Faculty Awards Deadlines & Procedures
Texas Tech offers faculty awards and recognition opportunities spanning teaching, research, creative activity, engagement, mentorship, leadership and professional achievement. Use this page to review basic eligibility, nomination procedures and contacts for university awards and related opportunities.
Unless otherwise indicated, applications for awards may be submitted by any full-time faculty member. Questions about applicant eligibility should go to Associate Vice Provost Suzanne Tapp.
Please refer to OP 32.24 for additional information, nomination guidelines and forms. For specific due dates each year, refer to the Provost Planning Calendar.
Distinguished & University Recognition
These awards recognize sustained or university-level faculty achievement across multiple areas of academic work.
University Distinguished Professorship
Criteria: Recognizes tenured full professors, librarians and archivists with at least five consecutive years of service at Texas Tech for significant and ongoing accomplishments in teaching, scholarly and creative activity and/or engaged scholarship.
Nominations: Self-nominations are not permitted. Nomination packages must come through the nominee's college. Arts & Sciences may submit up to two nominations per year; all other colleges may submit up to one.
Procedure: University review committee.
Texas University Fund Distinguished Research Professorship
Criteria: Supports senior faculty who lead or significantly contribute to strategic research initiatives aligned with institutional and statewide goals. Eligible appointments include professors, librarians and archivists with tenure and research professors with continuing appointment.
Nominations: Self-nominations are not permitted. Nomination packages must come through the nominee's college. Arts & Sciences may submit up to two nominations per year; all other colleges may submit up to one.
Procedure: University review committee.
Distinguished Educator or Engaged Scholar
Criteria: Recognizes senior lecturers and professors of practice with at least five years of continuous university service for significant and ongoing accomplishments in teaching or engaged scholarship.
Nominations: Self-nominations are not permitted. Nomination packages must come through the nominee's college. Arts & Sciences may submit up to two nominations per year; all other colleges may submit up to one.
Procedure: University review committee.
President's Distinguished Scholar or Artist
Criteria: Recognizes and supports continued scholarly, research or creative activity among eligible mid-career faculty.
Nominations: Self-nominations are not permitted and nomination packages must come through the nominee's college.
Procedure: University review committee.
Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professorships
President's Academic Achievement Awards
Criteria: Excellence across the university's teaching, research and service missions, including at least three years of faculty service, recognition by peers and evidence of productive scholarship.
Nominations: Nominated by the dean by letter, including a vita and up to three letters of support.
Procedure: Reviewed by the Honors and Awards Council, which makes recommendations to the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President.
Contact:Anne King
Teaching & Mentoring
These awards recognize excellence in teaching, instructional innovation, faculty mentorship and departmental teaching culture.
Chancellor's Council Distinguished Teaching Award
Criteria: See OP 32.13.
Nominations: Nominated by the dean of the college in which the nominee holds a faculty appointment.
Procedure: Selection by the Executive Council of the Teaching Academy and the president of the Faculty Senate, followed by recommendations through the Provost and President to the Chancellor.
Contact:Molly Jacobs
Hemphill-Wells New Professor Excellence in Teaching Award
Criteria: Recognizes a professor who has been at Texas Tech no more than four years and whose excellence in teaching is supported by students, faculty and administrators.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty.
Procedure: Screening by the Honors and Awards Council with recommendations to the Texas Tech Parents Association.
Contact:Anne King
President's Excellence in Faculty Peer Mentorship Award
Criteria: Recognizes exemplary and sustained faculty mentorship, including formal and informal mentoring roles and demonstrated success of mentees. Eligible faculty include tenured or continuing appointment faculty with at least three years of documented mentorship service.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty, chair or dean.
Procedure: A university committee reviews nominations and recommends the highest-ranking nominee to the Provost.
Contact:Suzanne Tapp or Molly Jacobs.
President's Excellence in Teaching Awards
Criteria: Excellence in the teaching role.
Nominations: Nominated by the dean through a letter summarizing teaching activities.
Procedure: Deans make recommendations to the Office of the Provost.
Contact:Anne King
Spencer A. Wells Award for Creativity in Teaching
Criteria: Recognizes creativity in a professor's approach to excellent teaching as demonstrated by students, faculty members and administrators.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty.
Procedure: Screening by the Honors and Awards Council with recommendations to the Texas Tech Parents Association.
