The David L. Boren Professorship is one of the University of Oklahoma’s highest honors, recognizing faculty who have made exceptional and truly impactful contributions to the mission of the University of Oklahoma as a public research university.
CRITERIA
To qualify for the Professorship, a faculty member must have consistently demonstrated outstanding teaching, research and creative activity, and leadership in professional and public service. The holders of this distinctive honor should demonstrate effective mentoring and engagement of students in advancing knowledge creation and making a positive difference in the world.
Criteria which will be considered are the degree to which the candidate:
ELIGIBILITY
Nominees must be full-time faculty members who hold regular faculty appointments. Nominees will normally hold the rank of full professor but associate professors may be considered. The faculty member must have been a University of Oklahoma 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. Recipients are not eligible in subsequent years for a Presidential Professorship. Recipients are eligible for a David Ross Boyd Professorship, George Lynn Cross Research Professorship, and Regents’ Professorship.
NOMINATION PROCEDURES
Initiation. The Senior Vice President and Provosts will solicit recommendations for the professorship by September 15 and announce appropriate schedules for processing the nominations. Furthermore, 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 University of Oklahoma mission. The dean's letter will not count toward the page limit below. The dean will submit all the nominations and supporting documentation to the respective Senior Vice President and Provost by November 1. The Senior Vice President and Provosts will forward these materials to the University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors.
Supporting Documentation.
Recommendations are to be accompanied by specific evidence that the nominee meets the criteria for selection. Nomination packets must include the following, not to exceed 25 pages combined:
In addition, the nomination packet must also include letters of support from nationally or internationally recognized experts in the nominee’s area of expertise (minimum: two for research/creative activity, one for teaching, one for service/outreach). Letters must specifically address the criteria of the professorship. No more than five letters will be accepted. These letters of support will not count toward the 25-page limit.
SELECTION PROCEDURES
Review. The University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors shall consider only the formal nominations. The Council may seek additional data about nominees from supplemental sources, as appropriate. The Council shall forward to the Senior Vice President and Provosts its recommendation(s) for the professorship for their review. The Council also shall transmit all substantiating materials pertaining to all nominees.
Selection. The Senior Vice President and Provost will review the nominees from his or her campus and forward their recommendations, along with all nominations and all substantiating material about nominees, by February 1 to the President, who will make recommendations to the Board of Regents at its March meeting. The final selection of the recipient(s) will be made by the Board of Regents.
PERQUISITES
In the year of designation as a David L. Boren Professor, the person receiving the award will receive a one-time award of $10,000 and a permanent salary increase of 10% on the University base salary or $10,000, whichever is greater, starting in the subsequent fiscal year.
TERM OF THE AWARD
The term of a David L. Boren Professor is continuous until retirement or separation from the University.
(Regents 12-4-14, 9-14-17, 9-11-19)
The University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors (UCFAH) requests that the following guidelines are followed for nominations submitted for the following University awards:
David L Boren Professorship • David Ross Boyd Professorship • Regents' Awards (Superior Teaching, Superior Research and Creative Activity, Superior Professional and University Service) • University Distinguished Teaching Award
PLEASE NOTE: To prepare dossiers for Presidential Professorships, George Lynn Cross Research Professorships, and Provost's Awards, please refer to these particular awards for specific requirements.
ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF NOMINATIONS
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 secure website accessible to University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors members only.
HARD COPY NOMINATIONS
Hard copy dossiers (one unbound copy) are ONLY required for departmental and college review committees. 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.
FACULTY AWARDS COVER PAGE No other cover document will be accepted.
ONE PAGE INDEX
THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED (not to exceed 25 pages):
Letter of Nomination (no more than 7 single spaced pages for Distinguished Professorships, no more than 3 singled spaced pages for other awards)
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.
Short Biography (about 125 words) highlighting the nominee's most significant accomplishments and written for a general audience.
Customized Vitae that contains the relevant information pertaining to the accomplishments being cited for the award consideration
Additional document(s) (not counted towards the 25-page limit):
Letters of Support
No more than 5 letters total. It is wise to solicit more letters than can be used then select from those the most appropriate to include in the application. Letters should be limited to 5 or fewer pages and specifically address award criteria. Additional letters will be removed.
David L. Boren Professorship (Required): Letters from nationally or internationally recognized experts in the nominee’s area of expertise. The letters should include 2 for research/scholarly activity, 1 for teaching, and 1 for service/outreach.
David Ross Boyd Professorship (Required): Of the 5, no more than 3 letters from students or student groups.
Regents' Professorship (Optional): Letters can be either internal or external, but favoring at least two external letters. Letters must specially address the criteria of the Professorship.
Regents' Awards (Optional): Include letters from students, current or graduate, OU faculty, or professional colleagues. For teaching awards, letters from students are appropriate; whereas letters from professional colleagues are suitable for research awards. Service awards should be supported by letters from other faculty or individuals who have worked with the candidate in service-related areas.
University Distinguished Teaching Award (Required): Letters may come from current or former students, student organizations, faculty colleagues, alumni, department chairs, or others familiar with evaluating the individual’s teaching effectiveness at the undergraduate level.
Other Supporting Materials
Letter from the College Dean (Optional)
This letter will focus on evaluatory comments regarding the quality and significance of the nominee's impact on the broader OU mission.
In accordance with Regents' policy, only one nomination by an academic unit or other nominating group of faculty is allowed for each of the Regents’ Awards (teaching, research and creative activity, and professional and university service).
*The nomination packet should contain only the items listed above unless stated otherwise *
HSC Home