SUNY Awards for Faculty and Staff
Nominate your colleagues awards from the State University of New York
Jump to a Category:
Chancellor's Awards for Excellence
Excellence in Classified Service
Excellence in Professional Service
Other SUNY Awards
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching
This award recognizes consistently superior teaching at the graduate, undergraduate, or professional level in keeping with SUNY's commitment to providing its students with instruction of the highest quality.
Deadlines
Submit the Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit the Full Nomination File: November 2026
- Nominees must be Adjunct faculty as generally defined by the specific SUNY institution. Individuals serving in a full-time professional or academic position at a SUNY institution are not eligible for this award.
- Nominees must have taught, over the proceeding five years, a total of courses equivalent to one half of a three-year full-time teaching load in the appropriate department.
- Nominees may also serve in adjunct roles at other educational institutions.
- Nominees must be employed by the nominating campus at the time of the nomination.
- Retirees serving as adjunct faculty are not eligible for nomination.
Eligibility Limitations
- Individuals holding Distinguished Faculty rank (Distinguished Librarian, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) are ineligible.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- The chief campus officer for academic, student, or administrative affairs, or persons serving in these capacities, may not be nominated for an Excellence Award. Other exclusions include, but are not limited to, comparable titles: direct reports to the president or chancellor, vice chancellors and above, vice presidents and above, vice provosts and above, senior counsels and above.
- Individuals should not be nominated in the same season for promotion to Distinguished Faculty rank and an Excellence Award in the same category (e.g., an individual should not be nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Professorship and an Excellence in Teaching Award).
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
The primary criterion is skill in teaching. Additionally, consideration is given to outstanding service to students, as well as services to the campus and to SUNY. The following criteria are to be used in selecting nominees for this award:
- Teaching Techniques and Representative Materials: There must be positive evidence that the candidate performs superbly in teaching. The nominee must maintain flexible instructional policies that adapt readily to student needs, interests and problems. Mastery of teaching techniques, including different instructional practices that adapt to different courses, must be demonstrated and substantiated.
- Student evaluations, in the form of student questionnaires administered and compiled by persons other than the nominee, should be presented for several different courses over a period of several recent years to provide a clear idea of the nominee's impact on students.
- Student Services: In relating to students, candidates must be generous with personal time, easily accessible, and must demonstrate a continual concern for the intellectual growth of individual students. The focus here is the accessibility of the nominee to students outside of class (e.g., mentoring student research, office hours, conferences, special meetings, and the nominee's responsibility in terms of student advisement).
- Academic Standards and Requirements, and Evaluation of Student Performance: Candidates must set high standards for students and help them attain academic excellence. Quantity and quality of work that is more than average for the subject must be required of the students. Candidates must work actively with individual students to help them improve their scholarly or creative performance. This individual interaction is an important source of information that indicates the nature and level of instruction offered by the nominee. Consideration is to be given to the quality, quantity, and difficulty of the tasks or work assigned to students.
- Candidates' evaluations of students' work must be strongly supported by evidence. Candidates must be willing to give greater weight to each student's final level of competence than to the performance at the beginning of the course. Since expert teachers enable students to achieve high levels of scholarship, it is possible that the candidate's marking records may be somewhat above average. There must also be evidence that candidates do not hesitate to give low evaluations to students who do poorly. For this category, consideration should be given to grading patterns, particularly grade distributions for all courses in at least two recent years. Evidence in support of student performance may also be assessed by the accomplishments of students, including placement and achievement levels.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Nominator's letter
- Chairperson's letter
- Candidate's current and detailed CV: An up-to-date and moderately detailed CV containing information on the nominee's career must be included in the nomination portfolio. Specific data must include the date of appointment to the SUNY system, highest rank attained and date of appointment to that rank. It should also include areas of specialization, research activities, professional and scholarly publications, honors, and campus and SUNY service.
- Substantiation: Proof that the nominee has taught, over the proceeding five years, a total of courses equivalent to one-half of a three-year full-time teaching load in the appropriate department. List of courses taught in chronological order and indicating level.
