Distinguished Scholar Award

1. Includes all full-time UMC faculty that have completed three or more years of employment at UMC prior to nomination of the award. The primary focus of the award will be on work performed during a candidate’s faculty appointment at UMC. 
2. Nominations will be accepted from UMC students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Previous recipients are eligible after 5 years have passed from the last time the award was received. 
3. Previous recipients will be evaluated primarily on their work record since they last received the award. 
4. Files of unsuccessful nominees will remain active for two additional years for later consideration. These files can be updated during this period.

Selection of the award recipient will be based on the documents that support each nomination. The following items will be considered:

1. Publication Record
   • Peer-reviewed journals
   • Books or book chapters
   • Published conference proceedings
   • Disseminated technical reports
   • Disseminated creative works (particularly ones involving an established editorial process).
2. Grantsmanship
   • Grants applied for
   • Grants funded
   • Travel awards from non-UMC entities
3. Presentation Record
   • Geographical scope of the audience: local, regional, state, national, or international
   • Professional scope of the audience: general population, professional but broad based, professional but specialized
   • Type of presentation: invited vs. call for papers, oral, poster, panel discussion, performances, displays, etc.
4. Service to the professional community
   • Professional meeting organization
   • Organizer of symposium for a professional meeting
   • Peer-reviewer for publication or for granting agencies
   • Serving in a leadership capacity for a publisher, granting agency, or other professional organization (e.g., editor)
5. Involvement of students
   • Students supervised and in what capacity (e.g., UROC, UROP, research for credit)
   • Outcomes )from student activities (e.g., presentations, publications)

Nominations should include the following information:

1. Letter of nomination (submitted by the nominator) summarizing the nominee’s qualifications as they relate to the Evaluation Criteria (see next section).
2. Vitae with:
   • Courses taught
   • Publication record (number of citations may be included as well)
   • List of professional presentations by nominee and/or advisees
   • List of funded scholarly activities (include funding source)
   • List of students advised in scholarly activities
   • Service commitments related to the nominee’s profession
   • Service to community or campus based on research (e.g., presentations)
3. A statement by the candidate describing their scholarly activities. This statement should reflect the fact that most (if not all) of the readers will not be well versed in the nominee’s area of expertise. The nominee can use this statement to address the significance of their body of work and/or particular components of their work (e.g., a highly cited paper).
4. Letters of support that address pertinent items listed under Evaluation Criteria. NOTE: Letters need to be solicited by an individual other than the nominee (e.g., nominator), though the nominee is encouraged to provide a list of names who would be able to provide the following types of letters:
   • Two letters from professionals in the nominee’s field of expertise. The nature of the interaction between the nominee and the person writing the letter should be addressed in the letter (e.g., collaborator, acquaintance).
   • Letters (1 minimum, 2 maximum) from UMC faculty, students, or alumni who have directly benefited from the nominee’s scholarly activity (e.g., current or former research students, collaborators).  These letters should focus on the impact of the candidate’s research on the individual or on the benefits to the campus.

Review of all nominations and selection of the Distinguished Scholar Award recipient is the responsibility of the Faculty Awards Committee.