This webpage outlines the School of Public Service’s policies regarding endowed faculty positions as established June 2025.
I. Impact of Endowed Faculty in the School of Public Service
- Endowed faculty in the School of Public Service (SPS) help achieve our mission to “prepare problem-solvers and leaders through education, research and community engagement to tackle society’s challenges.”
- Endowed faculty appointments can serve to retain and recognize the excellence of existing faculty members in the School of Public Service or to attract prominent new faculty hires who will have a major impact.
- In the School of Public Service, endowed faculty positions offer an exciting opportunity to create impact in research, teaching and service related to areas of strategic public importance.
- Appointments to endowed faculty positions in SPS recognize faculty who are well-established and successful in their field.
- In the case of endowed positions connected to centers or institutes, endowed faculty contribute to the intellectual activities of the center or institute through activities such as public scholarship, research, community engagement events, and prominent media appearances that relate to and advance the center/institute’s mission.
- The School of Public Service highly values the contributions of endowed faculty and is committed to supporting their development that enables them to make a demonstrable impact in their work.
II. Appointment to Endowed Faculty Positions
- All SPS policies related to endowed faculty align with procedures for appointment and reappointment outlined in University Policy 11030.
- Endowed faculty status is independent of the tenure/tenure-track status/process.
- Our appointment practices will honor both the explicit directions of the fund agreement, as well as the intent and spirit of the gift.
- In general, appointments are for five (5) years (providing appropriate productivity during annual reviews), with the possibility of reappointment.
- Non-reappointment does not necessarily indicate dissatisfaction with the outgoing incumbent.
- Endowed positions may be allocated by various means, chosen by the Dean in consultation with the Provost, including:
- Strategic Appointments for Faculty Recruitment or Retention: Endowed faculty positions that are sufficiently funded may be offered strategically for recruitment or retention within the School of Public Service at the Dean’s discretion.
- Appointment by Application: Available endowed faculty positions that are sufficiently funded may be open for application for faculty within Boise State University. In this case, the Dean would outline a process that includes participation from faculty leaders.
- Appointments through a National Search: Endowed faculty positions that are sufficiently funded could be filled via a national search process. This typically occurs when an endowed position is funded at a level to cover a significant portion of the faculty salary. In this case, the Dean would initiate a University search committee including multiple faculty members, with the potential to include an external committee member who undergoes University HR training.
- All recommendations for appointments to endowed positions are at the discretion of the Dean, who makes a recommendation to the Provost. The Dean will invite input from various stakeholders (e.g., Faculty Leaders, Associate Dean, Center/Institutes) as appropriate given the means of selection.
- Appointments to endowed positions are based on a candidate being recognized with distinction as a researcher, scholar, teacher, or expert in their field. Further, successful candidates ought to demonstrate high levels of collegiality, professionalism, and leadership.
- Endowed faculty appointment letters convey the term of appointment, performance expectations, anticipated percentage of endowment income for use, allowable use of funds, expectations for participation in stewardship, and criteria and processes related to reappointment.
- In line with reasons laid out in University Policy 11030, an endowed faculty appointment may be revoked by the Dean.
III. Endowed Faculty Yearly Evaluation and Reporting
- Faculty holding endowed positions are expected to perform at a high level in research, teaching and/or service (in line with their workload) commensurate with the status and importance of their position.
- Annual performance evaluations for endowed faculty are conducted by the School of Public Service Faculty Director and reviewed by the dean. The expectations for endowed positions align to the correlated endowment fund agreement and to their specified workload.
- Within the SPS flexible workload policy, a teaching load as low as 1-1 is possible for an endowed faculty member who focuses heavily on research. This creates time in research workload to conduct and to seek external funding for peer-reviewed and public scholarship research.
- Endowed faculty must meet or exceed all expectations to ensure continued appointment.
