Nominations sought for three prestigious campuswide awards
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Members of the Western Michigan University community are invited to nominate faculty and staff members for three of WMU's most prestigious annual awards.
Friday, April 1, is the deadline to make nominations for the 2016-17 Emerging Scholar Award, Distinguished Service Award and Distinguished Teaching Award. The recipients of all three honors will be among those recognized during the fall 2016 Academic Convocation.
More information and nomination forms are available at wmich.edu/facultydevelopment by clicking WMU Awards.
Awards to be presented during convocation
Two other top awards also will be presented during the convocation.
Nominations for the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award at wmich.edu/research/about/awards closed Feb. 13.
Extra supporting information for the annual Make a Difference Award is usually accepted through the end of May. That award goes to staffers in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Michigan State Employees Association; Police Officers Association; and Staff Compensation System. Recipients are selected from the fall and spring semiannual award winners, and nominations for both of those periods has closed. For more information, visit wmich.edu/makeadifference.
Emerging Scholar Award
The emerging scholar honor goes to faculty members and recognizes the scholarly or creative achievements of outstanding colleagues whose accomplishments are evidence of great potential for scholarship or creative work.
To be eligible, those nominated must be current, continuing, full-time, board-appointed, tenured faculty. They also must be in good standing and tenured no earlier than January 2012. Untenured faculty members are ineligible. Self-nominations are accepted.
Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes exceptional service in one or more of the following categories: service through innovative and effective programs that are academic, or related to another facet of University life; service in areas and organizations that contribute to the growth and stature of the University; and service that extends the impact and presence of the University into larger communities.
The service must affect a significant segment of the University community. Also, the award is usually given for a body of service, rather than a single activity or achievement. Whenever two awards are made in any given year, one of the awards goes to a person with faculty rank and one goes to a staff member.
Distinguished Teaching Award
The Distinguished Teaching Award is the highest honor given by the University to recognize faculty members for their work with students. It recognizes outstanding teaching by awarding one or more awards in any given year.
The award selection committee notes that outstanding teaching is not fixed in form or venue and is not easily assessed. It views instruction as taking place in lecture courses, seminars and laboratories, and at the introductory and advanced levels.
"...exceptional pedagogy is marked by the active, critical role of the instructor and mentor whose demanding presence fosters critical thinking and inspires students to engage the quest for knowledge as a value in itself and as a craft," the committee asserts.
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