Presidential Professors are those faculty members who excel in all of their professional activities and who relate those activities to the students they teach and mentor, including undergraduate, graduate, professional students, as well as clinical residents and fellows. These professors inspire their students, mentor them in the process of research and creative/scholarly activity within their discipline, and exemplify to their students (both past and present) and to their colleagues (both at the University and within their disciplines nationwide) the ideals of a scholar through their endeavors in teaching; research and creative/scholarly activity; and professional and University service and public outreach.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
ELIGIBILITY
Nominees must be full-time, regular or non-regular faculty members. The faculty member must have been an OU employee during the period for which the outstanding contributions are being recognized; previous accomplishments at other institutions, if applicable, may be used in support of a continued outstanding performance in the area of the specific award. The nominee must have excelled in at least two of the three areas below. Recipients of the David L. Boren Professorship, David Ross Boyd Professorship, George Lynn Cross Research Professorship, and the Regents’ Professorship are not eligible for a Presidential Professorship.
I. Teaching
The nominee shall have demonstrated leadership in modernizing and improving the undergraduate/graduate/professional/clinical instructional enterprise, including (i) the effectiveness of undergraduate (lower and upper division) and/or graduate, and/or professional courses developed and taught by the nominee, and (ii) the extent of the nominee's involvement with undergraduate/graduate/professional students and/or clinical residents and fellows in research/mentoring/advising within the academic discipline. In addition, the nominee must have actively participated in student-centered activities such as, but not limited to, OU's Undergraduate/Graduate Research Day, Stewart Wolf Day, REU and/or FYRE programs, freshmen Gateway courses, professional clerkships, mentorship of honors student theses, and sponsorship of academic clubs.
ii. Research and Creative/Scholarly Activity
The nominee shall have demonstrated significant involvement of graduate/ undergraduate/professional students and/or clinical residents and fellows in the nominee's research and creative scholarly activities. This should be supported by measurable peer-reviewed outcomes including the quality and quantity of theses and dissertations supervised, professional degrees/certifications issued publications co-authored with students, and performances/exhibits that involve significant student participation. For the Health Sciences Center, attention will be given to the ways in which a nominee may have an impact through team science and interdisciplinary/interprofessional scholarship.
iii. University/Professional Service and Public Outreach
The nominee must have contributed significantly to, and positively impacted, departmental/college/center/university committees and/or public outreach programs. A faculty member's contributions to the general community include professional service that may be specific to a discipline (e.g., clinical practice and excellence in outcomes such as quality and patient experience, service as a journal editor, conference organizer, or in leadership positions in professional organizations), as well as impactful activities that benefit university-community interactions (e.g., teacher training and service learning projects). Such activities enhance achievements in teaching and research. Successful nominees shall have demonstrated exceptional performance in activities that enhance the university's role and standing in the community.
NOMINATIONS MUST INCLUDE
Nomination materials must include the following, not to exceed 25 pages combined:
In addition, the following must be included but will not count toward the 25-page limit:
NOMINATION PROCEDURES
Initiation. The President in conjunction with the Senior Vice President and Provost of the Norman Campus and the Senior Vice President and Provost of the Health Sciences Center - (a) will review the number of vacant Presidential Professorships, (b) will hold three vacancies each year for recruitment and retention of qualified faculty, and (c) will issue a call for nominations by September 15. The solicitations will be posted on the appropriate campus website, for access by nominators and faculty on all campuses.
Recommendations. Nominations may derive from department chairs or unit directors, elected members of departmental/unit Committee A, a department's/unit's approved nomination committee, Center leaders, or a group of faculty who are familiar with the nominee's qualifications for the award. Only one nomination per academic unit or other nominating group of faculty is allowed. The nominating entity will be responsible for assembling the nomination packets, including supporting documentation.
Nominations will be forwarded to the respective dean of the college for review and endorsement. An optional letter from the dean, if included, will focus on evaluatory comments regarding the quality and significance of the nominee's impact on the broader OU mission. The dean's letter will not count toward the page limit below. The dean will submit all the recommendations and supporting documentation to the respective Senior Vice President and Provost by November 1.
SELECTION PROCEDURES
The Presidential Professorship selection committees on both campuses shall consider only the formal nominations. The committees may seek additional data about the nominees from supplemental sources, as appropriate. The selection committees’ selections for the Presidential Professors must be forwarded by February 1 to the President along with all nominations and all substantiating materials pertaining to all nominees. The President will make recommendations to the Board of Regents. The final selection of the recipients will be made by the Board of Regents. The final selections will be announced at the Spring General Faculty Meeting.
PERQUISITES
The Professorship is awarded for a four-year term. Assistant and Associate Professors receive $5,000 per year and Professors receive $10,000 per year. To be eligible for funding in any given year, a faculty member must be considered as a full-time continuing member of the University. Salaries will be reduced by the award amount at the conclusion of the four-year term.
Decisions regarding merit increases in base faculty salary in the academic year will be made independently of faculty status as a Presidential Professor.
Presidential Professors will receive the professorship funding as a taxable bonus paid annually.
TERM OF AWARD
The Professorship is granted for a four-year term with the faculty member receiving the funding each year based on faculty rank. Recipients retain the Presidential Professor title permanently.
(Regents, 9-26-95, 1-27-04, 6-23-04, 6-25-08, 12-7-12, 9-14-17, 9-11-19)
The HSC Presidential Professorship Selection Committee requests the following guidelines be followed when submitting nominations for the Presidential Professorship.
An electronic dossier for each nomination is to be submitted by the Dean’s Office via email to the Provost’s Office for placement on a secured website accessible to Presidential Professorship Selection Committee members only.
Hard copy dossiers (one unbound copy) are still required for departmental and college review committees, the Dean, the Provost, and the President. FOLDERS AND NOTEBOOKS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Double-sided copying of the materials in the dossier is encouraged wherever possible to reduce volume and weight. DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS.
THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED (not to exceed 25 pages):
This is the most important part of the application and should be written with that in mind. It should describe the nominee's impact on the scholarly and overall professional development of the students they teach and mentor. It should also outline the candidate’s qualifications for the award and be a synopsis of the entire application. The letter must point out how the candidate meets the requirements for the award. Look at the criteria for selection and address each point. Include innovative teaching, research or service. The letter should be in plain English without jargon and technical terms. The nominator should distinguish between normal (expected) faculty performance and extraordinary achievements.
Additional document(s) (not counted towards the 25-page limit):
Faculty evaluations from the previous three years (or since beginning at the University if the nominee has been at the University less than three years)
No more than 5 letters ffrom professional colleagues (internal/external) who can speak to the nominee’s influence on students; or from students (current/former/alumni). These letters should, collectively, address as many of the relevant award criteria that the writer(s) can speak to. Additional letters will be removed.
This letter will focus on evaluatory comments regarding the quality and significance of the nominee's impact on the broader OU mission.
* The nomination packet should contain only the items listed above unless stated otherwise *
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