Emeritus status at age 65.
• The faculty member needs to have retired from their position at UBC as a faculty member in order to get status.  Retirement from a Health Authority does not necessarily mean that a faculty member has also retired from UBC.  Please contact Faculty Affairs for more information on processing faculty retirements.
• Retroactive requests will be considered with a justification for the request.  In addition to explaining how the candidate meets the criteria, the justification must also explain why the recommendation is coming forward now instead of at the faculty member’s retirement.
• Emeritus status becomes effective on the faculty member’s retirement date.  For example, if a faculty member retires on January 31st, they would become an emeritus faculty member on January 31st.  Status was previously only granted on July 1st or January 1st of each year but this changed when mandatory retirement was abolished in 2007.
• Exceptions to the “15 years of continuing service” eligibility requirement will be considered if suitably justified.  Example:  A clinical faculty member was appointed at UBC for 8 years, left UBC to become a tenure track faculty member at a different institution for 3 years, and then returned to UBC for another 7 years.  This faculty member’s eligibility must be carefully considered and the recommendation from the Department must clearly outline the appointment history and include a justification for the exception.
• Emeritus faculty members may continue to apply for and hold research grants assuming they meet the granting agency’s eligibility criteria and hold a UBC post-retirement appointment.
• The process for awarding emeritus status to Clinical, Partner, Adjunct, or Honorary faculty members is quite different from the process for tenure stream faculty.  Refer to the Emeritus Faculty – Tenure Stream page for the process for tenure stream faculty members.