Nature and Categories of Awards

  1. Award for excellence in teaching
    This award is to recognize, encourage, and reward superior classroom teachers—individuals whose command of their respective disciplines, teaching methodologies, communications skills, concern for student performance, and commitment to the learning process exemplify the teacher/mentor model.
  2. Award for excellence in research or creative endeavors
    This award is to recognize, encourage, and reward those individuals whose research or creative endeavors have been particularly successful and are so recognized locally, regionally, and nationally. The results of these efforts should have contributed to the expansion of knowledge; enriched the quality of life through research or creative work; and encouraged additional research or creative work.
  3. Award for excellence in service
    This award is to recognize, encourage, and reward those individuals who have brought credit to UA Little Rock through their exemplary service to the campus community and/or through their successful efforts in applying the content or skills of their academic disciplines in service to the community, state, or nation. This award is designed to distinguish those persons whose achievements in service have been particularly successful and are so recognized locally, regionally, and/or nationally.
  4. Rising faculty award for excellence
    This award is to recognize, encourage, and reward the contributions of any full-time faculty demonstrating exceptional promise in teaching, research or creative endeavors, or service during their first five years at UA Little Rock.
  5. Award for excellence in social justice
    This award recognizes a faculty member’s commitment to the broad concept of social justice, the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and general impact in any or all of the areas of teaching, service, and research or creative endeavors. Relevant activities include but are not limited to those that advance a just and equitable society for all, promote a sense of inclusion and increased well-being for all, and contribute to equal opportunity in the university, the community, or the field of study.

Number and Frequency of Awards

  • For each of the awards, there may be one annual award in each College of the University and in the William H. Bowen School of Law. (These units are referred to throughout as College/School.)
  • For each of the awards, there shall be one University-level award annually. The University-level awardee shall be chosen from the College/School-level award winners.

    Selection

    1. Eligibility
    • Persons with faculty status as defined in the current faculty handbook, except for the adjunct and visiting categories, holding full-time faculty appointments who have completed five or more full years of service to the University may be nominated for any of the awards except for the rising faculty award for excellence and the award for excellence in social justice; faculty who have administrative responsibilities are eligible if their teaching duties are 50% or more of their work assignment for the academic year in which they are nominated. Faculty members who are otherwise qualified for the teaching award but who are not administratively a part of one of the Colleges/School shall be eligible through the award process of the College/School that offers the courses such faculty teach.
    • The most recent five years of accomplishments comprise the record to be documented, presented and reviewed in the selection process.
    • Eligibility for the rising faculty award is limited to persons holding full-time faculty appointments who have completed at least one year and less than five years of service to the University at the time of nomination; tenured faculty and senior instructors are ineligible for the early career award.
    • Eligibility for the social justice award is limited to persons who have completed at least one full academic year of service at UA Little Rock at the time of nomination. Accomplishments from the relevant time period (up to the most recent five years) at UA Little Rock comprise the record to be documented, presented and reviewed in the selection process.
    • A person may not be considered for an award that they have won in the previous three years.
    1. Nominations
      • Persons considered for awards shall be identified through a process of nomination. Self-nominations will not be considered.
      • The nomination process shall be open – i.e., any person may nominate an eligible faculty member for any of the awards.
      • Persons may not be nominated for more than one award in a given year. This rule does not apply to faculty nominees from the William H. Bowen School of Law except that a nominee may not win more than one School award in a given year.
    2. Selection committees—College/School-level awards.
      • There shall be a selection committee within each College/School.
      • The size and composition of the committee shall be as follows:
        • One representative chosen by the faculty from each academic unit within the College/School.
        • One student member.
        • One alumni member.
      • In colleges/schools which are not organized departmentally, the faculty shall develop a method for faculty representation.
      • The manner of choosing the student and alumni members shall be determined by the college/school faculty.
      • Individuals who serve as administrators with the title of department chair (or its equivalent) and at higher levels of administration are not eligible to serve on the selection committee.
      • Individuals who are nominated for an award may not serve on the selection committee.
    3. Selection committee—University-level awards.
      • The UA Little Rock Board of Visitors will serve as the external selection committee for the university-level awards.

