V604.03.01 Faculty Excellence Awards
VCSU provides Faculty Excellence Awards to full time and adjunct faculty who show exceptional dedication and commitment to students and the University by outstanding teaching, scholarly activities, or university service. Four award categories are available: one senior faculty (associate or full professor), one junior faculty (instructor or assistant professor), one adjunct faculty, and one special appointment faculty. The President of VCSU will announce the recipients in early May of the academic year.
A. Award Requirements
1. Faculty and/or supervisors will nominate faculty for consideration (see procedure D).
2. Self-nominations are not acceptable.
3. Nominees must be full-time employees for faculty awards; nominees for the adjunct award must have taught at VCSU for three consecutive years.
4. Nominees must be the appropriate rank for each award.
5. Recipients of a Faculty Excellence Award are ineligible to receive the same Faculty Excellence Award for three academic years following receipt.
B. Award Criteria
Award criteria are open-ended and may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following contributions:
1. Fulfilled goals of the University Strategic Plan (Department, University, state, or other goals)
2. Received recognition for achievement outside of the university
3. Utilized innovative approaches inside or out of the classroom
4. Revitalized or restructured an existing program or initiative
5. Created a new program or initiative
6. Participated in significant cross-departmental collaboration
7. Engaged in significant service or activity (to the University, the public, or the State) that positively impacts the University
8. Provided significant contributions to the individual’s discipline (books, papers, presentations, etc.)
9. Exceeded expectations the job description for the given rank, i.e., “goes above and beyond”
10. Exhibited evidence of other comparable contributions
C. Award Selection
1. Members from the Faculty Advocacy Committee will review the nominations. In the case that a member of the Faculty Advocacy Committee is nominated for an award, that member will recuse themselves from voting in the category they were nominated for. Each vacant position will be filled by a faculty member who has received an excellence award in the previous three academic years on a volunteer basis. The vacancy will be filled in reverse chronological order, when possible, at the direction of the Faculty Advocacy Committee Chair, to achieve five voting persons for each category.
2. Any faculty member who is a nominee cannot be part of the evaluation process.
3. The Faculty Advocacy Committee are not allowed to nominate people.
4. Faculty Advocacy Committee members, which does not include the Chair, (and any substitute members) will take a blind vote without any prior discussion of the nominations. In the case of a tie vote between two individuals, the Faculty Advocacy Committee Chair will be asked to cast a tie-breaking vote.
5. The Faculty Advocacy Committee will forward no more than one recommendation for each award to the President of the University.
6. The President of the University shall review and select the recipient from each category.
7. If there is no nominee in a specific category, no award for that category will be given that year.
D. Procedure for Application
1. The Faculty Advocacy Committee Chair will send out a campus email to call for nominations by the first Friday in December.
2. Faculty and/or supervisors will submit nomination forms to the chair of the Faculty Advocacy Committee, through the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs, by the first Friday in February (form AA-19 Faculty Award of Excellence Nomination is located at https://onestop.vcsu.edu/support/solutions/articles/10000032791-aa-19-faculty-award-of-excellence-nomination).
3. Information on the nomination form will include:
- A specific description of why the person deserves the award (based on criteria in Section B)
- A statement of impact to the University
- One letter of support from students, faculty, staff, administration, or community.
4. Following receipt of the nomination forms, and no later than the first Friday in March, the Faculty Advocacy Committee will request from the nominees the following support documentation:
a. Curriculum Vita
5. The Faculty Advocacy Committee with not consider any late nominations.
6. The Faculty Advocacy Committee will not consider incomplete nomination forms.
7. The Faculty Advocacy Committee will review nominations and support documentation by the first Friday in April and forward one name in each category to the President of the University for approval.
8. The President of the University will notify the recipient in each category by the first Friday in May.
Sponsor: Faculty Advocacy Committee
Effective: December 2014
Revised: March 2016
Revised: November 2018
Revised: February 2021