To remain competitive with peer institutions in the recruitment and retention of the best faculty, Georgia Tech has amended its funding levels for endowed chairs and professorships.
The income from endowed faculty positions typically is awarded to the named faculty member in the form of a scholarly allowance to be used by the professor for student support, research support, and academic program enrichment — as opposed to base salary support, which is common among many of Georgia Tech's academic peers. Here's what they now look like:
Funding levels for three other types of endowed faculty positions remain unchanged:
Rafael L. Bras, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs and the K. Harrison Brown Family Chair, has witnessed firsthand the fierce competition among elite universities for top professors. "Georgia Tech faculty are truly some of the best and brightest minds in the world. They bolster the Institute's reputation as a global leader among technological research universities," he said.
"But the world of academia is a competitive place, and recruiting and retaining world-class faculty is reliant upon our ability to make critical investments in their work through endowed chairs and professorships. Growing these investments is vital to the academic enterprise and allows Georgia Tech faculty to continue to push the limits in their respective fields."
The change went into effect in July 2016, though there are a handful of conversations that began prior to the change that will be grandfathered at the previous minimums through December 2016 for payment through December 2021.