    Procedure

    1. Administration of the award process.
      • Administrative support for the award process shall be the responsibility of the Office of the Provost.
    2. Solicitation of nominations.
      • Not later than September 30 of each year, the Provost shall advise members of the campus community of the award process and nominating procedure. The timeline and deadlines for preparation, completion and submission of materials shall be announced as well.
      • The Vice Chancellor for University Advancement or their designee shall advise the alumni of the University through appropriate alumni publications.
      • Information about the awards shall be widely disseminated throughout the community to encourage nominations from the business, professional, and public sectors of the community.
    3. Preparation of nomination packets.
      • Nominators are responsible for preparation of nomination packets containing information as specified in “Preparation and Submission of Nomination Packets.” Page limitations are enforced.
    4. Submission of nomination packets.
      • One copy of each nomination packet for the College/School-level awards shall be submitted to the College/School-level selection committee no later than the date specified in the Provost’s announcement.
      • One copy of each College/School-level winner’s packet shall be forwarded to the Provost no later than the date specified in the Provost’s announcement.
    5. Selection committee action.
      • College/School-level selection committees shall meet as necessary in order to complete the selection of the award winners.
      • Committee procedures shall be determined by the respective Colleges/School.
      • The committee shall review such materials as are submitted in the nomination packet.
      • The proceedings of the committees shall be confidential.
      • The committee shall prepare for each College/School-level winner a one-page letter of support to be included in the nomination packet.
      • Each College/School-level committee shall forward one copy of the nomination packets of the winners of the College/School-level awards to the Provost no later than the date specified in the Provost’s announcement.
    6. The Chancellor shall forward sets of nomination packets to members of the external selection committee.
      • The members of the selection committee shall advise the Chancellor of the committee’s selections by a date designated by the Provost.
      • The proceedings of the committee shall be confidential.
      • The announcement of University-level winners shall be made at a suitable University event.

    Preparation and Submission of Nomination Packets

    Nominations must adhere to the following instructions and page limitations to be accepted. Submit the packet to the College/School selection committee by the date specified in the annual solicitation for nominations. Department chairs (or equivalent administrators) are expected to assist as needed in assembling the required information.

    The contents of each packet should be as follows, minimum 12-point font:

    The contents of each packet should be as follows, minimum 12-point font:

    1. Table of Contents (not included in page count)
    2. Letter of Nomination (limited to three pages). Focus on accomplishments during the relevant time period for the specific award.
    3. Personal statement from candidate (One page maximum)
    4. Biographical data. (limited to five pages) Please provide in the order listed:
    • Name of nominee and award for which nominated
    • Current position (title, rank, academic unit)
    • Number of years in this position
    • Number of years at UA Little Rock
    • Degrees held (source and date)
    • Employment history (previous academic positions, years; list most recent first)
    • Honors and awards
    • Membership in professional and honorary societies (note offices held)
    • Teaching: For those nominated for a teaching award, provide a list of courses taught in each of the five years prior to nomination along with the full course title. For those nominated for other awards: a list of total credit hours taught by academic year in each of the relevant years prior to nomination is acceptable.
    • Scholarly and Professional Accomplishments: List of articles and books published and professional accomplishments within the last five years (please provide the complete citation). If there are particularly significant accomplishments before the last five years, those may be referenced in the letter of nomination. Do not submit copies of work(s). The selection committee may request these if desired.
    • Service: A list of campus and/or public service activities in each of the five years prior to nomination. For those nominated for the service award, provide brief descriptions of the nominee’s role in the service activities.
    1. Letters of endorsement (limited to one page each) may be provided from up to four people who can speak to the award criteria. Letters from students who are likely to be subsequently advised or evaluated by the faculty nominee are discouraged. Individual letters from graduates are appropriate. The perspective or status of the authors of the letters should be clearly identified, either in the letter itself or by the person who prepares the nomination packet as well as their title, e.g., Professor of English, or Alumnus, or Dean of Arts, or Student, etc.

      Pages exceeding the limits above will not be considered. The total packet requires a Table of Contents and a maximum of 13 pages (excluding the Table of Contents)

    Adopted by the Senate on September 21, 2007, Updated per Faculty Senate Legislation (FS_2025_9, renewed 11/07/2025).