WEEKEND READING: Free speech, free labour and emeritus professors

This blog was kindly authored by Dr Paul Greatrix, Director of Higher Education Consultancy, Shakespeare Martineau and Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education, Shakespeare Martineau.

The recent press release by the Office for Students (OfS) trumpeting the launch of its new free speech complaints scheme includes the following statement:

The complaints scheme rules confirm that staff (including academics and applicants to academic posts), visiting speakers and others including emeritus professors, can make a complaint to the OfS where they believe their free speech rights have been infringed.

It is not entirely clear why emeritus professors are picked out as a group that may need particular attention with their free speech complaints, as the reality is that the rules as published actually cover any former member of staff. There is no special status for emeritus professors as listed in those eligible to complain are:

a. a person who is or was a member or member of staff of the registered higher education provider or constituent institution (as the case may be);

As it happens, a subsequent OfS press announcement, on the day of the launch of the new scheme omitted the special mention of emeritus professors. Nevertheless, this did prompt some speculation about what was going on with this very distinct category of former university staff.

Additional provisions for academics

In one area though, academics are a special case. It is important to note there is a specific additional right for academic staff (not others) applying for roles where they feel they have suffered unfairly (presumably by not being appointed) because the institution has failed to uphold its obligations in terms of free speech and academic freedom.

Free speech and academic freedom are fundamental aspects of academic life and, although the rules of the free speech complaints scheme do extend to all staff, there is an expectation that most of the complaints submitted will be from academics.

Given all of this, it is not quite clear why the OfS press release has chosen emeritus professors as the specific category of former staff members to highlight. It might be because there have been several very public complaints in recent years from emeritus professors, supported by campaign groups, about their free speech allegedly being curtailed.

 What is an emeritus professor?

The ideas behind the emeritus professor title are positive ones. In general terms, the award of the title is about recognition and supporting the academic to continue to engageme with the institution, particularly in terms of research. The status, though, is usually completely honorary. Unless a specific additional employment contract (which is often precluded by the relevant emeritus appointment regulations) has been negotiated, then the position remains an entirely informal one.

Beyond the recognition of substantial and distinguished service to the university, the award of the emeritus title enables an ongoing relationship regarding research contributions and broader scholarly activity such as PhD supervision and mentoring of junior academic staff.

For someone awarded the title, it is often seen as a recognition of their achievement: an ongoing mark of respect. Over time, for some institutions, this has turned into an expectation for all retiring professors and might even be used as a carrot to encourage early retirement.

There are many different models out there and even more views of what the title should really mean.  

57 varieties

There are no hard and fast rules about emeritus professor appointments and every institution approaches the role slightly differently. In many cases there are variations within institutions about how emeritus appointments are made and operate in practice.:

One institution emphasises the honorary nature of the award 

Emeritus status is an honorary category of appointment.  An Emeritus Professor does not have any employment rights…If a professor continues working part-time…they will not be considered to have retired and therefore will not be eligible for Emeritus status until they retire completely.

For another, the award is automatic subject to time served:

Emeritus status is conferred automatically on all full Professors, Professorial Research Fellows, Professorial Lecturers and Professors in Practice upon full retirement, subject to them having been employed… for a minimum of four years.

Some stress the ceremonial nature of the role:

The Vice-Chancellor shall have power to confer the title of Emeritus Professor upon any Professor of the University on or after his or her retirement so long as the Professor in question does not hold another Office of a similar character. An Emeritus Professor shall, for all purposes of courtesy and on ceremonial occasions, be upon the same footing as other Professors of the University.

Another institution delegates the decision on the award of the title to its HR department following consultation and assuming that various criteria regarding length of service and not being subject to ongoing disciplinary issues have been met. There is also a process for rescinding the title should that be felt to be necessary.

At heart though these are all clearly honorary positions with no legal employment status (unless a separate contract of employment has been agreed which would be precluded in some cases) and no-one should really expect the rights and responsibilities of employees to be associated with the role.

But because of the longevity of the system and the different models there are plenty of examples where things may look a bit different.

Benefits and privileges

 Emeritus professors, once appointed, enjoy the prestige of the continuing use of the title and the association with their former employer, something which can feel really valuable if they are continuing with their research. But another part of the package they would be hoping for or expecting would include more tangible benefits such as:

• Continued use of an institutional email address and related online provisions;
• Use of the Library and related research facilities;
• Online journal access and support, including financial, with research publication;
• Physical office space in their previous home department;
• Laboratory space, technician support and time using major facilities;
• And possibly even car parking.

 It is perhaps understandable that many are keen to acquire the status of emeritus.

A two-way street

The model works for both parties though as the university also benefits from what is essentially free academic labour from the emeritus professor. By retaining their involvement in the university’s research activities this enables a continuing linkage with any ongoing research projects, grants and collaborations but also previous publications. All of this contributes in greater or lesser ways to supporting the institution’s position in terms of external research assessment and has become more important in the past decades.

The ongoing involvement of the emeritus professor means that they can also continue to supervise PhD students (and possibly undertake a few broader teaching commitments should an emergency arise) as well as sustaining any partnerships or relationships with other institutions where they were involved.

The university undoubtedly benefits from these contributions based on the knowledge that some professors really do not want to leave behind the work which may have defined the largest part of their working lives.

 Not all plain sailing

While these remain honorary titles, the risks for institutions are increasing. There have been reports recently of complaints by individuals that titles have been wrongly withheld or terminated because the institution disapproved of things they had said. Disagreements about what resources, services and facilities emeritus professors should be entitled to are not uncommon, especially as institutions tighten their belts and seek to find savings. In other cases, emeritus professors have been accused by current staff and/or students of harassment, creating potential liability for their institutions.

Time to change

No doubt then that free speech and emeritus professor cases will be hitting the OfS this autumn. This really does feel like a bit of a mess though which could do with being cleared up to prevent future distress.

One quite different approach might be for universities to go all in on developing the post-retirement staff community (including through retirement living complexes as can be found on some US campuses) to sustain an ongoing commitment to and from retired academics and professional staff. This seems perhaps a little unlikely in the current climate but does offer a more positive route perhaps than arguments about online journal access and free speech issues. It could indeed be argued that several universities already have something close to this in place.

Perhaps the clearest and cleanest way forward would be for institutions to abandon the practice of awarding the title altogether. Where there is a wish to retain a formal connection with a retiring academic (professor or otherwise) then this should be on the basis of a shared understanding of the obligations and responsibilities of both parties and clarity about facilities provided and payment to be expected for ongoing work. But this would not be an open-ended lifelong commitment and could be concluded or extended with periods of notice as agreed between the parties. While universities may decide that they would still like a title to go alongside these arrangements, at least it will be clearer what the expectations are and when that title and the rights and responsibilities which go with it will no longer apply.

The status of emeritus professor represents a somewhat archaic employment (or rather non-employment) practice in higher education which really does need to be addressed. Removing the title altogether may feel like a step too far for some but clarity on mutual obligations, rights and responsibilities is necessary to avoid future problems.