Associate Dean for Research, Technology & External Affairs

COE Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award

Purpose and Description

The Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award was created by the College of Education in 1985 to honor faculty members for excellence in research, teaching, and outreach/service. The unique purpose of exemplary record in the triadic mission of the College of Education and the University of Georgia distinguishes this award from those that recognize excellence in one area (i.e., teaching, research, or outreach/service). There may be one Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award presented each year. A person receiving the award holds the title for one year, starting with the academic year following their selection. Recipients of the Aderhold Professor Award will receive a plaque or other momento to be awarded at a suitable ceremony and $4,000 to be received as discretionary funds for one year, a one-time cash award*, or a combination of discretionary and cash award. Funds for these awards will come from the College of Education Dean's Office.

*Cash awards are subject to tax.

Guidelines and Criteria

Eligibility

Nominations are limited to those holding the rank of professor and who have been a member of the College of Education faculty at the University of Georgia for at least five years.

The Committee is not required to select an Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award if no suitable recipient seems apparent.

No faculty member serving on the Faculty Senate Committee is eligible for nomination during his or her term of service on this Committee.

Nominations

Only one (1) from each department may be nominated. Any three (3) faculty members may nominate an individual person.

Eleven copies of the nomination package, including documentation, are due in the Office of the Associate Dean for Research and External Affairs (G-10 Aderhold Hall) by January 17 each year. Should this date fall on a weekend or holiday, nominations should be submitted the next working day.

Method of Selection

Nominations will be reviewed by the Faculty Senate Awards Committee.

Criteria for Selection

The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in the areas of teaching, research, and outreach/service.

Significant contributions with demonstrated national and/or international impact must be documented for each of the three areas independently and/or intergratively (e.g., research about teaching, teaching about research, presenting research results as implications for practice to a group of teachers, clients, counselors, parents, etc.). For this reason, no detailed format or set of criteria for nominations will be specified.

Guidelines for Preparing Nominations

The written statement should address five general questions:

How does the nominee excel in the area of teaching?
This involves meeting responsibilities to students (e.g., well prepared for class, available for consultation, involved in student tutorials, responsive to student questions and needs, consistent in providing coherence of assigned material and assessments) and challenging students intellectually (e.g., ideas and interchange which provoke students to learn more, demanding quality performance in a responsible manner, causing students to rethink their values and epistemologies). Documentation might come, for example, in the form of carefully designed surveys of students, in-depth review with representative students, solicitation of testimony from successful former students and/or faculty evaluation of syllabi or other indicators of content organization and course objectives. Evidence of innovative curriculum, methods, and technologies is another area that may be included. Another example might be to address the impact upon the field with documented changes in attitude, practice, etc. These examples are intended to be suggestive, not prescriptive or exhaustive.

How does the nominee excel in the area of research?
This involves the development of an independent line of inquiry that may or may not be characterized by collaboration with others. If collaboration is evident, the area of research of the nominee is clear and distinguishable. The faculty member has informed his/her area of research via peer-reviewed, published works. This work has impacted the field, and there is testimony related to this impact. There is recognition for creative and/or original contributions to knowledge. This recognition may be affirmed by recognized national and/or international leaders in the discipline. These examples are only suggestive.

How does the nominee excel in the area of outreach and service?
Within the College, nominees serve on committees as appointed. Beyond the usual College or University committee circuit, other examples of evidence might be (1) service to the College or University through special volunteer work, (2) leadership roles on committees, (3) self-initiated ideas to promote the College or University mission, or (4) innovation related to College or University service. Service to the profession might include work such as offices held in professional organizations, editing national and/or international journals, reviewing for professional journals, volunteering in schools or other educational or social agencies, or presenting and working jointly with organizations and associations, etc. Exemplary public outreach might be nationally/internationally recognized work, such as helping other groups, states, or foreign countries to understand, initiate, maintain and/or evaluate innovative programs. Consistent dedicated public service that results in improvements, changes, additions, or deletions might be affirmed by relevant personnel. Again, these examples are intended to be suggestive, not prescriptive or exhaustive.

How well does the nominee integrate the areas of teaching, research, and outreach/service?
The innovative ways that the nominee envisions the integration of teaching, research, and outreach may be included. The specific ways in which such integration has been developed and/or implemented may be included. For example, as part of a research grant, a videotape is developed by the nominee to investigate a certain method; later, this videotape becomes an instructional tool to teach this method to undergraduates and is later used in a public service presentation to help parents understand how their children learn.

How well will this nominee represent the highest ideals of the College of Education?
In this culminating section, summarize why this nominee's efforts in the areas of teaching, research, and outreach warrant the most prestigious award in the College. This section is intentionally not described to any great extent because the possibilities for integration of teaching, research, and outreach are limitless. The person preparing the nomination should feel free to be creative and not confined in this area.