The University Senate of Michigan Technological University


PROPOSAL 7-99

FACULTY DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

The Senate recommends the adoption of the following University policy and procedures that deal with establishing and carrying on the Faculty Distinguished Service Award.

1. There shall be established at Michigan Technological University a Faculty Distinguished Service Award as a recognition of superior and exceptional service activities by a member of the MTU faculty. Such an award shall add recognition in the third arena of the faculty-required activity, complementing the two already established University-level awards, the Distinguished Teaching Award and Distinguished Research Award.

2. All full-time lecturers and assistant, associate, and full professors are eligible to receive the award. Adjunct, visiting, temporary, and part-time faculty and staff members, as well as others on such restricted appointments, are not eligible for the award. Faculty who hold full- or part-time administrative appointments (e.g., deans, associate deans, department chairs, etc.) are also not eligible for the award. The award need not be presented every year, and may be presented to the same person only once in ten years.

3. An MTU Service Award Committee shall be established to administer the award. The committee shall administer all aspects of the nomination and selection process and will report to the Provost. The process of nomination, evaluation, and final selection shall be handled as discreetly as possible. All discussions of the committee shall be confidential and there shall be no formal announcement of the nominees and the committee's recommendation.

4. The committee shall be composed of two representatives of the University Senate (to be elected by the Senate), two representatives of the faculty (to be elected by the faculty at large), and a representative of the Provost. Each member shall serve staggered three-year terms to insure continuity.

5. In its first year, the committee shall be responsible for proposing detailed procedures for nominating candidates for the award and developing selection criteria for the recipient.

(a) The nomination procedures shall allow the MTU community (including the MTU alumnae/i) to nominate faculty. The nomination should include a brief description of the nominee's service activities, brief narratives outlining justifications for the nomination, and other information that the committee deems appropriate. Individuals, members of the committee, and department chairs may actively encourage the nomination of faculty they believe are worthy of receiving the award. The committee shall review the material concerning each nominee and may recommend a recipient of the award to the Provost. The committee may also determine that no nominee meets the selection criteria and recommend that no award be presented that year.

(b) The committee's initial procedures shall be reviewed and approved by the Senate and subsequently forwarded to the Provost for final approval. Thereafter, the committee shall meet annually and conduct the nomination and review process in a timely fashion. Each year, the committee may propose changes in the procedures by reporting such proposals to the Senate for review and approval, which in turn shall submit its recommendation regarding any proposed changes to the Provost for final approval.

6. The award shall recognize truly exceptional service by faculty. The award is not intended to be a cumulative, "lifetime achievement" award, but rather its purpose is to recognize recent and current service activities.

7. The Senate recommends starting the first nomination process for the award during the 1998-1999 academic year.

Adopted by Senate: January 20, 1999
Approved by President: March 19, 1999