Provost's Statement on Appointment to Emeritus Status
Faculty members who are retiring from the profession at age 55 or later following a minimum of ten years of continuous service on the Northwestern faculty are eligible for appointment to emeritus status. Such appointments require the recommendation of the school dean, endorsement by the Provost, and approval of the Board of Trustees.
Because emeritus status recognizes the retiring faculty member's contributions to the University's teaching and/or research activities, persons recommended for emeritus status should have a record of substantial achievement during their tenure on the faculty. Because they typically have significant professional responsibilities beyond the University, part-time and adjunct faculty will generally not have achieved the record of service specifically to Northwestern necessary to merit appointment to emeritus status. Emeritus standing is not granted to persons whose faculty status has been largely nominal and who have not carried the independent instructional and/or research responsibilities generally associated with a faculty position in the field (e.g., administrators who hold coterminous faculty titles.)
Recommendations for appointment to emeritus status should be made as early as possible during the faculty member's final year of service. Recommendations should include a letter from the school dean and a curriculum vitae outlining the nominee's responsibilities in teaching and/or research.
December, 2001