Specialized Searches

Endowed Chairs and Professorships

In accordance with OU Board of Regents' policy, faculty maybe be appointed to endowed chairs and professorships. To qualify for an endowed chair or professorship, a faculty member must be distinguished within a particular academic field or an interdisciplinary program. For endowed chairs only, a Norman Campus appointee must be a tenured faculty member or must receive tenure on appointment to an endowed chair. Endowed professorships do not carry such stipulations. Specific criteria for the selection of occupants may be established for particular chairs as appropriate.

Requests to Fill an Endowed Chair/Professorship

Deans can now decide how to best fill endowed chairs and professorships and submit these requests for Provost's Office approval.

Procedures for submitting a request to hire a regular faculty line with an endowed chair or professorship are outlined in the October 16, 2023, memo (PDF) from the Provost's Office. The memo includes two templates, one for filling requests internally and the other for requests to conduct an external search.

Appointment Process

1. Once a candidate has been identified, the dean will consult with the Senior Vice President and Provost at the faculty’s assigned campus.
2. The Senior Vice President and Provost, after consultation, may make a recommendation to the President.
3. The President may approve and forward the appointment to the Board of Regents or reject it and request further searching.
4. As stipulated by OU Board of Regents policy 5.1.2.5 the terms of the appointment must be set forth in an appointment letter signed by the Dean and the person to be appointed. At a minimum, the appointment letter must set forth the following: 
   • The duration of the appointment and the timing of the next review; 
   • Any performance expectations or additional duties required by the donor agreement; 
   • Any requirements or limitations regarding the expenditure of funds provided by the appointment; and 
   • Step-down information. 

Academic Chairs and Directors

Before the Search

Before beginning the search for a department chair, the faculty of the department will meet with the dean of the college to discuss the department's needs and expectations for the appointment of a new chair, including the role of the chair, the type of search (internal or national) likely to yield an appropriate candidate, and any budgetary considerations related to the search and appointment. 

• The faculty will recommend to the dean whether the search should be internal or national.
• If the dean disagrees with the department faculty's recommendation for the search type, the dean will meet with the faculty to discuss the reasons for disagreement. However, the dean's decision will be final and must adhere to IEO policies.

Search Committee

For national searches, a search committee will be formed consisting of:

• elected faculty members from the department;
• one or two undergraduate and graduate students, as appropriate; and 
• members appointed by the dean, including one current department chair. 

Elected departmental faculty will constitute the majority. The search committee will review applications and recommend candidates for on-campus visits. 

Recruiting and Hiring

Searches for academic chairs and directors should follow the steps for hiring regular faculty.

• After campus visits by the candidates, both the search committee and the department faculty will list the acceptable candidates and make a recommendation to the dean. The dean will forward his or her recommendation to the Senior Vice President and Provost. 
• The Senior Vice President and Provost will approve all appointments of department chairs before submission to the President's Office and the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents.