Distinguished Research and Creativity Award Nominations

Nominees for the research/creativity award will be screened by the Research and Grants Committee. Ex-officio member(s) may participate in the deliberations of the committee, but may not vote on the nominees. If there are suitable nominations, the committee will recommend one junior faculty winner and one senior faculty winner.

The deadline for nominations is usually the middle/end of November. This will allow adequate time for review of credentials. Moreover, a permanent deadline will become part of the academic routine which should facilitate the nomination process.

Any member of the IU Southeast community may nominate a faculty member for this award. In addition, following the selection of an awardee for any given year, the selection committee may forward to the next year’s committee the credentials of any candidates it believes to be worthy of further consideration.

The candidates will be invited to prepare a file of materials in keeping with the evidence criteria listed above. It is not necessary or desirable to include the entire body of the candidate’s work in the file; emphasis should be placed on documenting quantity and illustrating quality.

Because the committee and the candidates will be from a variety of disciplines, the committee may find it necessary to ask some candidates for additional information or material, or to seek external evaluation. Such requests or lack of them are not to be interpreted as favorable or unfavorable to a given candidate.

Outstanding research or creative work may be assessed in a variety of ways which include, but are not limited to, receiving critical acclaim or a major national or international prize, sustaining a level of productivity over an extended period of time which is above average in quantity and quality, or completing a project which is judged to be a major or pioneering contribution to the knowledge in a discipline.

Appropriate evidence will vary with the nature of the work, but should include samples of the individual’s most recent or most outstanding work such as a book, collection of reprints, or audio or video or other digital media. Other kinds of evidence which may be appropriate include letters from internal or external colleagues, reviews of the individual’s work from scholarly journals or major media, press clippings or other documentation of awards or acclaim. A brief statement of the candidate’s overall plan and timetable for research or creative endeavor may be relevant.

Time Frames
The award is not based on any specified number of years of service or achievement. While the award recognizes a consistent record of outstanding performance at IU Southeast, the selection committee may take note of particularly outstanding achievement in a given year and may take into account the length of time necessary for some projects to come to fruition.

A winner of this award becomes ineligible to win again for a period of ten years. Subsequent awards should be based on the faculty member’s record of achievement since the time of the previous award. A faculty member who has been nominated, but not selected for an award may be re-nominated at any time.

Awards
In addition to public recognition, winners of the Distinguished Research and Creativity Award will have the sum of $1,000 added to their base pay.

Time Frames
This award is intended to recognize outstanding performance and promise in the research or creative work of a tenure-track, but as yet untenured faculty member. Tenure-track faculty members become eligible for the Distinguished Research and Creativity Award after three years of full-time service at IUS. The selection committee will consider primarily the record the candidate has compiled at IU Southeast, but may take note of significant prior accomplishments and especially of work begun elsewhere, but completed, published, exhibited or recognized after the individual joined the IU Southeast faculty.

The winner of this award is ineligible to win again. A faculty member who has been nominated, but not selected for the award may be re-nominated so long as he or she has not been granted tenure in the interim.

Awards
In addition to public recognition, winners of the Distinguished Research and Creativity Award – Junior Faculty will have the sum of $500 added to their base pay.