Faculty Merit Award Guidelines

This page presents criteria for nominations for Faculty Merit Awards for Teaching, Research, Service, Advising, Justice, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Please direct any questions to Peter Norberg, Senior Associate Provost for Faculty and Academic Support (norberg@sju.edu).

(Nominations are solicited from full-time (tenure-track and non-tenure-track) faculty. The guidelines were developed by the Lindback Committee in AY 2005-2006, and additions approved by members of Faculty Senate in AY 2018-2019.)

In order to make the process of selecting recipients of the teaching awards more reliable and more likely faculty to identify colleagues of merit, the Lindback Committee suggests the following nomination process: 

• Any faculty member may nominate full-time (tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure-track) faculty members for a teaching award. The nomination must include an in-depth letter of evaluation that explains why the nominee is worthy of the award. Normally, these letters will be 500 – 1250 words in length. Please send the letters of nomination, along with all supporting materials, to Emily Carlin in the Provost’s Office via email (ecarlin@sju.edu) no later than Monday, February 26, 2024. 
• The letter of nomination should refer to the primary indicators of teaching effectiveness, as well as any supporting indicators of teaching effectiveness as outlined in the Faculty Handbook. Where applicable to the nominee, the nomination should highlight teaching activities and innovations that promote diversity, equity and inclusion and the Jesuit educational mission of the University. 
• Three representative syllabi should be submitted with every nomination. If a faculty member other than a department chair is nominating, syllabi should be requested from the department chair to maintain confidentiality in the nominating process. 
• Students will be invited to nominate faculty. Students should include a well developed rationale that offers a justification for the nomination. These nominations should normally not exceed 250 words. 
• After receiving the nominations that have been collected by the Provost’s Office, the Lindback Committee will forward the list of final nominees to the deans and the provost to solicit their views as to the advisability of granting a teaching merit award to a particular nominee. The final decision, however, rests with the Lindback Committee. 
• The Lindback Committee may recommend up to 13 teaching awards: 10 for tenure-track faculty and 3 for full-time non-tenure-track faculty members with at least one of these awards directed to faculty who have demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion through their teaching. In the event that qualified nominees are not found, fewer teaching awards will be offered.
• There will be a five-year period of ineligibility after a faculty member has received a teaching award.
• Colleagues who receive the Lindback Award will receive a teaching award in the semester following the receipt of the Lindback. However, Lindback winners will be eligible for a future teaching award only under extraordinary circumstances.
• Faculty who have received faculty merit teaching awards in the last five years and who are ineligible for nomination this year are: 
  • 2018-2019: Professors Abbas, Klingsberg, McCann, Olitsky, Powell, Robson, Smith 
  • 2019-2020: Professors Bergen, Brown, Burkhalter, Conry-Murray, Regis, Weislogel 
  • 2020-2021: Professors Fox, Latella, McNally, Mindell, Moran, Sullivan 
  • 2021-2022: Professors Ayella, Heasley, Keller, Porth, Reich and Wang
  • 2022-2023: Professors Belfatti, Bulthuis, Erkis, Grimes, Lee-Soety, Mauri, Rao and Sit

Thank you for your participation in this process that acknowledges the excellent teaching of our faculty.

(The guidelines were developed by the Board on Faculty Research and Development, which selects the recipients of the Faculty Research and Scholarly Activity Merit Awards.) 

Full-time (tenure-track and non-tenure-track) faculty members are eligible. Nominations are solicited from the department chairs, but letters of nomination may also be submitted by departmental colleagues. In each nomination letter, please define clearly the research accomplishments of the nominee during 2023-2024. Letters should contain the following:

• A critical analysis of the publications and/or creative works of the nominee. 
• A statement of the impact of the faculty member’s work. 
• An explanation of the conventions of multiple authorship if it applies to the nominee's field; for example, some disciplines list lead investigators first, while others simply list authors in alphabetical order. 
• Any additional information that you feel would help the Board on Faculty Research and Development understand the significance of your colleague’s contributions to their field. 

Please include a copy of the nominee’s current C.V. vitae with your nomination letter. The nominations will be reviewed by the Board on Faculty Research and Development for the final selection of this year’s Faculty Merit Research Awards. 