- Letters from Peers: No more than 5 letters from individuals from on or off campus. Letters emailed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Letters from Students: Former and/or current students may submit letters. No more than five may be included in the nomination file. Letters emailed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Statement of Educational Philosophy: Must be prepared by the candidate.
- Evidence for Teaching Effectiveness/Description of Educational Efforts: May include a summary of student evaluations of teaching over the last few years, student mentoring, innovative devices, syllabi, etc.
- Candidate Summary: The candidate summary provides a concise rationale for the campus's nomination and highlights the candidate's merit for selection. It should summarize the candidate's most outstanding qualifications, major achievements and contributions, and specifically address how the candidate excels in each of the award's selection criteria. Portions of the summary may be used in award announcements. The one-page summary must be written in essay format - not as a letter, not written by the nominee, not in the first person, not addressed to the committee, and not signed. The maximum length is 2,000 characters, including spaces.
Please note that after the campus selection committee makes its recommendations to the president, only the candidate summary and CV are submitted to SUNY to make the case for the nominee. SUNY does not see the nomination file.
If you are a student submitting a nomination form, you will need to coordinate with the nominee's department to prepare the nomination file.
Need more help?
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service
Recognizes superior performance and extraordinary achievement by employees in the classified service
Demonstrate the University's commitment to individuals who provide superior service to its students and the community at large.
Deadlines
Submit Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit Full Nomination File: November 2026
All nominees must have completed at least three years of continuous, full-time permanent service in the Classified Service position for which they are nominated.
Eligibility Limitations
- Prior recipients of a Chancellor's Award for Excellence in the Classified Service are ineligible for consideration.
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
- The nominee must be an individual who has continuously demonstrated outstanding achievement, skill and commitment to excellence in fulfilling the job description for the position held.
- The nominee must also demonstrate excellence in activities beyond the scope of the job description. The ideal candidate will demonstrate creativity and flexibility in performing his or her position to meet campus needs. Special consideration will be given to employees who consistently provide exemplary customer service to students, staff, patients, and other members of the campus community.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Completed nomination form: Find it at the button below
- Narrative Statement: Less than 500 words, written by the nominator, in support of the nominee
- Supporting Statements: Letters of recommendation from the nominee’s supervisors and constituents served, if appropriate. Letters should address the nominee’s most outstanding qualifications and specific major achievements and include reference to the criteria for these awards. No more than 5 statements may be submitted. Letters emailed or faxed to the nominator are acceptable.
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Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service
Recognizes the consistently superior service contributions of full-time teaching faculty.
Service must be sustained over multiple years and may occur in a variety of venues.
Deadlines
Submit Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit Full Nomination File: November 2026
- Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination. Years do not need to be consecutive.
- Full-time clinical faculty and non-tenure track faculty, including lecturers, are eligible.
- Individuals serving in part-time or visiting capacities are ineligible for this award.
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- Academic Background: Candidates must regularly carry a full-time teaching load defined by the campus for full-time teaching. The definition of a full teaching load varies from campus to campus, but each campus should be satisfied that there can be no question that its nominee meets this criterion. Teachers of studio courses or other specialized courses in which credit hours are normally low are to be considered in terms of the full-time load normally expected for the discipline.
- Relevance for Department Chairs: The significance of having the campus define "full-time" teaching is particularly relevant in the case of department chairs. Campuses frequently provide course reductions for faculty serving in such capacities. If the reduction is applied uniformly, then this reduced load becomes "full-time" for that particular position. Individuals serving in this capacity may be nominated for the award contingent upon their carrying the campus-defined, full-time teaching load for persons performing such administrative responsibilities (e.g. , if a campus defines 15 hours as a full-time teaching load for full time faculty, and 12 hours as a full-time teaching load for the department chairs, then an individual serving as a department chair and teaching the 12 hours and meeting the other eligibility requirements would be eligible for nomination). The nomination portfolio should clearly indicate that the department chair is carrying a campus-defined full-time teaching load as defined for department chairs. One caveat: except for department chairs, teaching requirements must constitute more than 50 percent of the position's responsibility. Otherwise, the individual should be considered for the Excellence in Professional Service Award. Please remember that department chairs are always considered faculty first, and it is the intent that the professional service award be reserved for staff.
