Emeritus, Academic and Visiting Status

1. Emeritus Status - may be awarded to a retired member of the University to recognise their continued membership of the University community. Emeritus status may also be awarded to staff who have left the University to take up an appointment elsewhere.

• Emeritus Professor - the title of Emeritus Professor will be awarded to suitably qualified retired professors of the University.
• Emeritus Fellow - the title of Emeritus Fellow will be awarded to distinguished retired academic or general staff who have served significantly above the level of service normally expected of a senior staff member within the University community.

2. Academic Status - Individuals who do not hold an employment relationship (noting the exemption provided for ‘teaching specialists') with the University, but are able to contribute to the research, education, and related activities or service to the University may be conferred an academic title and academic status in recognition of their contribution.  Academic status holders will be awarded an academic title in accordance with the ANU academic levels.  Academic status may be awarded as one of three categories:

• Full academic status - may be awarded to an academically qualified employee of another institution who has a high level of continuing commitment to ANU's education or research activities. Full academic status is considered the most prestigious of the academic status categories. Examples of contributions may include the development, preparation and presentation of courses or the conduct of a research program.
• Adjunct academic status - may be awarded to an individual with relevant professional experience, who has a continuing commitment to the University's education or research activities. Examples of contributions may include the supervision of a postgraduate student or teaching of a particular topic or segment of a course as a specialist with expertise in the field.
• Clinical academic status - may be awarded to a professionally qualified employee of another institution who is a practicing clinician and has a continuing commitment to ANU's research and education activities.
• Professional specialists status - may be awarded to a professionally qualified (non academic) person (such as a lawyer or doctor) to enable full or adjunct status titles to be granted in conjunction with a casual/sessional employment arrangement. This category is suitable where it is of benefit to the ANU to recognise a suitably distinguished professional specialist as an academic member of the University. It is not designed to provide all casual/sessional staff with academic titles and should not be used as a substitute for academic employment arrangements. All payments made to professional specialists must be made through ANU payroll in conjunction with their casual/sessional employment.

3. Visiting Status - may be awarded to individuals who do not hold an employment relationship with the University and who attend (visit) the University for a set period of time to engage in collaborative activities and contribute to the research or educational activities of the University. The distinguishing difference between academic and visiting status is that academic status is awarded to individuals who are maintaining an affiliation with the University, but may not be physically located on the campus. Visiting status is awarded to individuals who are actually visiting the University, for a set period of time. Visitors do not hold an employment relationship with the University.

• Visiting Academic - Visiting Academic status will be awarded to individuals from other academic institutions who engage in activities which contribute to the goals of the University.
• College/School/Departmental Visitor - Individuals who are part of a University outreach program or related activity and require access to University facilities may be recognised as College/School/Departmental visitors.

Scope of activities

4. Individuals holding honorary status will not be required to undertake routine or specific duties in accordance with a role statement, but will be required to regularly contribute to the research, education, service or collaborative activities of the University as agreed by the relevant College delegate.  With the approval of the relevant College delegate, an individual holding honorary status may:

• Be a member or the Chair of a supervisory panel of a student studying for a research award;
• Be the supervisor of a student studying for a postgraduate degree; and
• Hold University delegations, the nature of which must be expressly stated in their letter of offer.

Conditions

5. Individuals holding honorary status will be eligible for the following conditions during their affiliation with the University:

Titles 

Emeritus Status holders will be awarded the title of ‘Emeritus Professor' or ‘Emeritus Fellow' depending on the level of the nominee. Council will note Emeritus Professors and Emeritus Fellows who have been approved at the first meeting in a given year.  Individuals who hold Emeritus Status will be included in the appropriate Roll of Honour following the meeting of Council.

Full Academic Status holders may be awarded standard ANU academic titles such as ‘Research Fellow' or ‘Professor' where it is considered they hold equivalent status or standing;

Adjunct, Clinical and Visiting Status holders will be awarded standard ANU academic titles with the appropriate prefix (for example ‘Adjunct Fellow', ‘Clinical Associate Professor' or ‘Visiting Professor').

