Excellence in Leadership and Service

Award Description:

Excellence in faculty leadership and service is defined as all of those professional activities other than teaching and research that are performed by faculty members as part of their University responsibilities or as community outreach (internal, external, or both kinds of service).

Award Selection Guidelines:

Nomination packets should clearly outline the impact of leadership and service activities the nominee has had on the unit, school/college, campus and/or national communities. Significant weight will be given to service that is outside a paid appointment. This may include such activities as:

  • Committee work (department, division/unit, campus, and system-level)
  • Leading campus-wide or university-wide-events
  • Shared faculty governance participation in  college/school faculty council bodies; the BFA, and/or in system Faculty Council
  • Student advising above and beyond what is normally considered part of “teaching” and is normally acknowledged by the candidate’s department
  • Activities related to course instruction that are considered “service” and not considered “teaching”
  • Service in state, professional, or national organization
  • Outreach to communities and partners beyond the university, including non-profits, under-represented groups, etc., that draws upon the instructor’s expertise
  • Contributions to local or national workshops or conferences
  • Nominations which clearly exemplify C.U. Boulder's commitment to Inclusive Excellence and/or sustainability

Nomination Packet Requirements – 20 page maximum

  • Packets must be submitted as a single pdf document and named “first name.last name"
  • Packets must be submitted in the following order:
    • Nomination Letter – 2-page max
    • Nominee Personal Statement – 2-page max
    • Abbreviated CV – 4-page max focused on research, scholarly & creative work
    • 4-6 Letters of Support – each letter has a 2-page maximum
      • Internal – 2 letters minimum; 3 max.
      • External- 2 letters minimum; 3 max.
  • Letters, Statements, and CVs may not exceed the page maximums*
  • Packets that exceed 20 pages will not be accepted

*Partial pages will be counted as a full page

Requirements for letters of support:

  • Internal letters must come from CU Boulder campus faculty. The faculty member may be from the nominee’s home department/unit or from another department/unit on campus.
  • External letters cannot be from faculty rostered in the nominee’s home unit. External letters should come from the extended community and may include:
    • CU faculty who are not rostered in the nominee’s rostered department.
    • Faculty outside of CU Boulder
    • University Administrators, CU alumni, and/or current students
    • Official or representatives from a related service organization
  • All letters must be addressed to the nominator, not the nominee
  • Letters may be from an individual or can be prepared and jointly signed by more than one person 

Recommendations for letters of support:

  • Review the selection guidelines above for the areas of leadership & service that will be emphasized by the selection committee.
  • Whenever possible, to provide letters that address different facets of the nominee’s service and leadership.
  • Solicit internal and external letters from the individuals best qualified to comment on those areas.
  • When requesting faculty letters of support, let letter-writers know there is a 2-page maximum.

Packet Submission Instructions:

  • Materials must be saved as one nomination packet in a single PDF file titled: NomineeFirstName.NomineeLastName.pdf
  • Submit the packet to via email to: bfa@colorado.edu prior to or by midnight on the submission deadline of Friday, January 31, 2024.
  • Nominators/Nomination Committees are strongly advised to check with the BFA office early as they assemble their packets to ensure packet requirements are met.
  • Nominators/Nomination Committees are advised to turn in their packet at least 2-3 days prior to the deadline for requirements review. 
    • Packets submitted a day or more in advance of the deadline will be allowed to fix issues with their packets.
    • Packets turned in the day of the submission deadline will not be allowed to fix any issues with their packets.

Please note:

  • Nominees must be members of the Boulder Faculty Senate as defined by CU Regent Law and the CU Faculty Senate Constitution.
  • The selection process gives preference to nominees who have been with the University of Colorado for at least five years.
  • Nominated faculty must be in good standing with the University in order to be considered.
  • Although faculty may receive the award for a given category only once, they are eligible to receive awards in either of the other two categories in different years.
  • If your nominee is selected for the award, every person who contributed a letter of support will be invited to the Excellence Awards ceremony. Please include email addresses on the letters of support.
  • Nominees who are not selected in a given year may choose to be considered one additional time the following academic year.

 

Please read through the FAQ's below. If you have any questions about the nomination process contact the BFA office at bfa@colorado.edu, or call at 303-492-6271

FAQs

If a packet is turned in prior to the deadline date, nominators will be given the opportunity to revise and fix the packet. If the packet is turned in on the day of the deadline, it will be cut internally at page maximums. In some extreme cases a packet may be rejected.

Unless a packet is submitted in advance (see above) any nomination packet item that exceeds the page maximum will be cut at the required page maximum.

A partial page is counted as a full page and will be cut at the 2nd page or page maximum.

Nominators are asked to let writers know there is a page maximum when they request the letter. Letters will be cut at the page maximum. See 1, 2, & 3 above.

All packets must include a minimum of 4 letters of support (2 in each category of “internal” and “external”.) However, a nominator or nominating committee may choose to include a third letter of support in either category (internal or external) as long as the packet remains at or below a total page count of 20. It would be possible, for example, for a packet to have room for a third one-page letter of support if the nomination statement is only one page long.

Not necessarily. Not all letters of support are equal. It is up to the nominator/nominating committee to determine which and how many letters should be included. Nominators/nominating committees should submit the strongest packet overall that provides the best information for the selection committee to review, while adhering to all page maximums.

See the requirements for letters of support above. Letters of support should demonstrate to the selection committee broad support for the nominee and their work both inside and outside the nominee’s unit.