Contact:Anne King
Teaching Academy Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Criteria: Recognizes an academic unit that demonstrates a strong teaching culture, commitment to students and institutional support for teaching excellence.
Nominations: Departments or comparable academic units submit an application for consideration.
Procedure: A Teaching Academy selection committee reviews applications.
Contact:Molly Jacobs
Research, Scholarship & Commercialization
These awards recognize research, scholarly and creative achievement, publication and commercialization.
Barnie E. Rushing, Jr., Faculty Distinguished Research Awards
Criteria: Excellence in research, scholarship and creative activity.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty with approval and final selection by the deans of the colleges in which nominees hold faculty appointments.
Procedure: Deans select college nominees. Nominees are reviewed by the Research Advisory Council, which makes recommendations to the Texas Tech Parents Association.
Contact:Karen Michael
Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award
Criteria: See OP 32.21.
Nominations: Nominations originate with and are approved by the deans of the colleges in which nominees hold faculty appointments.
Procedure: Selection by an appropriate university committee, followed by recommendations through Research & Innovation, the President and the Chancellor.
Contact:Karen Michael
President's Excellence in Commercialization Award
Criteria: Recognizes outstanding contributions to the commercialization of innovative work conducted by Texas Tech faculty.
Nominations: Tenured or tenure-track faculty are nominated by deans, with up to two nominations from each college.
Procedure: Associate Deans for Research screen nominations and recommend a recipient to the Provost and Office of Research & Innovation, which forward the recommendation to the President.
Contact:Karen Michael
President's Faculty Book Awards
Criteria: See OP 32.24.
Nominations: Submit the required copies of an eligible published book and the applicable information sheet identified in OP 32.24.
Procedure: Submissions are reviewed by the President's Book Award Committee, which recommends recipients to the Provost. Finalists are recommended to the President.
Contact:Anne King
Engagement & Institutional Excellence
These awards recognize engaged scholarship, institutional effectiveness and work that strengthens communities and academic programs.
President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award
Criteria: Recognizes a relatively new engaged scholarship project or activity that addresses an important community need or larger societal issue through mutually beneficial partnerships.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty, dean or chair.
Procedure: A university committee reviews and rates nominations and recommends the highest-ranking nominees to the Provost.
Contact:Alexandria Fontana
President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award
Criteria: Recognizes exemplary and sustained engaged scholarship that addresses community needs or societal issues through mutually beneficial partnerships and demonstrates significant impact.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty, dean or chair.
Procedure: A university committee reviews and rates nominations and recommends the highest-ranking nominees to the Provost.
Contact:Alexandria Fontana
Provost's Institutional Effectiveness in Excellence Award
Criteria: Recognizes an academic department for institutional effectiveness, continuous improvement and demonstrated efforts to improve student learning at the degree-program level.
Nominations: Nominated by the dean through a submitted packet.
Procedure: A university committee reviews nominations and recommends award recipients to the Provost.
Contact:Jennifer Hughes
Leadership & Professional Development
These opportunities recognize faculty leadership or support continued professional growth and external recognition.
Faculty Development Leaves
Criteria and nominations: See OP 32.29. External letters should be received by the applicant and included as part of the application packet.
Procedure: The Faculty Development Leave Committee reviews applications based on need and merit and makes recommendations to the Provost. Recommendations advance through the President to the Board of Regents for final approval.
Contact:Michele Hinds or Anne King.
Faculty Distinguished Leadership Award
Criteria: Recognizes outstanding service to a department, college or the university. The award is granted as merited and is not necessarily awarded annually.
Nominations: Nominated by faculty.
Procedure: Screening by the Honors and Awards Council with recommendations to the Texas Tech Parents Association.
Contact:Anne King
Piper Professor Nomination
Criteria: Primarily recognizes teaching and work with undergraduate students.
Nominations: Nominations are submitted to the Faculty Senate.
Procedure: Screening by the Honors and Awards Council. The Provost recommends the university nominee to the Piper Foundation.
Contact:Molly Jacobs
Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty Award
Criteria: Recognizes faculty with no more than four years of total faculty service based on student evaluations, innovative teaching activities, initiation of research or creative activities and interaction with students.
Nominations: Nominated by the deans of the colleges in which nominees hold faculty appointments.
Procedure: Deans recommend nominees to the Provost, who notifies the Texas Tech Alumni Association.
Contact:Kahlie Callison
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