Guidelines for Honorary Appointments
The scheme for Honorary Professors and Honorary Fellows is supported by the Governance Team, on behalf of the Registrar. If you have any queries or need further information not covered in the guidance below please contact Governance@nottingham.ac.uk.
There are four categories of Honorary Appointments within the University:
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Honorary Professor (dealt with centrally)
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Honorary Fellow (dealt with centrally)
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Honorary Associate Professor (Schools to appoint/review)
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Honorary Assistant Professor (Schools to appoint/review)
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The aim of the Honorary Appointments is to enable the strengthening of links with industry, commerce and the professions. They are part-time and involve varying and flexible teaching duties (ie. occasional seminars or lectures), collaboration in research, or joint supervision for postgraduate research, but no executive or administrative functions. They confer a courtesy status, and the right to use University facilities (see further information on access, below) and attend degree ceremonies, but not to be a member of Council or Senate or any other formal University committee.
Please note that we are extremely keen to encourage proposals which will enable us to achieve a more diverse range of Honorary Appointments.
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The categories represent different status in University terms and, whilst not prescriptive, the following guide may be helpful:
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- The title Honorary Professor is appropriate for someone worthy of a Chair position at the University or the equivalent, ie. someone very eminent in their field. Nominations for serving academics from other universities (whether in the UK or abroad) may normally be considered only if they hold professorial positions within those institutions. Two references external to the University are required when submitting a nomination. Schools are responsible for taking up references and ensuring that the referees are of suitable seniority whether inside or outside academia. The recommendation for an appointment should include a note of the role or status of each referee. It is advisable to have one of the referees independent of the current employer of the person being nominated. In addition existing Honorary Professors should not be asked to provide references as this would not be considered to be external to the University for this purpose.
- The title Honorary Fellow equates broadly to the Honorary Professor title and is to be used where a senior and eminent appointment is proposed but where it is not appropriate to award the individual concerned an academic title. It is equivalent in status to the Honorary Professor title but it is more appropriate for someone with an industrial/entrepreneurial background. As with Honorary Professor appointments two references external to the University are required when submitting a nomination and Schools are responsible for taking up references and ensuring that the referees are of suitable seniority whether inside or outside academia. The recommendation for an appointment should include a note of the role or status of each referee. At least one of the referees should be independent of the current employer of the person being nominated. In addition existing Honorary Professors or Fellows should not be asked to provide references.
- The title Honorary Associate Professor should only be conferred on those who would be deemed appropriate for an Associate Professor appointment within the University.
- Honorary Assistant Professor status applies to the majority of appointments made.
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UK Heads of School are sent details of the scheme in February each year asking for any Honorary Professor or Honorary Fellow recommendations. These will be considered by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor (acting on delegated authority from Council) supported by the Registrar.
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Instructions will go separately to Provosts at the University of Nottingham Malaysia and University of Nottingham Ningbo China. In each case they will arrange for nominations to be invited from their Schools and Faculties and considered by an appropriately constituted group chaired by the Provost. UNMC and UNNC Honorary Appointments follow the same criteria as UK appointments but decision making is devolved to each campus.
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Appointments are made for a three-year period, from 1 August, after which time the School has the option to renew the appointment for a further period. All letters of appointment to Honorary Professors and Honorary Fellows are issued centrally and copied to the Head of School. At UNNC and UNMC letters are issued from the Provost's office and copied to the School and the Registrar in the UK.
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If the person making a recommendation is not a Head of School or Faculty PVC or Dean, then confirmation is required that the Head of School or Faculty PVC or Dean is aware of the nomination and is in agreement.
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Proposals should be channelled through the appropriate School via the School Manager/Administrator. The Schools will set their own internal deadline for proposals before the Honorary Professor nominations are forwarded to the Registrar's or Provost's Office.
Please note that, because of the special circumstances surrounding honorary titles for medical doctors, the School of Medicine in the UK has a different application form for Honorary Professor nominations. Applications are co-ordinated through the School of Medicine and medical appointments prepared by other Schools will be submitted to and considered by the School of Medicine. This does not apply to Honorary Fellow appointments. The forms are available through the School of Medicine staffing administrator. Colleagues may find it useful to have early informal discussions with the PVC Medicine and Health Sciences or the Dean of the School of Medicine.
In addition, applications from within the Faculty of Engineering, UK should be channelled through the Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
Further information on access to the University's facilities
Honorary Appointments in the UK are able to secure access to some of the University's facilities as set out below:
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Access to IT facilities - Honorary Appointments are entitled to have access to the University's IT facilities (ie. email, etc). The relevant School Manager should be the first contact to arrange the setting up of an associate account. Please note that an assessment is made on an individual basis to confirm requirements and this is done at School level. The University has licence agreements in place, governing the use of software by staff and students, and must ensure that these are not breached.
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Access to libraries - All Honorary Appointments are able to obtain an Associate University Card, which gives access to the libraries, however, they must be registered first as an associate in the University's IT accounts system (as set out above).
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/estates/universitycard/associate-applications.aspx
Note for Honorary Appointee - once set up on the IT system you may visit the Security Office at the rear of the Hallward Library on University Park where a photograph will be taken and the associate card produced. Should access to restricted buildings be required then the account sponsor will be contacted to determine the access rights applicable.
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Sports facilities - Honorary Appointments are eligible to purchase sports membership as an Associate of the University. Please see the Department of Sports web page for more information. Proof of status for an Honorary Appointment would be their invitation letter from the Registrar or School. Associate sports and fitness memberships allow use of the sports facilities across all three campuses (University Park, Jubilee and Sutton Bonington) - including fitness suites, group exercise classes, court and pitch bookings and at the David Ross Sports Village the swimming pool and climbing wall.
Similar arrangements will be in place for Appointees in Malaysia and China.
Registrar
updated March 2024