- Academic Rank: Nominees for the award may hold any full-time academic rank as defined in SUNY Board of Trustees policies: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor or assistant instructor, clinical professor, and full-time non-tenure track faculty including the title lecturer are eligible for nomination.
- Length of Service: Nominees must have completed at least three academic years of full-time appointment out of the five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination.
Eligibility limitations
- Individuals holding Distinguished Faculty rank (Distinguished Librarian, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) are ineligible.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- The chief campus officer for academic, student, or administrative affairs, or persons serving in these capacities, may not be nominated for an Excellence Award. Other exclusions include, but are not limited to, comparable titles: direct reports to the president or chancellor, vice chancellors and above, vice presidents and above, vice provosts and above, senior counsels and above.
- Individuals should not be nominated in the same season for promotion to Distinguished Faculty rank and an Excellence Award in the same category (e.g., an individual should not be nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Professorship and an Excellence in Teaching Award).
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
- To be nominated, a faculty member must demonstrate consistently superior service. Eligible service contributions may occur in a variety of areas including service to the campus, SUNY, the local community, or contributions at the regional, state-wide, national or international levels. Eligible activities may encompass a combination of service contributions to discipline or disciplinary and professional organizations and societies; and to leadership in local or system-wide faculty governance.
- The nature of the service must exceed the work generally considered to be part of a candidate's basic professional obligation (professional committees, etc.) and must include service that exceeds that for which faculty are normally compensated. There must be positive evidence of outstanding achievement and skill in providing leadership, outreach, or other university and/or community service or extraordinary service and leadership in the nominee's professional organization.
- The scope of the service must extend over multiple years, must be geared toward effecting positive change and must involve the generous giving of personal time in service to areas previously described.
- Candidates for this award must be full-time teaching/instructional faculty who meet, and preferably exceed, the selection criteria, and who also demonstrate initiative and creativity in exceeding these standards.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Nominator's letter
- Candidate's current and detailed CV: An up-to-date and moderately detailed CV containing information on the nominee's career must be included in the nomination portfolio. Specific data must include the date of appointment to the SUNY system, highest rank attained and date of appointment to that rank. It should also include areas of specialization, research activities, professional and scholarly publications, honors, and campus and SUNY service.
- Supporting statements: No more than 15 statements may be submitted. Letters of recommendation from the nominee's supervisors/chairperson and colleagues, and constituents, if appropriate. Statements should address the nominee's most outstanding qualifications and specific major achievements, with reference to the criteria for these awards. Letters emailed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Candidate Summary: The candidate summary provides a concise rationale for the campus's nomination and highlights the candidate's merit for selection. It should summarize the candidate's most outstanding qualifications, major achievements, and contributions, and specifically address how the candidate excels in each of the award's selection criteria. Portions of the summary may be used in award announcements. The one-page summary must be written in essay format - not as a letter, not written by the nominee, not in the first person, not addressed to the committee, and not signed. The maximum length is 2,000 characters, including spaces.
Please note that after the campus selection committee makes its recommendations to the president, only the candidate summary and CV are submitted to SUNY to make the case for the nominee. SUNY does not see the nomination file.
If you are a student submitting a nomination form, you will need to coordinate with the nominee's department to prepare the nomination file.
Need more help?
Excellence in Librarianship
Recognizes consistently superior professional achievement within and beyond the position.
Deadlines
Submit Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit Full Nomination File: November 2026
- Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination. Years do not need to be consecutive.
- Individuals serving in part-time or visiting capacities are ineligible for this award.
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- Academic Background: Candidates must hold a full-time appointment as a faculty librarian and must possess an ALA-accredited Master of Library Science (MLS), a master's degree (e.g., MIS) or equivalent (e.g., MLIS).
- Academic Rank: Candidates may hold any academic rank as defined in the SUNY Board of Trustees policies: librarian, associate librarian, senior assistant librarian and assistant librarian.
- Length of Service: Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination.
- Restrictions: Individuals serving as the head of the campus library, or of any of the libraries for institutions with multiple libraries, are also ineligible for nomination. However, the head of the library may be eligible for the Excellence in Professional Service Award if this individual satisfies the other selection and eligibility criteria for that award.
