Kansas State University

Nominations for the 2020 university distinguished professors

Submitted by Brian Niehoff

Faculty, department heads, division/school directors and deans,

I announce the call for nominations for the title of university distinguished professor for appointment in 2020. This opportunity, coordinated through the provost's office in conjunction with the university distinguished professors group, will consider new appointments to this title for 2020. In addition to this distinguished title, each appointee shall receive an enhancement of $10,000 added to their base salaries with funds provided through the provost's office.

Overview:
This article describes the general process for nominations and review of candidates associated with selection of university distinguished professors and the role of the university distinguished professor group in the selection process. The review of nominations will be conducted by the group, with additional review and input provided by a group of selected university distinguished professors from other Big 12 universities. The selection of the external Big 12 university distinguished professors, who will provide review and input of those nominated, will be made by the provost, who will select the university distinguished professor appointees from the slate of nominees recommended by the university distinguished professor group in conjunction with input from the external university distinguished professors and in consultation with the Deans Council.

Nominations and qualifications:
Eligibility for appointment at this rank is restricted to tenured faculty with the rank of full professor on full-time appointment at the university. The qualifications for this honor are:

• The individual must have made an outstanding impact on his or her field.
• This impact is recognized as continuing.
• This excellence has been recognized in important ways, including, but not limited to:
  • Receipt of personal honors from professional societies or
  • Selection as a Kansas State University Distinguished Graduate Faculty member or Coffman Distinguished Teaching Scholar or
  • Receipt of other awards of national or international stature recognizing continuing distinguished personal contributions to research, teaching or other areas of scholarship as defined by Boyer.

Nominations of outstanding faculty, who meet all three of these criteria, for the title of university distinguished professor can be made to the provost's office by any tenured Kansas State University faculty member. The PDF files containing the entire nomination package, with original signatures, and a PDF file containing the entire nomination package — including support letters from the dean and department head/director — should be submitted to University Distinguished Professor Nominations at udpnominations@k-state.edu, by Thursday, Oct. 3. Late/incomplete nomination packages — including letters from department heads, directors and/or deans — will not be considered.

Nomination packages must contain the following material:

• A letter of nomination that should be on department letterhead and no more than five pages in length. It must:
  • Identify and delineate the special reasons that justify selection of the nominee for the title of university distinguished professor. The letter should interpret, highlight (as necessary), and be complementary to the material included in the curriculum vitae, and not be a mere repetition of it.
  • Identify by name the national/international honors received by the nominee, the relative frequency/selectivity of the award(s) received, and the normal time in the career that such awards are received. A brief description of the types and sources of awards generally available in the field also may be included.
  • Describe the nominee's scholarship, achievements and contributions to his/her field in a manner understandable by a general academic audience. Nomination letters addressed primarily to other specialists in the nominee's field reduce the competitiveness of the nomination. (Most, if not all, of the principle reviewers of the nomination, whose expertise ranges from art to veterinary medicine, will be unfamiliar with the specifics of the nominee's field.)
  • A detailed curriculum vitae.
  • A list of at least four and no more than five eminent scholars outside Kansas State University with national and international recognition and expertise to speak directly to the outstanding qualifications of the nominee. The professional qualifications of each potential referee should be described, and a statement describing any personal or professional relationships between the referee and the nominee that may have existed in the past, or that may be in progress, must be stated. The standing of the referees in their field can affect the evaluation of the support letters. Do not include CVs for potential references in the nomination package. Complete current mailing addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers for each referee must also be provided. Nominators are expected to confirm that all of the suggested referees are willing to write a support letter if one is solicited from them by the provost, as the lack of external support letters may reduce the competitiveness of a nomination. The provost will not solicit letters from all of the individuals whose names are submitted as a part of the nomination.
  • The nominee's head/director or dean should submit two additional names of external referees — not included on the nominator's original list — who could evaluate the nominee's work. These names, with full contact information, should be submitted along with the nominee's packet.
  • Letters of support from the college dean, and either the department head or division/school director, except in support of a nomination of a head/director are optional, but not required.
  • A one page summary of the candidate highlighting their outstanding and continuing impact on his or her field and personal honors that have been received to recognize their excellence.
  • Materials not included in the above list will be discarded. Do not include books, reprints or similar items with the nomination materials.

Nominations will remain active for a total period of three consecutive years.

Nominators of unsuccessful candidates will be contacted by the provost's office prior to the submission of applications for the second and third years of a nominee's eligibility. At that time, the nominator may update the application, ask for the nomination to remain active with no update, or withdraw the application. The updated nomination may include any or all of the following:

• A new letter of nomination to replace the old one or a one page letter summarizing the major accomplishments of the nominee during the past year.
• A new/updated curriculum vitae.
• An additional recommended name for the list of eminent scholars outside Kansas State University who could review the application materials. As with the original list the nominator is expected to provide background information on the referee, contact details, and to ensure that the referee is willing to provide a letter, if requested, by the provost's office.

Updated materials are to be submitted to the provost's office as PDF files. These materials are due to the provost's office at the same time as new nominations are due.

Withdrawn nominations will not be considered during the current academic year's competition, but may be submitted again the following academic year to begin a new three-year cycle as though they were new nominations.

Continuing nominations whose nominators do not respond to the request from the provost's office will be considered to have been withdrawn and will not be considered in the current year's selection process. If the nominator has left Kansas State University, then the nominee's department head/director or dean will be asked to provide a response or to identify an alternate nominator.

If a nominee is not selected as a university distinguished professor during the consecutive three-year period or if an application is withdrawn, a period of one year must pass before the professor may be re-nominated whereupon a new consecutive three-year active period begins.

Read a more detailed description for the selection of university distinguished professors.

Be sure to use the university distinguished professors nomination checklist before submitting nominations. This checklist contains important information on naming nomination PDF files in a consistent manner.