The emeritus title confers a lifetime academic appointment upon eligible retired faculty members. The emeritus title may also include a named professorship, chair, or fellowship held by the faculty member prior to retirement, if approved by the Dean and department chair, and if not prohibited by the conditions of the professorship, chair, or fellowship.

For additional information, review the following:

• HOP 2-2430: Emeritus Titles 

• EVPP: Faculty Retirement > Emeritus Titles

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Emeritus eligibility

Faculty eligibility

Per HOP 2-2430: Emeritus Titles, VII.A., retired faculty may be considered for emeritus status if they meet the following requirements:

• At the time of their separation from the University:

  • Are at least 55 years of age

  • Have had at least 10 years of active service at UT Austin

• During their period of active service at the University, held one of the following titles:

  • Professor

  • Associate Professor

  • Research Professor

  • Distinguished Senior Lecturer

  • Clinical Professor

  • Professor of Practice

  • Professor of Instruction

  • Medical titles: Professor of Clinical Nursing, Professor of Medicine (Clinical Researcher), Professor of Medicine (Clinical Educator), Professor of Medicine (Clinical Scholar)

Administrative Official eligibility

Emeritus titles may also be recommended for administrative officials in the following titles:

• President

• Provost

• Dean

To be eligible, the individual must have held the administrative position for at least four years and must meet all criteria that qualify them for emeritus status as a faculty member.

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Honorific titles for emeriti

With the Dean’s approval, if an emeritus nominee was the holder of an endowment at the time of their retirement, an emeritus nomination may include a request to retain the honorific title of that endowment. Example: “[Endowment Name] Professor Emeritus in [Endowment Name Area of Studies].” The title is purely honorific, carries no supplemental funding commitment, and does not impact the ability of an active faculty member to become the new endowed holder.

Emeritus nomination process

Emeritus status is not automatically granted upon retirement but must be requested following the steps listed below. Nominations must be supported by department BC/EC vote, the department chair, and the Dean, and approved by the Provost, University President, and Board of Regents.

1. The department should assemble an emeritus nomination packet consisting of the following:

   1. An up-to-date CV for the faculty member

   2. A memo from the department chair addressed to the Dean, supporting the nomination, and including the information listed below. The memo should not be a restatement of the CV.

      1. The faculty member's accomplishments, individual distinction, and quality of contribution and service to the University

      2. The breakdown of votes by the department Budget Council or Executive Committee

      3. The effective date of the emeritus award (may not be earlier than the faculty member's first day of retirement)

      4. The appropriate recommended emeritus title

      5. If applicable, honorific titles to be considered for inclusion in the emeritus title. See COE: Emeritus Faculty > Honorific titles for emeriti.

2. Department forwards nomination packet to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.

3. If the Dean is supportive of the nomination, COE Faculty Affairs in collaboration with the Dean and Senior Associate Dean will draft a memo to be added to the nomination packet.

4. COE Faculty Affairs forwards the emeritus nomination packet including the Dean's memo to APS via the ServiceNow portal. Once received, Academic Personnel Services (APS) will process an Interim Emeritus Academic Appointment in Workday for the faculty member to ensure they retain privileges, i.e., network and library access, while their nomination goes through the approval process.

5. APS will review the nomination packet and forward it to the Office of the President for approval.

6. The Provost's Office will email finalized approval to the Dean's Office, and the department Administrative Manager will be copied. Dean's Office Faculty Affairs will save a copy of the official approval to the faculty member's personnel file.

7. If approved, APS will process the necessary transactions to establish the faculty member's emeritus status in Workday.

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Emeritus privileges and perquisites

Holders of emeritus titles will be granted the following privileges and perquisites, per HOP 2-2430: Emeritus Titles, section VII.A.4:

• Membership (without vote) in the General Faculty and in the college and department faculties in which membership was held at the time of retirement

• Eligibility to serve on graduate committees, subject to the approval of the senior vice provost and dean of graduate studies. See COE: Emeritus Faculty > Eligibility to serve on graduate committees on this page.

• Listing in the faculty directory and in the appropriate college catalog

• Retention of their University email address from active service; use of the campus mail service consistent with HOP 4-1140: University Mail Services

• Retention of access and privileges to University systems, as appropriate and determined by their department

• Office space, when available and with the approval of the chair of the department, the Dean, and the President

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Eligibility to serve on graduate committees

See Graduate School: Advancing to Doctoral Candidacy > Forming the Dissertation Committee.

Retired faculty who have been nominated or granted emeritus status and who were members of the GSC upon retirement may request continued membership on the GSC with approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Such requests should be accompanied by the recommendation of the appropriate GSC, and be submitted to the graduate school by the GSC chair. If approved, the continued membership will be reviewed annually.

Such faculty may serve on student committees as a GSC member or as a co-supervisor but may not serve as a sole supervisor.

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Systems access for retirees

See ServiceNow > What to Know and Do When You Retire or Leave the University.

In general, emeritus faculty will have the same levels of access to UT systems as an active employee. The process of transitioning from active employee to emeritus affiliation may take a few days, during which there may be temporary disruptions to access (e.g., email, Workday, Canvas). Access is typically restored shortly after the status update is complete.

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Employment of emeriti

Review EVPP: Faculty Retirement Guidance, pages 4-6.

Payments cannot be made in Workday to Emeritus nor Interim Emeritus appointments, as they are Academic Appointments only. If there are no currently active worker positions in Workday, the Emeritus/Interim Emeritus must first be rehired into an active worker position in order to receive payment. This can be done while the faculty member's emeritus request is still pending approval and they are in "Interim Emeritus" status - it is not necessary to wait for the Emeritus appointment to first be approved before initiating the rehire process. Follow the instructions for Modified Service (using revised dates effective 8/16/2024) to rehire the Emeritus or Interim Emeritus by hiring them into a fixed-term job in the appropriate JM supervisory organization, using the same Job Profile they were in at the time of retirement. 

If the proposed employment is in a department different from the Emeritus' home department, use the Workday: Faculty Additional Employment Decision Tree to determine whether to add a Faculty Associate position in the other department. See more at COE: Additional Employment and Allowances.

Note that if the proposed work is for research-related activities, the job in Workday will require assignment of scheduled weekly hours to allow effort certification.

A copy of the signed contract/offer letter must always be uploaded at the contract step to the Workday Hire business process. Use the EVPP departmentalized offer letter template for Non-Tenured Modified Service.

A PAR is never needed for faculty retiree.

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Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.