At least five years must intervene before consecutive Faculty Merit Research Awards may be made to the same faculty member. Consequently, the following faculty members are not eligible for this year’s Faculty Merit Research Awards:

• 2018-2019: Professors: Fukuoka, Lazar, Payne, Spinner, Wang  
• 2019-2020: Professors Jambulingam, Kim, McNally, Nelson, Olitsky 
• 2020-2021: Professors Balduccini, Hennes, Keller, Svalbonas,Tudor 
• 2021-2022: Professors Abbas, Baskin, Close, Heasley, Kates
• 2022-2023: Professors Moran, Nikoloutsos, Schatz, Song and Vas

All nominations, with CVs, should be sent to Emily Carlin in the Provost’s Office via email (ecarlin@sju.edu) no later than Monday, February 26, 2024.

(Nominations are solicited from the deans who consult with department chairs.)

The awards for advising are based on recommendations by the Deans, one award being given from each college/school. The deans should consult department chairs asking them to nominate faculty members from their departments for the Advising Award for 2023-2024. The dean will contact department chairs and indicate a due date for nominations to be received in the dean’s office. Please follow the directions from the Dean’s Office on how to nominate your colleagues. The Dean will send the names of the awardees to Emily Carlin in the Provost’s Office via email (ecarlin@sju.edu) no later than Monday, February 26, 2024. 

The nomination must include an in-depth letter of evaluation that explains why the nominee is worthy of the award. Normally, these letters will be 300 – 1000 words in length. Please send the letter of nomination, along with any supporting materials, to the respective Dean's Office. Electronic submissions are encouraged.

The letter of nomination should describe how the nominee has exhibited the qualities and responsibilities of effective student advising, as outlined in the Faculty Handbook, in an exemplary way. Those qualities and responsibilities include:

• Demonstrated respect for students as persons. 
• Regular availability for consultation with students (office hours, etc.).
• Communication of accurate information about courses, academic requirements, post-graduate education, and careers. 
• Serving as an effective mentor of students in achieving their academic and professional career goals, who evokes trust and respect from students. 

Recent recipients of the Advising Awards: 

• 2013-2014: Professors Mezey and Nieva
• 2014-2015: Professors Dufresne and Sullivan
• 2015-2016: Professors Latella and Scola
• 2016-2017: Professors M. Kelly and Regis
• 2017-2018: Professors Liebell and Patton
• 2018-2019: Professors Anastasio, Firmender and Stagliano
• 2020-2021: Professors Bhatt, Lipton and Okunna
• 2021-2022: Professors Green, Weidner and Riggleman
• 2022-2023: Professors Moran, Ragan, Wolbach and Sullivan

(Nominations are solicited from the President of the Faculty Senate and can be submitted by any member of the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee agreed to use the Faculty Handbook criteria for Service in AY 2009-2010.)

Members of the Faculty Senate may nominate full-time (tenure-track and non-tenure-track) faculty members to receive a Service Award. Nominations should be sent to Emily Carlin (ecarlin@sju.edu) in the Provost’s Office or to the President of the Faculty Senate no later than Monday, February 26, 2024. 

The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate determines which faculty members (up to three) receive the Service Awards. To determine the awardees, the Executive Committee will use the Faculty Handbook description of primary and supporting indicators of service (page 57, August 2023).

Primary: 

• University-level committee service 
• College-level committee service 
• Departmental service 
• Contributions to the university's mission as a Jesuit institution 
• Contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Positive involvement in student life and activities 
• Service in a professional organization
• Community service 
• Uncompensated consulting 

Supporting:  

• Membership in professional organizations
• Compensated consulting
• Participation in university functions

Recent recipients of the Service Awards: 

• 2013-2014: Professors Liebell and Dufresne
• 2014-2015: Professors Brokes and Daniel
• 2015-2016: Professor Green
• 2016-2017: Professors Miori and R. Sharma
• 2017-2018: Professors Burr and Weidner
• 2018-2019: Professor Burkhalter
• 2020-2021: Professor Shenk
• 2021-2022: Professor Logio
• 2022-2023: Professor Ramos

(Nominations are solicited from the tenure-track faculty. Guidelines were developed by the Vice President for Mission and the Academic Council on Mission and Identity in AY 2001-2002.)

The candidate for the Justice Award must be a tenure-track faculty member who has integrated academic excellence with long standing effort to place "the faith that does 

justice" at the heart of his or her academic life. The award should be considered equivalent to other merit awards in emphasizing excellence. At the same time, this award is distinguished by virtue of its emphasis upon the excellence strived for which is distinctively Ignatian in character. The spirit of the award is contained in the address given by Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach at the Santa Clara conference in October 2000:

In the words of GC 34, a Jesuit university must be faithful to both the noun university" and to the adjective “Jesuit.” To be a university requires dedication “to research, teaching and the various forms of service that correspond to its cultural mission.” To be Jesuit 'requires that the university act in harmony with the demands of the service of faith and promotion of justice...'

