DISTINGUISHED FACULTY IN TEACHING,
RESEARCH, AND SERVICE
East Tennessee State University's mission includes the broad triad of teaching, research, and service. Each year the University accords special recognition - through a Distinguished Faculty Award - for three distinguished faculty members whose academic careers represent respectively distinctive and exemplary achievement in each of those areas of its mission.
Recipients of the three distinguished faculty awards emerge each year from a rigorous selection process. Each award carries with it a plaque, a medallion, and a stipend of $7,500 made possible by the priority placed on excellence and by the generosity of those benefactors who comprise the ETSU Foundation.
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Call for Nominations Memo
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Faculty Awards Nomination Instructions
Nominations should be sent to the Office of the Appropriate Dean no later than Friday, March 21, 2025. Nomination forms will be reviewed by the appropriate college selection committee.
Each College Selection Committee will forward the names and materials of their nominees to the Office of the Provost no later than Friday, April 18, 2025.
Selection and Presentation Process
Each year, ETSU will recognize outstanding faculty achievement with three awards, one each for teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and service. Each college can nominate one candidate for each award from the college’s faculty. Criteria for each award as well as materials required for the nomination packets are outlined. These awards are meant to recognize excellence in teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and service while employed at ETSU. While each award is intended to highlight excellence in a single area, the nominees are expected to demonstrate contributions in the areas that are not directly related to their award nomination.
An outstanding nominee is to be chosen for superior achievement in teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, or service cited in the nomination statements submitted. The nomination statement should clearly indicate how the nominee has demonstrated outstanding achievement in the area of teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, or service. The statement should also indicate the faculty member's accomplishments in other areas of responsibility.Nominations
Colleges should adopt specific policies and procedures for submitting nominations. Colleges may consider re-nominating worthy candidates, even though they have not been chosen by the University Selection Committee before. However, the college nominations for each award must not have won the award they are being nominated for in the past.
Nominees and college selection committees are expected to use discretion with regards to the content of the nomination packets. Packets submitted to the Office of the Provost should include only material requested under the sub-heading Award Criteria. Examples of materials that are non-essential and should be excluded include:
Conference program booklets;
Committee meeting announcements, agendas, minutes, etc.;
Thank you letters for the nominee; and
Copies of anything equally accounted for in a vita.
College Selection Committee
Each college dean will select faculty members from their college, or use an appropriate existing committee, to serve on a College Selection Committee for each individual college.
College Selection Committees shall seek to identify the outstanding nominees in its college, based on the nomination materials submitted for each award. The Policy on Definition of Faculty and Types of Faculty Appointments can help nominators determine if an individual is eligible for nomination. Each College Selection Committee will submit its outstanding nominees for each category with a composite supporting statement and nomination materials to the Office of the Provost. The Office of the Provost will provide these nomination materials to a campus-wide ad hoc University Selection Committee that is identified through the Provost’s office.
University Selection Committee
This University Selection Committee, chosen by the Provost in consultation with the deans, will have appropriate representation from the colleges. Members of College Selection Committees are not eligible to serve on the University Selection Committee for that year. The task of the University Selection Committee is to choose from the outstanding nominees, the faculty member to receive each of the three faculty awards. This committee will also submit a composite supporting statement for each nominee, along with the nomination materials.
A list of the nominees will not be released. Nomination statements will be kept strictly confidential and the name of the person chosen to receive each award will be maintained in strict confidence until the awards are presented. All completed nomination forms will be maintained until the presentation of awards, after which time they will be destroyed.
Presentation
Awards shall be presented by the Provost at the Annual Faculty Convocation. Each award shall consist of an appropriately inscribed award, a medallion, and a monetary award of no less than seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). A faculty member may receive a particular award (teaching, research, or service) only once, but may receive each of the three awards.
