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Board of Regents Awards

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Award Description

Awards are granted in five categories:

  • Teaching
  • Scholarship or Research
  • Creative Activity
  • Public Service (to state, nation, or humanity in general)
  • Mentoring (of students)

Each recipient of an award receives a plaque and $2,000. Each member of a collaboration that receives an award receives a plaque and a portion of the $2,000 amount (presented to and divided equally among USM collaborators only).

Qualifications

The nominee must meet all of the following criteria:

  • The faculty member being nominated must be currently employed by a USM institution as a tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure track faculty member.
  • The nominee must have been a USM faculty member for at least five years.
  • The faculty member must have been employed by a USM institution while making the outstanding contributions on which the nomination is based.
  • The period of performance to be considered will be the three-year period ending on June 30 of the year in which the nomination is made for Teaching; Scholarship or Research; Creative Activity; and Public Service. Reference to work in previous years may be made to show continuous achievement in the academic field. The nomination packet for a Mentoring award may include more than three years of mentoring.
  • Faculty who have won a Regents’ Faculty Award within the past three years are not eligible for the same award.

The nominee's accomplishments must be characterized by the following:

  • The faculty member should have fulfilled ordinary obligations as indicated in the institution's workload policy and as agreed upon by the department/unit. Accomplishments for which he or she is nominated must clearly exceed ordinary expectations.
  • Achievements should be continuous in an academic field. Peers and/or the broader public must recognize the outstanding nature of the contributions.

Paid consultancies are excluded from award consideration.

Nomination Process

By September 28

Create a nomination record for the nominee, using the online form. The nomination record can be created at any time before September 28. Next, submit the following Preliminary Nomination packet, combined into a single, searchable PDF, by September 28 through the APA website:

  • A summary resume,
  • A one page essay from the nominee describing how he or she has contributed to excellence in the category of the nomination,
  • A letter of nomination from the department chairperson or dean, and 
  • Brief documentation of exemplary achievement summarizing the materials listed below for the category.

By October 19

Submit the following Final Nomination packet, combined into a single, searchable PDF, by October 19 through the APA website:

  • A minimum of two and maximum of five letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation may be from persons at the nominee's institution or at other institutions.
  • No more than three letters from individuals external to the institution.
  • Update documentation of exemplary achievement. 
  • Additional documentation of exemplary achievement*
    • Teaching Nominations - Documentation must include persuasive evidence of excellent teaching including, but not limited to, peer evaluations, a summary of student evaluations, and teaching portfolios;
    • Scholarship or Research Nominations - Recommendations should demonstrate evidence of exceptional scholarship or research that extends or deepens the bounds of knowledge and/or are recognized as innovations in the nominee's discipline;
    • Creative Activity Nominations - Supporting evidence must include a link to a representational portfolio that could include examples of images, audio or video recordings, writing examples, etc.
    • Public Service Nominations - Recommendations should demonstrate contributions to the community through involvement in initiatives such as P-20 programs, clinical practice, professional or non-profit organizations, public policy, public health, and entrepreneurship in ways that meaningfully and positively affect the human condition. Other demonstrations of these qualities in letter form should be clearly labeled as supporting documents not letters of recommendation;
    • Mentoring Nominations - Supporting evidence should document the value of the mentoring. Testimony of current students and graduates is encouraged.

Note that altogether the package in parts 1-2 must not exceed 18 pages. Contact the Office of Faculty Affairs (faculty@umd.edu) regarding submission procedures at x56803.