May 9 nomination deadline nears for President’s Council Faculty Award

Nominations for the President’s Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award will be accepted through May 9. The award was redesigned in 2011 to encourage greater participation from around the university.

The nomination process has been streamlined into an online form. Also, the criteria have been clarified and broadened to be more inclusive of the many ways faculty members do outstanding work.

All full-time faculty who have been employed at FIU for a minimum of three years are eligible to apply. The award recipient receives $12,500 and two finalists each receive $2,000.

Earlier this year, the President’s Council set out to redesign the 10-year-old award. In years past, it became clear that there were misconceptions among the faculty about who was eligible to apply. The President’s Council clarified that faculty from any discipline or college can be nominated. The council also eliminated the cumbersome paper application process and put it entirely online.

The award now allows for nominations by fellow faculty members, as well as self-nominations.

The selection criteria were modified to align with the university’s five-year strategic plan and the attributes of FIU’s Worlds Ahead brand. The President’s Council award will now recognize faculty who:

• Are student-centered in teaching or mentorship or advising
• Engage in research or partnerships or creative initiatives that make an impact in their field or in the community or in the world
• Exceed expectations through innovations in the classroom or service to the university or through leadership

The new nomination process also introduces, for the first time, a personal interview with the President’s Council. The new process is as follows:

1. Submit: Online nominations accepted through May 9 though go.fiu.edu/pcaward

2. Review: Nominations reviewed by a committee of past President’s Council Faculty Award winners and the chair of the Faculty Senate Honorary Degree & Award Committee

3. Recommendation: Review committee will recommend a group of semi-finalists to the President’s Council

4. Interviews: Semi-finalists invited to interview with the President’s Council

5. Finalists: The President’s Council will consult with the FIU provost and president to finalize its selections for the award recipients.

6. Award: The President’s Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award will be conferred at Faculty Convocation