Guidelines for University Faculty Award Nominations
Nomination materials are to be submitted electronically and logically presented to facilitate review. At minimum, the applicant’s dossier should include the following sections: Original Nomination Form; Dean’s Letter; Supporting Documentation specific to the award; Curriculum Vitae, Letters of Support; and Appendices as appropriate.
Nominees and college-level Selection Committees are expected to use discretion with regards to the content of the nomination packets. Packets should include only material relevant to the award criteria. Examples of materials that are typically non-essential and should be excluded from the packet are as follows:
- Conference program booklets
- Student Evaluation Forms
- Committee meeting announcements, agendas, minutes, etc.
- Thank you letters from the nominee
- Copies of anything that can be equally accounted for in a vita
- Extra title pages
Colleges may consider re-nominating worthy candidates, even though they have not been chosen before.
Colleges should adopt specific policies and procedures for submitting nominations.
Faculty Teaching Award Criteria
The Faculty Teaching Award will be given for consistently superior teaching accomplishments. The teaching considered may be either undergraduate, graduate or both. Only teaching that applies to ETSU students, regardless of the teaching venue or modality, will be considered in making this award. The nominee must be a full-time faculty member as defined in the Policy on Definition of Faculty and Types of Faculty Appointments and have completed at least three (3) full years in service at ETSU. Faculty who have achieved emeritus status no more than one year prior to the nomination are also eligible.
The nomination packet should be created by the faculty member selected with the endorsement of the college committee added. The packet must include the documents listed below.- Nomination form from the College Selection Committee
Reflection written by the faculty nominated (limited to 3 pages) that addresses:
How nominee enacts teaching philosophy;
Discussion about how teaching has evolved and what contributed to the development;
Letters of support written by students (limited to no more than 3 letters)
Letter of support written by the dean (limited to 1 page)
Sample of Student Assessment Instruction (limited to no more than 3 courses)
Curriculum Vita
Unless they are related to teaching effectiveness or pedagogy, copies of the nominee’s publications should not be included.
Faculty Research/Scholarship/Creative Activity Award Criteria
The Faculty Research Award will be given for superior research/scholarship/creative accomplishments. The work for which the award is given must result in publication(s) or in comparable accomplishment(s) in the arts and will only be considered if it was accomplished while serving as a faculty member at ETSU. The nominee must be a full-time faculty member as defined in the Policy on Definition of Faculty and Types of Faculty Appointments and have completed at least three (3) full years in service at ETSU. Faculty who have achieved emeritus status no more than one year prior to the nomination are also eligible.
The nomination packet must include the documents listed below.
Nomination form from the College Selection Committee
Reflection written by the faculty nominated (limited to 3 pages) that addresses:
Impact of Research;
Discussion about how research has evolved and what contributed to the development;
- Letter of support written by the dean (limited to 1 page)
Sample of published research (limited to no more than 3 publications)
Curriculum Vita
Faculty Service Award Criteria
The Faculty Service Award will be given for distinguished service accomplishments achieved during a substantial period prior to the award. The service considered may have been provided to a department, the college, the institution, professional organizations, community organizations, the general public, or a combination of these. Service for which the faculty member received compensation will not be considered in making this award. (Expenses and modest honoraria are not considered compensation.) Only service performed while employed at ETSU will be considered in making this award. The nominee must be a full-time faculty member as defined in the Policy on Definition of Faculty and Types of Faculty Appointments and have completed at least three (3) full years in service at ETSU. Faculty who have achieved emeritus status no more than one year prior to the nomination are also eligible.
The nomination packet must include the documents listed below.
- Nomination form written by the College Selection Committee
Reflection written by the faculty nominated (limited to 3 pages) that addresses:
Service Philosophy and Impact of Service, including an approximate number of hours spent engaged in the service;
Discussion about how service has evolved and what contributed to the development;
Letter of support written by the dean (limited to 1 page)
Testimonial from recipients of nominee’s service (limited to no more than 3 testimonials)
Curriculum Vita
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Faculty Awards Nomination Form