The University of North Carolina at Pembroke Graduate Faculty Mentor Award

To underscore the importance of collaborative research and to encourage, identify, recognize, reward, and support sustained collaborative academic activity by the faculty with the graduate students in the University, the Graduate School created a “UNC Pembroke Graduate Faculty Mentor Award.” One recipient is selected annually by the Graduate School to receive a citation and to be recognized at the Faculty Appreciation Dinner.

Criteria

Outstanding graduate faculty stand out in all areas associated with scholarly excellence. Such faculty, through collaboration with the graduate students, manifest high levels of achievement through publication of professional research in peer-reviewed journals, scholarly books within one’s discipline, chapters within scholarly books, grant application, and presentations at professional meetings, conferences, performances, galleries, or exhibits. The Selection Committee, comprised of a representative of the Dean of the Graduate School and four graduate faculty members, will show particular preference to those faculty members who demonstrate enthusiasm and sustained commitment to professional growth of graduate students, including – above all – collaborative scholarly initiatives that involve graduate students. The UNCP Graduate Faculty Mentor Award recognizes excellence in the two years preceding the granting of the award.

Eligibility

Those eligible for the UNCP Graduate Faculty Mentor Award are full-time UNCP faculty who currently hold graduate faculty status and who have taught at UNCP for at least two years prior to the year of nomination. Nominees must hold full-time faculty appointments in the current year. Nominees must not have received the UNCP Graduate Faculty Mentor Award in the previous five years.

Nominations and Procedures

At the beginning of each spring semester, the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School emails a call for nominations to the faculty listserv and to the student listserv (via Student Affairs office), and corresponds with the nominees according to the suggested schedule (see table below).

Faculty, graduate students, and administrators, are invited to submit nominations electronically to the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School. Self-nominations are allowed and encouraged. Members of the Selection Committee cannot submit nominations. The basis for nomination must be collaborative work, mentorship, and scholarly excellence in the two years preceding the granting of the award.

To be considered for the UNCP Graduate Faculty Mentor Award, a nominee must submit via email the following materials to Christine Bell, Assistant Dean of the Graduate School (christine.bell@uncp.edu):

1. A current resume or curriculum vitae
2. A detailed narrative, which addresses the
   • the nature of collaboration between the faculty member and graduate student(s) on various scholarly projects, and
   • the quality of the venues (publishers, journals, professional meetings, conferences, performances, galleries, exhibits) in which scholarly works appear.
3. Three letters of support
   • These letters of support must come from each of the following mutually-exclusive categories of recommenders: 1) faculty colleague, 2) one student, and 3) nominee’s department chair, dean, or program director.
   • The letters should address the quality of the nominee’s work and/or the quality of the venue in which it appears, and explain the nature and the degree of collaboration between the faculty nominee and the graduate student(s) that contributed to the publication or presentation of the scholarly work.
   • The Selection Committee will only consider the first three letters of support (that comply with the criteria above). Any additional letters will not be placed in the portfolio and will not be considered in the review of the candidates. Candidates should ask that letters of support be sent via email to the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School (christine.bell@uncp.edu) who places these in the portfolio along with the original letter of nomination.

The Assistant Dean of the Graduate School places the nomination letter at the front of the portfolio. After the Selection Committee selects the Award recipients, the Assistant Dean notifies the Office of Academic Affairs, the award recipient, and candidates who did not receive award. At the Faculty Recognition Dinner at the end of spring semester, the Dean of the Graduate School recognizes the Award recipient.

Committee Description

The UNCP Graduate Faculty Mentor Award Committee is comprised of four graduate faculty members and a representative of the Dean of the Graduate School (typically, the Assistant Dean). The representative of the Dean will serve as a Committee Chair. The faculty members serve 2-year staggered terms, with half of the Committee members (2), transitioning off the Committee at the end of each academic year.

The Dean of Graduate School appoints faculty members to the Committee. Faculty members may serve more than one consecutive term on the committee, although preference will be to given to those graduate faculty members who have not yet served. The winner of the award is invited to take the position on the Committee for the upcoming academic year. In case the winner declines the seat on the Committee, the Dean of Graduate School will make an appointment in the winner’s stead.

The Committee should regularly review the criteria, guidelines, and procedures for nomination and selection relating to all faculty awards, and it should recommend changes to the Dean of the Graduate School.

Members cannot be considered for any award during their terms of service. Members of the Graduate Faculty Mentor Award Committee cannot nominate anyone for an award, nor can they write letters of recommendation for anyone considered for an award.