By the first Friday of each March, the secretary of the university distributes the criteria and procedure for nomination for the title of UWM Distinguished Professor to all members of the faculty.
All nominations must be approved and assembled by the appropriate departmental (or equivalent) executive committee. Prior to beginning the process of making a nomination, the Executive Committee must consult with the chair of the UWM Distinguished Professors Committee or a member of the committee that s/he designates. These consultations are meant to be advisory and facilitative of the nominations process. Approved nominations must be forwarded by the department chair to the school or college dean by November 1st each year. The electronic submission to the Dean must be in a single file and include the following:
A cover letter justifying the executive committee’s recommendation that speaks directly and exclusively to the candidate’s qualifications as a Distinguished Professor as defined by FD Document 2885: “international distinction in his/her field, as evidenced by a record of distinguished scholarly and/or creative accomplishments that have contributed to, advanced, and had a significant impact on his/her field of study.” This letter may include information from the letters solicited from outside scholars.
The candidate’s vita, which provides evidence of scholarly and/or creative contributions warranting the distinguished title.
Letters from 8-10 distinguished scholars in the field, solicited for the candidate by the executive committee, speak to the candidate’s scholarly and/or creative contributions and impact, with letters from those with named chairs, distinguished titles, or similar positions well represented among them. Because they assume the letter writers will already be familiar with the candidate, executive committees do not normally send out the candidate’s publications or other materials as they do for tenure and promotion cases.
The names of all scholars from whom letters were solicited, whether or not they actually wrote for the case, and any stated reasons for not writing if available.
The name of the executive committee representative. The executive committee representative is the primary person whom the dean, distinguished professors committee, provost, and chancellor should keep informed as to the progress of the nomination process.
The Dean’s role is advisory to the Distinguished Professors Committee. The dean, after reviewing the candidate’s materials, forwards his/her advice and all nomination materials received by the executive committee to the provost (or designee) by November 8th each year.
The provost (or designee) forwards the nomination materials to the Distinguished Professors Committee and notifies the Executive Committee representative that the nomination materials have been forwarded to the Distinguished Professors Committee for review. The Provost (or designee) also forwards the nomination materials to the Vice Provost for Research, preferably as a single PDF file.
The Provost (or designee) convenes the Distinguished Professors Committee.
In order to evaluate the candidate, the Provost receives the recommendation of the Distinguished Professors Committee after they have reviewed the materials submitted by the Executive Committee.
The provost transmits the recommendation of the Distinguished Professors Committee, together with his/her own recommendation, to the chancellor for approval. The Chancellor shall report in writing his or her decision to the nominee, the nominee’s executive committee, the Dean of the school/college, the Distinguished Professors Committee and the Provost by the first Friday of each May. This report will identify the main reasons for the decision. A negative decision will not prevent a future departmental nomination.
The Distinguished Professors Committee will report their activities to the University Faculty including a detailed account of number of nominations received, number of positive decisions and college/school affiliations of new and continuing members