Guidelines for Selection of Distinguished Faculty Service Award

Purpose

The Distinguished Faculty Service Award (DFSA) seeks to recognize full-time faculty of the University for a record of outstanding contributions in service to the University.

Criterion

The recipient must demonstrate distinction through dedication of their talents, experience, and leadership skills to activities that sustain, develop, and improve the University. Examples of eligible service may include some or all of the following: formal and informal activities of high quality in faculty governance, committee work, policy improvement, program creation, aid to external constituencies, stewardship of University resources; or other notable accomplishments. Either a long-term record of sustained excellent service to the University or a single accomplishment of extraordinary service may qualify a faculty member for this award.

Selection Process

Each year, there will be up to three recipients of this award. The process of selecting awardees has three steps. First, a colleague or department chair may nominate a candidate for the award by writing a letter to the individual's dean and the chair of the Faculty Review Panel (“Review Panel”).  Second, the Review Panel will vet the initial letters submitted on behalf of the nominees, solicit additional materials from each finalist’s department chair, and narrow the pool of candidates. Finally, the university-wide Faculty Award Selection Committee (“Selection Committee”) will review materials submitted on behalf of the recommended candidates and provide a recommendation to the Provost. Each of these steps is described in detail below.

Nominations

An individual may be nominated for the award by a colleague or their department chair or dean. The nomination process begins with a letter to the nominee’s dean and the chair of the school’s Review Panel identifying specific outstanding aspects of the nominee’s performance that support the award’s purpose. Nomination letters should relate accomplishments to the criteria for the award and provide evidence for statements. This letter should be no more than 3 pages in length. All full-time faculty of the University are eligible for the Distinguished Faculty Service Award.  An individual may receive this award only once. 

Recommendations

Within the schools of Law and Business, the dean will appoint a Faculty Review Panel to review letters of nomination. Within the School of Arts & Sciences, the Steering Committee will convene the Faculty Review Panel. The Review Panel should comprise of 3-5 faculty members. Within the schools of Leadership and Professional & Continuing Studies, the dean will determine an appropriate size for the Faculty Review Panel.  The Review Panel will narrow the pool of nominees and will use the nomination letter, candidate’s CV, and other supporting materials in their deliberations. Chairs of the Review Panel may also, at their discretion, correspond with nominees for clarification or additional information. After the final selection is made, the Chairs of the Review Panel will notify the dean and supply the Selection Committee with the finalists’ packets of nomination letters and vitas. Deliberations and all activities of the Review Panel shall remain confidential.

The number of individuals recommended for the award by each School is suggested to be:

  • Professional & Continuing Studies - up to 1 candidate
  • Leadership - up to 1 candidate
  • Law - up to 1 candidate
  • Business - up to 1 candidate
  • Arts & Sciences - up to 4 candidates

These limits are to encourage schools to choose their best candidates for submission to the Selection Committee. Exceptions can be made on a rare occasion; if a school has an unusually large number of outstanding candidates in a given year, the dean should confer with the Selection Committee Chair about the number of nominees that the Committee will accept.

Selection

The university-wide Faculty Award Selection Committee will review the nominations submitted by the Review Panels from all schools. The Selection Committee may, at its discretion, request additional information from any individual regarding the candidates. The Selection Committee is charged to simply select the best candidate(s) from the pool of nominees. 

Deliberations and all activities of the Selection Committee shall remain confidential. The Selection Committee will forward their recommendation of the best candidate(s) to the Provost of the University for final approval. The Provost will notify the winner(s) and their school dean.

Timetable for the Award Process

Key dates for the various steps in the process are as shown below:

  • January 15. During the Spring semester, but no later than January 15, the Office of the Provost will send a letter to all constituencies, inviting them to submit nominations for the DFSA to the nominee's dean and the chair of the Review Panel.
  • February 25. Nominations will be accepted by the school deans and the chair of the Review Panel until February 25.
  • March 1. Within each school, the chair of the Faculty Review Panel will forward letters of nomination, vitas, and any other supporting materials to all committee members for review by March 1.
  • March 31. The Review Panel within each school will make their final selection by March 31. The chair of the Review Panel will notify the dean and supply the Selection Committee with the finalists’ packets of nomination letters and vitas. The chair of the Selection Committee will forward packets of nomination letters and vitas to all committee members for review.
  • April 30. The Selection Committee will meet to discuss and select awardee(s) and establish a process for writing summaries of awardee(s), which are due to the Provost by May 15.   
  • May 15. The Selection Committee will submit 250-word summaries describing the work of each awardee to the Provost of the University by May 15. Awards may be announced during the last faculty meeting of the year, at opening colloquy, or at another time to be determined by the Provost and/or Selection Committee.