College/School/Departmental Visitors will not be awarded an academic title, and will be known simply as ‘College, School or Department Visitor', whichever is most appropriate. Approval for visitors may be made by the budget unit manager where no access to resources such as ANU email, internet, computing or library services are required and by the College Dean/College Director where access to such resources to required.

Access to facilities and services

Individuals holding honorary status, except College/School/Departmental Visitors, will have access to the University's information infrastructure and services, office accommodation, facilities, resources, equipment and premises under conditions agreed by the relevant College delegate.

Where it is proposed that a College/School/Departmental Visitor be provided with access to ANU email, internet, computing or library services, a case must be made to authorise such access to the College Head. A service charge of $100 pa (pro rata for less than a year), payable to the DOI Finance Unit, will apply except where the College Head certifies that the contribution made by the visitor in terms of research and/or education exceeds the service costs incurred. Any other cases seeking an exemption from this charge may be referred to the Director, Human Resources.

Research grants and scholarships

The eligibility of an honorary status holder to apply for or be named in research grants will depend on the funding body and their individual rules and regulations.  Further advice should be sought from the Research Office prior to proceeding with research funding applications involving honorary status holders. 

Academic promotion

Clinical status holders will be eligible for promotion in accordance with the Academic Promotion policy.  Emeritus and all other status holders are not eligible for promotion. 

Insurance

Honorary status holders, with the exception of contractors, are covered by the University's insurance policies as volunteers.  Volunteer cover includes: personal accident; public liability; professional indemnity; and employment practices.  Full details of cover provided, including claim procedures, are provided on the ANU Insurance Office webpage.

It should be noted that honorary status holders who are non Australian residents or citizens are not covered by Medicare and the University advises that individuals seek their own private health cover. 

Contractors must provide their own Professional Indemnity and Public Liability policies and determine their own requirements for Workers Compensation or Personal Accident Insurance.

Responsibilities and requirements

6. Individuals holding honorary status with the University will:

• Be assigned an ANU staff member who will oversee their activities;
• Act in accordance with the Code of Conduct and comply with all relevant policies and procedures;
• Negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement in the event the University wishes to claim an interest in the Intellectual Property developed during the period of honorary status;
• Acknowledge their honorary status in any public statements made during the period of the honorary status and not imply any representation of such views as being those of the University; and
• Participate in the academic activities of the relevant College, School or Department where appropriate.

Review of Honorary Status

7. The University reserves the right to review its grant of honorary status at any time and may alter the category or revoke honorary status, where it is in the best interest of the University to do so. Decisions to alter or withdraw honorary status are at the discretion of the relevant delegated authority who is authorised to confer such honorary status.

Nomination

8. All honorary status appointees must be nominated, in writing, to the appropriate delegate (see ‘Approval' below). Nominations will be made using the appropriate nomination form and include details of the nominee and how they meet the eligibility criteria.

Emeritus Status - the nomination case must include:

• A brief case outlining the grounds for granting emeritus status; and
• Details of the nominee including career activities. A copy of the CV must be attached.

Academic Status - the nomination case must include:

• A justification for the nominee - their qualities, achievements and standing must be consistent for the level and type of honorary status sought. A copy of the nominee's CV must be attached;
• The proposed contribution and how it will benefit the University;
• Confirmation that the nominee's substantive (home) employment arrangements are sufficiently flexible to facilitate the engagement;
• Consideration of Intellectual Property issues, in accordance with the ANU's Intellectual Property policy, and the development of an Intellectual Property Agreement if required (copy must be attached to nomination, if relevant); and
• Confirmation that consideration of insurance issues has occurred (such as whether the substantive (home) employer will cover workers compensation and professional indemnity or whether private cover is required).

Visiting Academic - the nomination case must include:

• A justification for the status including the proposed activities in which the visitor will engage;
• Details of the nominee including career activities and current appointment. A copy of the CV must be attached; and
• Confirmation that consideration of insurance issues has occurred (such as whether the substantive (home) employer will cover workers compensation and professional indemnity or whether private cover if required).

College/School/Departmental Visitors - the nomination case must include:

• The proposed activities in which the visitor will engage;
• Details of the facilities access requirements; and
• Confirmation that consideration of insurance issues has occurred (such as whether the substantive (home) employer will cover workers compensation and professional indemnity or whether private cover is required).