Eligibility Limitations
- Individuals holding Distinguished Faculty rank (Distinguished Librarian, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) are ineligible.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- The chief campus officer for academic, student, or administrative affairs, or persons serving in these capacities, may not be nominated for an Excellence Award. Other exclusions include, but are not limited to, comparable titles: direct reports to the president or chancellor, vice chancellors and above, vice presidents and above, vice provosts and above, senior counsels and above.
- Individuals should not be nominated in the same season for promotion to Distinguished Faculty rank and an Excellence Award in the same category (e.g., an individual should not be nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Professorship and an Excellence in Teaching Award).
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
Nominees for the award must have demonstrated extraordinary performance in the following areas:
- Skill in Librarianship: There must be positive evidence that the candidate performs superbly in fulfilling librarianship duties, including teaching related to librarianship.
- Service to the University and to the Profession: There must be evidence that the candidate is flexible and adapts readily to the needs of constituents served. Eligible service areas include contributions to the library, the campus, the State University, the community and the profession.
- Scholarship and Continuing Professional Growth: The candidate must keep abreast of developments in the field and use relevant contemporary data in relation to that person’s work situation. Evidence in this category should include references to publications, membership and work in professional organizations, attendance at meetings, seminars, etc.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Nominator's letter
- Candidate's current and detailed CV: An up-to-date and moderately detailed CV containing information on the nominee's career must be included in the nomination portfolio. Specific data must include the date of appointment to the SUNY system, highest rank attained and date of appointment to that rank. It should also include areas of specialization, research activities, professional and scholarly publications, honors, and campus and SUNY service.
- Supporting Statements: Letters of recommendation from the nominee’s supervisors, colleagues, and library patrons that attest to the candidate’s understanding accomplishments and skills in the areas of librarianship, service to the University and the profession, scholarship, and continuing professional growth. All areas must be addressed in at least one letter. No more than 15 statements may be submitted. Letters emailed or faxed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Statement from the candidate: This should be a concise statement of the nominee’s philosophy of and approach to providing librarian services at StonyBrook
- Candidate Summary: The candidate summary provides a concise rationale for the campus's nomination and highlights the candidate's merit for selection. It should summarize the candidate's most outstanding qualifications, major achievements and contributions, and specifically address how the candidate excels in each of the award's selection criteria. Portions of the summary may be used in award announcements. The one-page summary must be written essay format - not as a letter, not written by the nominee, not in the first person, not addressed to the committee, and not signed. The maximum length is 2,000 characters, including spaces.
Please note that after the campus selection committee makes its recommendations to the president, only the candidate summary and CV are submitted to SUNY to make the case for the nominee. SUNY does not see the nomination file.
If you are a student submitting a nomination form, you will need to coordinate with the nominee's department to prepare the nomination file.
Need more help?
Excellence in Professional Service
Recognizes consistently superior professional achievement within and beyond the position.
Deadlines
Submit Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit Full Nomination File: November 2026
- Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination. Years do not need to be consecutive.
- Individuals serving in part-time or visiting capacities are ineligible for this award.
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- Candidate Background: Candidates must presently be serving in full-time professional service capacities (not necessarily titles) with more than 50 percent of their assignment in non-teaching services. The latter include academic administration, business affairs,student affairs, institutional support technologies, instructional and research support technologies and directors of campus libraries. It is the intent that the Professional Service award be reserved for staff. Full-time faculty (as defined in the eligibility criteria for Faculty Service) are not eligible. In the case of split- assignments across the nominating campus, individuals are eligible for nomination for this award if they are serving in a full-time professional capacity. In addition, support staff not serving in professional class titles are ineligible for nomination, but are eligible for nomination in the Classified Service Awards category. Please note, promotion within the same department does not preclude a person from being nominated.
- Length of Service: Candidates must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years (years do not need to be consecutive) at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination.
- Restrictions: Individuals serving in the classified services are ineligible for nomination (e.g., positions paid on an hourly rather than salary basis are generally in the classified services).
- Please note that for the Community Colleges, individuals serving as heads of divisions (frequently referred to as Deans) may be nominated predicated on their fulfilling the eligibility and selection criteria. However, for this sector, the title “Dean of Instruction” frequently refers to the individual who serves as the head campus academic officer. Where this is the case, the individual may not be nominated.
