Call for nominations for Dean’s Excellence Awards

Students, faculty, administrators and staff are invited to nominate candidates for the awards listed. Please submit one-page nominations to the Dean’s Office in 260 Chafee or via email to Rhonda LaPorte (rlaporte@uri.edu) by Friday, November 20, 2020.

All nominations should include the name and contact information of the person nominating, the name of the nominee, the award category, and the reasons why this person should receive the award.

All awardees receive a plaque. Awards this year also include as follows:

Teaching Awards –

  • Tenure track faculty member – $250 professional development stipend
  • Lecturer, Senior Lecturer or Teaching Professor – $250 professional development stipend
  • GTA – $500 monetary award
  • PTF – $500 monetary award

Research Award – $250 professional development stipend Advising Award – $250 professional development stipend

Graduate Mentoring Award – $250 professional development stipend Administrative Awards

  • Administrative support professional – $500 monetary award
  • Department or program head – $250 professional development stipend

These will be the standard awards moving forward for FY21, FY22, FY23, at which point the program will be revisited with the hope to increase the awards. NOTE: The professional development stipends can be used in spring 2021 or carried forward to FY22 given our current circumstances.

The Dean’s Advisory Committee will select the recipients of each award and announcements will be made in December.

Teaching Awards: Students, faculty, administrators and staff are invited to nominate instructional personnel who excel in engaging students in learning. Four awards will be presented: one to a tenure track faculty member, one to a lecturer, one to a part-time faculty member, and one to a graduate teaching assistant. Although letters should focus on teaching excellence, any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the College of Arts and Sciences may also be noted.

Criteria for awards include:

  • Strength of letter(s)
  • Quality and/or originality of pedagogy
  • Ability to generate excitement about the subject
  • Commitment to student success
  • (For tenure-track) number and level of courses taught over a three-year period commensurate with the discipline
  • Have they been nominated before?
  • Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the greater University

Research Award: Students, faculty, administrators and staff are invited to nominate faculty members who have established an outstanding record of accomplishments in research, scholarship and creative work. Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the College of Arts and Sciences may also be noted. Supporting material such as nominees’ curriculum vitae are welcome.

Criteria for award includes:

  • Strength of letter(s)
  • Originality of scholarship or creative work
  • Contribution to the field
  • Quality of publication/creative output
  • Have they been nominated before?

Advising Award: Undergraduate students, faculty, administrators and staff are invited to nominate faculty members who are outstanding undergraduate advisors. Please consider dedicated professionals who effectively advise students about undergraduate and graduate study and professional career paths. Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the College of Arts and Sciences may also be noted.

Criteria for award includes:

  • Quality of letter(s)
  • Nature and/or breadth of advising
  • Commitment to student success
  • Have they been nominated before?
  • Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the greater University community.

Mentoring Award: Graduate students, faculty, administrators and staff are invited to nominate graduate faculty members who are outstanding mentors and major professors. Please consider professors who set excellent examples by their own research, scholarship and creative work, who guide graduate students in their professional development, and who effectively mentor and prepare students for comprehensive examinations, theses and/or dissertation processes. Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the College of Arts and Sciences may also be noted.

Criteria for award includes:

  • Quality of letter(s)
  • Commitment to student success at URI (seminars, exams, dissertations)
  • Commitment to student success professionally (conferencing, publishing, jobs)
  • Breadth of impact
  • Have they been nominated before?
  • Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the greater University community.

Administrative Awards: Students, faculty, administrators and staff are invited to nominate administrative support professionals and department chairs or program heads who provide outstanding and sustained support for the teaching, research and service missions of the College. Two awards will be given: one to an administrative support professional and one to a department or program head.

Criteria for awards include:

  • Quality of letter(s)
  • Commitment to department’s/unit’s success
  • Outstanding qualities as an administrator
  • Nature and/or breadth of impact
  • For chairs, individual meetings with faculty about professional
  • Have they been nominated before?
  • Any relevant service to a candidate’s department or to the greater University community.