General Guidelines

• Each unit is limited to initiating proposals for two assistant or associate faculty positions and for one cluster of two to four faculty positions. The unit may collaborate on an unlimited number of cluster proposals. (A unit is defined as an academic program, department or non-departmentalized school or college for the purposes of this document.)
• The initiator of a proposal can be either the unit head (chair, director, or dean) or a senior faculty member.
• The proposals are due to the deans on November 15, 2011.
• Deans shall review and send forward all proposals received within the college/school and give a “yes” or “no” recommendation for each proposal.
  • In addition to the college/school’s proposals, the dean shall forward a completed Transmittal Form to the Office of the Provost . The Transmittal Form includes a listing of all proposals, the requested positions, the units from which they originate, and the yes/no recommendation of the dean.
• Deans will forward all proposals with their recommendations to the Provost by December 10, 2011.
• Cluster proposals should identify a Lead Dean. In addition, the proposed cluster should be referenced on the Transmittal Form of each participating college/school.

• Academic units which can receive ‘A’ funds and which teach undergraduate, professional, and/or graduate courses are eligible to submit a proposal.

• Proposals must identify current (or existing) funding commitments from the unit and/or its college/school to cover:
• the salary and fringe benefits for the faculty position(s) (recurring funds)
• the college’s and unit’s percentage of the start-up funding; and
• any space allocation or renovations.
• Units must hire faculty in positions awarded through the FRI within a two-year period. The faculty members must be hired no later than August 16, 2014.
• Position advertisements must be submitted for publication no later than September 1, 2012, in one or more written and/or electronic national publications. Proof of advertisement must be sent to the Office of the Provost by September 1, 2012. Positions offered to non-U.S. citizens must have been advertised in a written national publication.

Candidates for faculty positions may be hired either as associate professors with tenure or as tenure-track assistant or associate professors.

Desired characteristics of assistant and associate professor hires:

• Academically excellent with strong teaching and research records.
• Excellent teacher of undergraduate, graduate and/or professional students.
• Ability to add strength in an existing or emerging area of scholarship or ability to start a new area of scholarship.
• Dedicated mentor for undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional students.
• Ability to enrich research/scholarly/creative environment.

Start-up costs will be a cooperative responsibility of the unit, college/school, and the Office of the Provost. The college/school will present the Office of the Provost with an estimated start-up budget in the proposal and will refine the start-up budget during negotiations with the faculty candidate.

• The proposal must provide estimates of the amount of funding committed by unit and college/school.
• Start-up funding (non-recurring) may be requested from the Office of the Provost in the proposals and finalized no later than when the request for approval to extend an offer is made. The Office of the Provost will typically provide between one-third to one-half of the start-up costs.
• Units will be responsible for all space allocation/renovations required for the new hire(s). The Academic Space Needs and Planning Committee will assist academic units which need assistance in finding space for the new faculty.

Proposal Application and Review Process

Proposals should be submitted as a single file MS Word format and drafted using 12 point font with 1-inch margins.
Additionally, each proposal should be assembled with the following components:

1. Title page that states:
1. Title of proposal.
2. Whether proposal is for single faculty hire or for a cluster hire.
3. Proposed funding plan for position(s) including total request for funds.
4. Name, title, department, college, and phone number of each related unit head.
2. Maximum three-page narrative that provides:
1. Statement of the eligibility of the unit(s).
2. Description of the proposed position(s).
3. Impact on the unit’s teaching at the undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional levels.
4. Impact on enriching the scholarly environment of the unit and across units when appropriate.
5. Impact on developing a research area, filling a research or teaching void, or completing the team in a research area.
6. For a cluster hire, the proposal must address all of the above requirements and must also describe the need for and value of the inter- or intra-disciplinary scholarly area or the subfields that the cluster hire addresses.
3. A request for start-up funds (non-recurring) from the Provost, including justification, and a description of the fiscal and space commitments of the unit and its college/school
4. Required letters of commitment and/or support from all unit heads and deans related to proposal.  A letter of support from unit head of initiating unit to the unit dean is required.

Complete proposal packets should be submitted as follows: 

1. The proposals are due to the deans on November 15, 2011.
2. Dean should submit proposals electronically in MS Word to the Office of the Provost at provost@sc.edu before 5:00 pm on deadline date.
3. Proposal Submission Deadline: December 10, 2012.
   

Review Process

• The Provost will chair a review committee of vice provosts and selected senior faculty.
• Deans will be notified of the status of all submitted proposals by March 1, 2011.

[BACK TO TOP]

Documents and Forms

• Program Summary Document (PDF)
• Endorsement Form (Word)
• Transmittal Form (Word)

Questions? For more information, contact:

• Dr. Christine W. Curtis, Senior Vice Provost
• Derlene Lowder, Academic Research Analyst