Eligibility Limitations
- Individuals holding Distinguished Faculty rank (Distinguished Librarian, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) are ineligible.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- The chief campus officer for academic, student, or administrative affairs, or persons serving in these capacities, may not be nominated for an Excellence Award. Other exclusions include, but are not limited to, comparable titles: direct reports to the president or chancellor, vice chancellors and above, vice presidents and above, vice provosts and above, senior counsels and above.
- Individuals should not be nominated in the same season for promotion to Distinguished Faculty rank and an Excellence Award in the same category (e.g., an individual should not be nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Professorship and an Excellence in Teaching Award).
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
Nominees for the award must be individuals who have repeatedly sought improvement of themselves, their campuses and ultimately the State University and, in doing so, have transcended the normal definitions of excellence. At all position levels, nominees shall be those individuals who can serve as professional role models for a University system in the pursuit of excellence.
- Within the Position Description: The candidate must perform superbly in fulfilling the job description for the position held, and
- Beyond the Position Description: The candidate should also demonstrate excellence in professional activities beyond the parameters of the job description.
The ideal candidate will satisfy the standards in a creative and innovative fashion while demonstrating flexibility and adaptability to institutional needs. Consideration should be given to capabilities and accomplishments in the areas of leadership, decision-making and problem-solving.
Evidence in this category includes, but is not limited to, professional recognitions, initiation of ideas, development of proposals, and committee activities.
Exclusively for the Excellence in Professional Service Award, nominations may be made by not-for-profit agencies serving a State University function at one of the organizational units (e.g., the campus Research Foundation offices, etc.) of the State University of New York. Any such nominations count toward the total allocations permissible for the nominating campus.
For the purposes of the Professional Service Award, the State University System Administration is considered a campus. It may make one Professional Service nomination drawn from the aggregate of eligible staff at the System Administration, the State University Construction Fund, SUNY Charter Schools Institute, and the SUNY Research Foundation.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Nominator's letter
- Candidate's current and detailed CV: An up-to-date and moderately detailed CV containing information on the nominee's career must be included in the nomination portfolio. Specific data must include the date of appointment to the SUNY system, highest rank attained and date of appointment to that rank. It should also include areas of specialization, research activities, professional and scholarly publications, honors, and campus and SUNY service.
- Candidate's current position description
- Supporting Statements: Letters of recommendation from the nominee’s supervisors, colleagues, and constituents served, if appropriate. Letters should address the nominee’s most outstanding qualifications and specific major achievements and include reference to the criteria for these awards. No more than 15 statements may be submitted. Letters emailed or faxed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Candidate Summary: The candidate summary provides a concise rationale for the campus's nomination and highlights the candidate's merit for selection. It should summarize the candidate's most outstanding qualifications, major achievements and contributions, and specifically address how the candidate excels in each of the award's selection criteria. Portions of the summary may be used in award announcements. The one-page summary must be written in essay format - not as a letter, not written by the nominee, not in the first person, not addressed to the committee, and not signed. The maximum length is 2,000 characters including spaces.
Please note that after the campus selection committee makes its recommendations to the president, only the candidate summary and CV are submitted to SUNY to make the case for the nominee. SUNY does not see the nomination file.
If you are a student submitting a nomination form, you will need to coordinate with the nominee's department to prepare the nomination file.
Need more help?
Excellence in Teaching
Recognizes consistently superior teaching at the graduate, undergraduate, or professional level in keeping with SUNY's commitment to providing its students with instruction of the highest quality.
Deadlines
Submit Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit Full Nomination File: November 2026
- Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination. Years do not need to be consecutive.
- Full-time clinical faculty and non-tenure-track faculty, including lecturers, are eligible.
- Individuals serving in part-time or visiting capacities are ineligible for this award.
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- Academic Background: Candidates must be tenured, tenure-track, or full-time non-tenure track faculty for the academic year in which the nominee is nominated, and regularly carry a full-time teaching load as defined by the campus for full-time teaching.
