UCLA Samueli Policy on Endowed Chairs

A. Introduction

  1. The purpose of this policy is to ensure the effective administration of endowed Chair funds to support research and innovation in a manner that broadly benefits the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and that promotes effective stewardship of donations.
  2. In the event of a conflict between a gift agreement in effect prior to the adoption of this policy and the policy itself, the terms of the gift agreement will prevail.
  3. This policy conforms with existing University and campus policies and procedures on endowed chairs (e.g., UC APM 191 and The UCLA Call, Appendix 18, among others). In the event of an unintended conflict, the University and campus policies will prevail.
  4. Donor agreements will reference all relevant University of California and campus policies that apply to endowed chairs.

B. Definitions

  1. Scholarly Allowance – Funds provided annually to the Chair holder to support scholarly work, including but not limited to faculty and post-doctoral scholar salaries, equipment, graduate student financial support, travel and other related expenses. The Scholarly Allowance may be a nominal amount or an actual amount, as described in paragraph C.2.
  2. Excess Payout – Payout from a Chair endowment fund that, according to this policy, exceeds the Scholarly Allowance a Chair holder is eligible to receive or that is produced during a period when the Chair is vacant.
  3. Faculty Excellence Funds – Endowed funds established to support faculty recruitment and retention in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering (#82467E for The UCLA Foundation; #94421 for The Regents).

C: Policy Statement

  1. Endowed Chair funds will produce the annual Scholarly Allowance which will be used to support the work of the Chair holder including but not limited to faculty and post-doctoral scholar salaries, equipment, graduate student financial support, travel and other related expenses as determined by the Chair holder.
  2. The nominal annual Scholarly Allowance is $50,000 for permanent-appointment Chairs and $25,000 for term-appointment Chairs. However, the actual annual Scholarly Allowance will be the lesser of either the annual payout from the endowed Chair fund or the applicable nominal annual Scholarly Allowance.
  3. A Chair holder may not accrue more than two times the nominal annual Scholarly Allowance in their account. To adhere to this limit, Scholarly Allowances shall be reduced, when necessary, resulting in Excess Payout. For example, if a term-appointment Chair holder’s account balance on June 30, 2023 is $40,000 and the Chair fund payout is $30,000, the fiscal year 2023-24 Scholarly Allowance would be $10,000 [(2*$25,000)- $40,000], and there would be $20,000 in Excess Payout ($30,000-$10,000).
  4. The Dean may transfer a portion or all of the Excess Payout to the available balance of the applicable Faculty Excellence Fund, which supports faculty recruitment and retention in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.
  5. The Chief Financial Officer of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, or their equivalent or designee, will review payout accruals at the end of each fiscal year to determine the amount of Excess Payout, if any, and transfer funds in accordance with this policy.
  6. The Dean has sole discretion to grant temporary exceptions to increase the accrual limit (but not to decrease) for the Endowed Chair holder.
  7. Upon request by the Academic Senate Executive Board, not more than once annually, the Dean will provide a summary of that fiscal year’s Excess Payout use(s).

Policy Modifications

  1. Future policy modifications including but not limited to increases in the Scholarly Allowances and accrual limits may be made with approvals of the Dean and the Faculty Executive Committee, in accordance with standard committee procedures and campus policies.