CUNY Distinguished Professors Protocol

CUNY Distinguished Professors

Purpose: The title of Distinguished Professor is conferred on an individual by the University Board of Trustees in recognition of exceptional scholarly achievement. The purpose of these appointments is to recruit new faculty or retain existing faculty whose appointments enrich the University, especially when candidates require special incentives to influence their decision to accept an offer or to remain within the University. These appointments are expected to contribute to CUNY’s commitment to recruit and retain an excellent faculty representing a rich diversity of gender and ethnicity.

CUNY Guidelines and Procedures

• Please see http://www.cuny.edu/about/alumni-students-faculty/faculty/dp/guidelines.html for CUNY nomination guidelines.
• The deadline for submission of all nomination materials to CUNY Office of Academic Affairs is November 1
• The number of CUNY DPs is limited to 250 under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
• CUNY requires that each college provides documentation of the processes used, up to the point of submission of the case from the College, including an account of the process by which external evaluators' letters were solicited.

Hunter Guidelines and Procedures

• Recommendations for promotion to Distinguished Professor may originate with the faculty member’s unit or with the administration. For consideration in time for the next CUNY deadline, recommendations should be submitted by November 1st of the prior academic year.
• The Dean and Department Chair must discuss all suggested DP candidates with the President and Provost at the beginning of the candidate’s consideration. No action may be taken unless and until the President and Provost indicate initial support for the nomination.
• Once the President and Provost recommend to proceed with the nomination, the department proceeds to assemble a portion of materials required for the DP nomination:
• The candidate’s CV (any academic format);
• The candidate’s research statement;
• A list of proposed external reviewers, including a short paragraph for each that establishes each evaluator as a widely recognized authority in the candidate’s field who can provide an objective analysis of the candidate’s qualifications. The list should be proposed by the department P&B, following consultation with the prospective nominee.
• The Department Chair will work with the Provost’s office to draft the solicitation letter according to CUNY guidelines;
• Original copies of the external letters of evaluation (CUNY requires at least 10 letters from full professors or people of comparable standing outside the academy who are widely recognized authorities in the nominee’s field and can provide objective analyses of the nominee’s qualifications; Hunter usually includes 15 or more);
• CVs of the external letter writers
• Representative articles/books/creative works;
• Candidates’ nomination package for DP must be voted on by their department’s P&B, their school/division P&B, the FP&B subcommittee on DPs, and the full FP&B, and be approved by the President of Hunter College.
• If the President approves the nomination of a faculty member, the Provost’s Office works with the candidate and the candidate’s chair to complete the nomination package with the following required materials and then forwards it to the CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost:
• A letter of nomination by the President.
• A letter of nomination by the Provost.
• The candidate’s CV.
• A report from the candidate’s department chair.
• Documentation of the Hunter College approval process, including an account of the process by which external evaluator’s letters were solicited and a copy of the solicitation letter.
• Documentation of Departmental, Divisional, and FP&B voteso A list of the external reviewers.
• External letters of evaluation on letterheado CVs of the external letter writers.
• Representative articles/books/creative works.
• A draft resolution for the Board of Trustees in support of Promotion to Distinguished Professor

A full checklist of materials is here:
https://www.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/page-assets/alumni-students-faculty/faculty/distinguished-professors/include/checklist/DP_Submission-Checklist-FINAL-2022-11.pdf