Payment Options

9. Honorary Status holders may be in receipt of payment from the University in relation to their engagement with the University, subject to the following conditions.
10. Payment options must be compliant with taxation, immigration and employment legislative requirements.\
11. The University may transfer money directly to the home institution of the Honorary Status holder so that payment can be issued directly to the individual by their home institution.
12. Payment options are split into two broad categories based on the nature of the payment that is to be provided to the Honorary Status Holder:

Payment for the cost of travel and associated living expenses only

Where the only payment provided to the honorary status holder is for expenses incurred in taking up the honorary arrangement with ANU (such as travel, meals, accommodation and related incidentals), the following options are available.  Please note that all living expenses covered by the University must be considered ‘reasonable' as deemed by the Australian Taxation Office rates. 

• Reimbursement to the individual of expenses incurred on the provision of receipts (paid through the University's finance system)
• Payment of a Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) through the University's finance system. Where eligible, an Honorary Status holder who is genuinely living away from their usual residence can receive an allowance (the LAFHA) from the University. The LAFHA is a taxation benefit to the individual, and the decision to take up a LAFHA must be made by the Honorary Status holder with full understanding of the Australian Taxation Office conditions relating to the LAFHA and related taxation implications. An ATO compliant declaration is also required for receipt of this form of payment. This declaration has been incorporated into the letter of offer.

Travel expenses can be paid directly by the University (such as direct payment of airfares to airlines and accommodation to hotels) to avoid the need for the above options, when appropriate. 

Payment for services rendered

Where payment is in relation to the activities of the honorary status holder, the individual must be classed as either an employee of the University or a contractor to determine an appropriate payment avenue.  Determination of the category is made by applying the ‘contractor test'. 

• Contractors may be paid an amount agreed between the individual and the ANU. Contractors must sign and agree to a contract arrangement detailing the terms and conditions of their engagement. A University template is provided under the letters of offer templates. Payment to contractors is made through the University's finance system.
• Where the contractor test determines the relationship is an employment arrangement, the individual will no longer be considered under the Honorary Status policy or this procedure, and all terms and conditions of the arrangement will be determined by the University's Enterprise Agreement and related employment policies.

13. Guidelines on payment options and the associated immigration and insurance implications are provided for under the ‘Visitors Payment Guidelines'.

Approval

14.  All appointments will be approved by the relevant delegate (below) and made in accordance with the Honorary Status (Emeritus, Academic Status and Visitors) policy and this procedure.

Emeritus Status

• The delegate for the appointment of emeritus status is the Vice-Chancellor. Nominations received must be made by or endorsed by the relevant College Dean or College Director.

Academic status

• The delegate for appointment at levels A - D is the relevant College Dean or College Director; and
• The delegate for appointment at level E is the Vice-Chancellor. Nominations received must be made by or endorsed by the relevant College Dean or College Director.

Visiting Status

• The delegate for the appointment of visiting status is the relevant College Dean or College Director.

School/departmental visitors

• The delegate for the appointment of College/School/Departmental visitors is the relevant head of budget unit unless access to ANU resources are required (see clause 5) in which case the Delegate is the College Dean/College Director.

Appointment

15. All honorary status holders will be issued with a formal letter confirming their status arrangements.
16. All individuals granted honorary status with the University must have their details (including Visa type) recorded in the HR Management System (HRMS) for record keeping and reporting.
17. Offers of honorary status will usually be for the duration of the relationship and will have an end date. With approval from the relevant delegate, honorary status appointments may be extended.
18. Academics who intend to visit the University and who are not Australian citizens or residents will be required to obtain the appropriate visa for entry into Australia. Appropriate visas for honorary status holders are outlined in the flowchart Academic Visitors (Payments, Visas and Insurance) and an appropriate visa will be detailed in the letter of offer.

Honorary_status.pdf (59.4 KB)

20/06/2011 - Removed the words: "directors and officers" from under the Insurance section

01/02/2011 - Updated to include new category of paid teaching staff with honorary title.

13/04/2010 - Amendment to the Access to facilities and services charge (from $500 to $100)  and conditions, and to nomenclature (College Heads instead of College Dean). 

20/01/2010 - Updated Insurance section - added text and footnote references.

New Procedure