11.7 Emeritus Status for Retirees

(Regents 12/10/71; amended 7/01; 6/05; 5/14; 9/16; 5/18; 4/2/19; 7/1/23)

Effective July 1, 2023, this policy has been revised. For individual changes, see the redlined version

The status and title of "Emeritus" are not entitlements; rather they are conferred upon certain faculty and staff members, described below, who retire after having served the University under honorable circumstances for a significant period of time, or in other cases may be conferred by central administration or the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

  1. Definitions.
    1. "Retire" means to terminate service from the University and be eligible to immediately receive retirement benefits under any approved University retirement plan.
    2. "Regular faculty," when used in this section, means tenured faculty or salaried clinical, research, or instructional track faculty at any rank.
    3. "Research scientists" means assistant, associate, and research scientists.
    4. "Research engineers" means assistant, associate, and research engineers.
    5. "Librarian/Law Librarian" means those holding the job titles Specialist Librarian, Expert Librarian, Senior Librarian, Associate Director, and University Librarian.
    6. "Honorable circumstances" means that the faculty or staff member was not terminated for cause.
    7. "Significant period of time" normally shall be construed as 10 or more years of continuous service.
  2. Automatic conferral of emeritus faculty status. The following shall be accorded emeritus faculty status automatically when they retire from the University under honorable circumstances, including Long Term Disability, after serving the University for a significant period of time: 1) regular faculty, and 2) central administrative officers, deans, and directors, provided they also hold regular faculty status.
  3. Automatic conferral of emeritus staff status. The following shall be accorded emeritus staff status automatically when they retire from the University under honorable circumstances, including Long Term Disability, after serving the University for a significant period of time: 1) research scientists, 2) research engineers, and 3) Librarians/Law Librarians.
  4. Permissive conferral of emeritus status.
    1. Presidents. Presidents who do not qualify for emeritus status automatically under paragraph b may receive emeritus faculty status, as appropriate, by action of the Board of Regents.
    2. Upon the recommendation of the dean(s) of the college(s) in which the faculty member served and with the approval of the Executive Vice President and Provost, the following may be accorded emeritus faculty status:
      1. Regular faculty who retire from the University under honorable circumstances before having served a significant period of time;
      2. Regular faculty who terminate their service to the University under honorable circumstances whether or not they have served a significant period of time;
      3. Non-regular faculty (e.g., adjunct faculty) of the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor who terminate their service to the University under honorable circumstances after serving a significant period of time.
    3. The Executive Vice President and Provost may grant emeritus faculty status to central administrative officers, deans, and directors who otherwise would be eligible for emeritus status under paragraph b, except that they retire or terminate their service to the University either before having served a significant period of time.
    4. The Chief Human Resources Officer, in consultation with the Executive Vice President and Provost, may grant emeritus staff status to those who otherwise would be eligible for emeritus status under paragraph c, except that they retire or terminate their service to the University before having served a significant period of time.
    5. In all cases recommended under paragraphs d(2), d(3), or d(4), the relevant administrator shall confer with appropriate faculty (e.g., Faculty Senate, Emeritus Faculty Council) or staff (e.g., Staff Council) bodies and shall accord great weight to the opinions of those faculty or staff bodies before determining emeritus status.
  5. Titles. The title conferred upon achievement of emeritus status shall be the last held before retirement followed by "Emeritus." For example, an Associate Professor would become Associate Professor Emeritus, an Adjunct Professor would become Adjunct Professor Emeritus, a Dean would become Dean Emeritus, an Assistant Research Scientist would become an Assistant Research Scientist Emeritus, and a Librarian/Law Librarian would become Librarian Emeritus. However, central administrative officers, deans, and directors, provided they also hold faculty status, may select either the administrative or faculty rank title followed by "Emeritus," regardless of whether they retire directly from the administrative position or return to the faculty before retirement. Those who attain emeritus status may notify the University that they wish to use "Emerita," and the University will do so under circumstances in which it otherwise would use "Emeritus."
  6. Process. Appointments to emeritus status (and deletions due to deaths) shall be included in the Register of Personnel Changes and shall be reported through appropriate channels for personnel changes to the Human Resources Office.
  7. Revocation. The University may revoke emeritus status, however conferred, at any time for good cause.
  8. Limitations. Conferral and revocation of emeritus status is not subject to review under any of the University's grievance procedures.