MEMORANDUM

DATE: August 2007
TO: Deans, Directors and Department Chairs
FROM: Kirby Kemper, Vice President for Research and Robert O. Lawton Professor of Physics
RE: Developing Scholar Awards 2007 - 2008

Important Dates:

• Deadline: Monday, February 11, 2008, 4:30 p.m.
• Note: There may be earlier deadlines at the department, college or school levels for signing off on this paperwork before it is submitted to this office.
• Award notification, directly to the PI, via email w/attachments, is planned on/about March 21, 2008.
• Awards will be presented by the University President at the Faculty Awards Program, generally early April.
• Award Period: July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009; $10,000 primarily from E&G funds

Introduction:

The Council on Research and Creativity (CRC) is seeking nominations for the Developing Scholar Award for 2007-2008. This award program is designed to recognize FSU faculty who are several years advanced into their careers. This competition is intended to help identify FSU's future academic leaders.

Eligibility:

• Faculty already in receipt of a Developing Scholar Award are not eligible for this award.
• The candidates should be at an early point in their mid-career as academics. Awards will be made to FSU faculty who have achieved the rank of tenured associate professor no earlier than, not before, the 2005-2006 academic year. Contributions and accomplishments since joining the faculty at FSU should be emphasized in the nomination information.

Example Proposals of Currnet DSA's: Examples of several recent nominations are now available electronically. By clicking on the red word “examples” you will see an available list. Contact Jan Townsend via email at jtownsend@fsu.edu to receive instructions on accessing this information.

Criteria:

The Developing Scholar Award is based on evidence of a clearly established program of teaching, research and creativity lasting over a number of years. The candidate should be well into the program, i.e., there should be a strong cumulative record of achievements which must be clearly representative of all aspects of your scholarly career, e.g., teaching, service, research. Also list any established publications or performances during the preceding five or six years coupled with a clear line of forthcoming and anticipated future accomplishments comprising the program.

There should be a record of superior teaching, research and creativity that has begun to earn external recognition. Some examples of such evidence are

• positions on editorial boards of leading academic journals,
• selection for review panels of funding agencies,
• ability to attract federal and foundation support for research and creative activity,
• ability to attract graduate students to the university,
• publication in the leading journals and by high quality book presses or museum catalogues or critical reviews from important venues,
• artistic performance in the leading locations and
• strong letters of recommendation by clearly distinguished scholars, referees, or art critics.

Not included among the selection criteria are such factors as sex, race, field of specialization, department, school or college, outside activities, previous accomplishments in other fields or positions, whether or not the candidate is applying for other campus awards (e.g., COFRS, sabbatical), and whether or not other members from the same department or school have been selected for awards during the year or in the past.

Visual arts applicants: Since exhibitions equate to performances or to published articles in other disciplines, in addition to citations of significant critical reviews and/or inclusion of artworks in museum catalogues, please indicate the hierarchy of exhibitions listed (solo; 1-3 person; invitational; juried).

Award:

The Developing Scholar Award carries a one-time award of $10,000 that is to be used to promote the awardee's program of research and creativity during the academic year following the award's presentation. The award is generally in the form of an E&G account and may be used for, as an example, OPS expense, OCO expenditures, graduate student support (that must include fringe benefits cost as part of the award), and travel.

Faculty salary request is not accepted.

All expenditures must be approved by both the recipient's department and the Office of the VP Research post-award staff prior to the encumbrance of funds.

Selection:

All departments are urged to nominate their most qualified associate professors. The CRC will accept any number of unranked nominations for this award from each school or college and will recommend up to five candidates to the university president.

Nomination Process:

Two nomination binders, which you will identify as ‘original’ and ‘copy’ (usually 3-ring notebooks with tabs separating the required sections), are to be prepared for each nominee and will include, in this order:

1. A clear, complete and non-technical description of a systematic program of teaching, research and creative activity which includes a summary of what has been accomplished during the previous five to six years.
2. A description of future direction, goals and anticipated accomplishments comprising the program.
3. Three letters of recommendation from established senior scholars (at least one of these letters should be from a colleague – someone with a direct relationship to the nominee) from outside FSU written within 18 months prior to the date of this announcement August 2007). NOTE: It is required that the letters be written and addressed to Kirby Kemper, but mailed back to the person in the department area who requested the letters so that all letters can be included in the binders that come forward to nominate the candidate. These letters should include a statement on the qualifications of the writers of the recommendation letters; a brief (limited to two pages) CV from the letter author is appreciated.
4. Letters of endorsement from the departmental chair and the school or college dean carry significant weight and they are required. Binders will not be accepted without both letters. These letters should also include a statement indicating a commitment to provide resources and means to facilitate the candidate's program insofar as possible. Normally, this might include, for example, a reduction of teaching load during the following year and/or additional graduate assistance, financial assistance.
5. The nominee will submit a statement indicating how these awarded funds will be utilized in the nominee’s teaching, research or creative endeavors.
6. Curriculum vita. The vita should be current, concise and complete. It should contain full documentation of grants, awards, publications, exhibitions and performances (e.g., dates, locations, page numbers, co-authorship, publication status). Indicate with an asterisk (or by some other means) those publications or presentations that were selected through a formal independent referee or competitive process, or that are invitational opportunities tantamount to awards or honors (e.g. invitation to participate in the Paris Biennale).
7. Additional material may be submitted that would lend support to the candidate's nomination. The CRC does NOT want articles or books submitted. But it reserves the right to call for these if needed in determining the final selections.

Submission:

Two identical nomination binders (which you have identified as ‘original’ and ‘copy’) are due to Jan Townsend, CRC program coordinator, 109 Westcott Building, by hand delivery or by courier, to arrive no later than Monday, February 11, 2008. Do not use campus mail.

NOTE: The ‘original’ binder will be returned to the nominee upon completion of the award program. The ‘copy’ binder will not be returned but will be kept in the program coordinator’s office to be stored, whole or in part, at her discretion.

Questions?

Contact Jan Townsend at 644-8636 or eMail her at jtownsend@fsu.edu.