- Each year, on a similar timeline as the annual evaluation, endowed faculty will generate a yearly activity report that summarizes their significant activities and accomplishments in the role, along with how the allocated funds were spent. The report will be shared with both the Dean’s office and the unit’s Development Team, and this group will convene to discuss the report at the same meeting when they discuss the endowment funds available for the next year.
- The yearly activity report will be used for various purposes such as being incorporated into stewardship communications to donors and being included in future reappointment reviews.
IV. Endowed Faculty Reappointment
- All endowed faculty reappointments must follow any criteria established in the endowment agreement.
- There should be no expectation or promise of renewal. In all cases, the university retains the right not to renew for any reason.
- Should the endowed faculty member seek reappointment, a comprehensive review process of the entire duration of the appointment will be undertaken in the spring of the last year of appointment.
- The renewal of an endowed faculty position after the initial five-year term requires a demonstrated record of exemplary performance as defined by University and School policy. This includes consistently exceeding expectations across all workload areas, fulfilling any specific expectations tied to the role, and actively contributing to the mission of the School of Public Service.
- A review committee of five (5) will be appointed by the Dean and will include a majority of faculty members including, where possible, at least one (1) faculty member who holds an endowed position at Boise State University. The Dean may choose to appoint non-faculty members to the committee.
- The review committee will examine the endowed faculty member’s annual evaluations, endowed faculty reports, and curriculum vitae. The endowed faculty member can choose to submit additional documents.
- The Dean may also choose to invite additional input to provide to the committee regarding the candidate, for example from faculty collaborators, from organizations with which the candidate engages, or from other relevant stakeholders (e.g., Faculty Leaders, Associate Dean, Center/Institutes).
- The review committee is advisory in nature and will make its recommendation regarding reappointment to the Dean, who makes their recommendation to the Provost.
- The faculty member’s performance should meet all criteria and expectations laid out in policies by SPS and the University related to promotion and/or tenure for the position they occupy.
- Successive renewals will be considered throughout the appointee’s remaining productive career.
IV. Expectation for Participation in Stewardship
- Upon initial appointment, endowed faculty may be invited to participate in a University installation ceremony meant to honor both the faculty member and the donors whose generous gifts make these positions possible.
- Endowed faculty may be asked to partner with the SPS Development and Marketing and Communications teams to support additional donor stewardship and communications efforts.
VI. Endowment Funds Use and Balances
- The School of Public Service must ensure the endowment distributions are expended in accordance with the terms of the endowment agreement.
- SPS requests reimbursement from the Foundation account on a quarterly basis.
- Use of funds will be determined by the Dean upon appointment and will depend upon the availability of endowment funds and college budgets.
- Typically, funds are used to offset or supplement salary, to support a combination of salary and scholarship/research support, or to exclusively support the holder’s scholarship/research.
- Funds used to support scholarship/research can be used flexibly to support scholarship activities in ways that are in line with the fund agreement and University Policy 11030.
- Generally, in the School of Public Service, up to 60% of proceeds available to the faculty member from the endowment can be used to supplement salary, although this is not guaranteed.
- In early February each year, the Foundation will provide the endowment fund report. Yearly, after that information is received, the SPS Dean, Development Director, and Senior Business Manager will meet to review endowment funds available. The endowment spending is currently ~4% of a 12 quarter rolling average on the fund balance (this can change with Foundation policy).
- After meeting, the Dean will share with the endowed faculty the anticipated endowment income for use in the following fiscal year. The faculty member will need to specify the total amount to be spent on research, and the remainder will be used as a salary supplement (including paying fringe benefits).
- For example, if the anticipated endowment payout is $50,000, and the faculty member designates $20,000 for research, this would leave $30,000 to cover both supplemental salary and fringe (note that the fringe rate is approximately 40% of salary).
- In general, funds will not roll over from year-to-year. Unspent funds will be returned to the endowment. In consultation with the Provost, the Dean may choose to delay filling an endowed faculty position in order to retain the position for strategic recruitment or retention, or to allow the endowment distributions to increase; donor stewardship will be a consideration in this decision.