Every Jesuit academy of higher learning is called to live in a social reality . . . and to live for that social reality, to shed university intelligence upon it and to use university influence to transform it. Thus Jesuit universities have stronger and different reasons, than many other academic and research institutions, for addressing the actual world as it unjustly exists and for helping to reshape it in the light of the Gospel.

Examples of what such commitment might entail "in the concrete" are listed below: 

1. including service-learning and experiential learning in one's course work and/or modeling "being a person for others" through extracurricular community service activities; 
2. regular and demonstrable application of one's disciplinary specialty to issues of justice and injustice, both in research and teaching; 
3. active participation, beyond the classroom, in discussions and activities relating to issues of faith and justice among members of the community of Saint Joseph's; 
4. at a personal level, living a "faithful and just life" in how one deals with colleagues, students, and staff. 

Please include a rationale for your nomination. The committee choosing the recipient of the award will include faculty representatives from the following groups: the Academic Council on Mission and Identity, the Faith-Justice Advisory Board and prior recipients.

Prior recipients who cannot be nominated again are:

• Bergen
• Bernt
• Boettcher
• Brennan
• Clampet-Lundquist
• Green
• Johnson
• Kefalas
• Liebell
• Linehan
• McDevitt
• McDonald
• Moore
• Palestini
• Rowe
• Sherman
• Slike
• Snetselaar
• Terosky
• Burkhalter
• Bhayroo
• Clarke

Nominations should be sent to Emily Carlin (ecarlin@sju.edu) in the Provost’s Office, who will forward them to the awards committee. Nominations should be submitted by Monday, February 26, 2024. Thank you for helping us to identify a worthy recipient of this award.

(Nominations can be submitted by faculty, staff, administrators and students. These guidelines were developed by members of the Faculty Senate during AY 2018-2019.)

Diversity is the presence of difference within a given setting. Diversity is about a collective or a group and can only exist in relationship to others. Here, we are referring to race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or social class. Some of these identities are protected classes — identities that have received (and still receive) systematic discriminatory treatment, creating barriers to opportunity and resources. 

Inclusion builds a culture of belonging by actively inviting the contribution and participation of all people. Inclusion is about individuals with different identities feeling and/or being valued and welcomed within a given setting. An inclusive environment means that every person’s voice adds value.

Equity seeks to ensure fair treatment, equality of opportunity, and parity in access. Equity is a process that begins by acknowledging that unequal starting place and continues to correct and address the imbalance. 

In order to make the process of selecting recipients of the inclusion and diversity award more reliable and more likely to identify colleagues of merit, the following nomination process is suggested:

• Any faculty, staff, administrator, or student may nominate a tenured or tenure-track faculty member. The nomination must include an in-depth letter of evaluation that provides a rationale for the nomination and explains why the nominee is worthy of the award. Normally, these letters will be approximately 1000 words in length. Please send the letters of nomination, along with all supporting materials, to Emily Carlin (ecarlin@sju.edu) in the Provost’s Office no later than Monday, February 26, 2024 Electronic or paper submissions are welcome. 
• This award recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of faculty members whose teaching, research, and/or service activities promote diversity, equity and inclusion and support a culture that embraces and exhibits inclusive excellence. 
• There will be a five-year period of ineligibility after a faculty member has received the diversity, equity, and inclusion award. 

Examples of what such excellence in commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion may entail: 

• Broadening intercultural awareness of all students through the development and implementation of curricular, mentoring, advising, and/or other academic programs. 
• Developing, implementing, and/or participating in programs that advance the education and learning of prospective and current students from diverse backgrounds. 
• Developing, implementing, and/or participating in programs and activities that create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for people from diverse backgrounds. 
• Developing and disseminating research that examine the scientific, social, and cultural contexts that impact our understanding of diversity.
• Developing, implementing, and/or demonstrating a clear, ongoing commitment to support activities and programs that advance diversity and inclusion within the University, within professional groups, and/or within the community-at-large. 

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards Committee, comprised of four members of the full-time faculty and with representation from the Colleges and Schools, may select up to two faculty members for Faculty Merit Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards.

Recent Recipients of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award

• 2020-2021: Professor Tryce
• 2021-2022: Professor Lockridge
• 2022-2023: Professors Rhett-Davis and Ramos