- Academic Rank: Candidates may hold any full-time academic rank as defined by SUNY Board of Trustees policies: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor or assistant instructor, clinical professor, or full-time non-tenure track faculty including lecturer, are eligible for nomination.
- Length of Service: Candidates must have completed three academic years of full-time teaching at the nominating campus out of the last five years immediately prior to the year of nomination.
Eligibility Limitations
- Individuals holding Distinguished Faculty rank (Distinguished Librarian, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) are ineligible.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- The chief campus officer for academic, student, or administrative affairs, or persons serving in these capacities, may not be nominated for an Excellence Award. Other exclusions include, but are not limited it. comparable titles: direct reports to the president or chancellor, vice chancellors and above, vice presidents and above, vice provosts and above, senior counsels and above.
- Individuals should not be nominated in the same season for promotion to Distinguished Faculty rank and an Excellence Award in the same category (e.g., an individual should not be nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Professorship and and Excellence in Teaching Award).
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
The primary criterion is skill in teaching. Additionally, consideration is given to sound scholarship (usually demonstrated through publications or artistic productions), outstanding service to students, as well as service to the State University and to the campus. The following criteria are to be used in selecting nominees for this award:
- Teaching Techniques and Representative Materials: There must be positive evidence that the candidate performs superbly in the classroom. The nominee must maintain a flexible instructional policy that adapts readily to student needs, interests and problems. Mastery of teaching techniques must be demonstrated and substantiated. Consideration is to be given to the number of substantially different courses taught, the number of students per course, and the different teaching techniques employed in the various courses.
- When available, student evaluations (in the form of student questionnaires administered and compiled by persons other than the nominee) presented for several different courses over a period of several recent years may provide a clear idea of the nominee's impact on students.
- Scholarship and Professional Growth: Candidates must be teachers/scholars who keep abreast of their own field and who use the relevant contemporary data from that field and related disciplines in their teaching. Evidence in this area includes, but is not limited to, publications, grants, presentations at conferences, professional development, creative activities, etc.
- Student Services: In relating to students, candidates must be generous with personal time, easily accessible, and must demonstrate a continual concern for the intellectual growth of individual students. The focus here is the accessibility of the nominee to students outside of class; e.g. mentoring student research, office hours, conferences, special meetings, and the nominee's responsibility in terms of student advisement.
- Academic Standards and Requirements, and Evaluation of Student Performance: Candidates
must set high standards for students and help them attain academic excellence. Quantity
and quality of work that is more than average for the subject must be required of
the students. Candidates must work actively with individual students to help them
improve their scholarly or creative performance. This individual interaction is an
important source of information that indicates the nature and level of instruction
offered by the nominee. Consideration is to be given to the quality, quantity, and
difficulty of the tasks or work assigned to students.
-
-
- Candidates' evaluations of students' work must be strongly supported by evidence. Candidates must be willing to give greater weight to each student's final level of competence than to the performance at the beginning of the course. Since expert teachers enable students to achieve high levels of scholarship, it is possible that the candidates' marking records may be somewhat above average. There must also be evidence that candidates do not hesitate to give low evaluations to students who do poorly. For this category, consideration should be given to grading patterns, particularly grade distributions for all courses in at least two recent years. Evidence in support of student performance may also be assessed by the accomplishments of students, including placements and achievement levels.
-
-
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Nominator's letter
- Chairperson's letter
- Candidate's current and detailed CV: An up-to-date and moderately detailed CV containing information on the nominee's career must be included in the nomination portfolio. Specific data must include the date of appointment to the SUNY system, highest rank attained and date of appointment to that rank. It should also include areas of specialization, research activities, professional and scholarly publications, honors, and campus and SUNY service.
- List of courses taught in chronological order and indicating level.
- Letters from peers: No more than five letters may be submitted. Letters may come from peers from on and off campus. Letters that are emailed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Letters from students: No more than five letters may be submitted. They may come from current or former students. Emailed letters are acceptable.
- Evidence of grading or evaluator policy: Course evaluations, or other statistical summaries of evaluations, presented for several different courses and covering at least three years (but not more than 10), accompanied by a typed representative sample of student comments from the original evaluations.
- Statement of Educational Philosophy: Prepared by the candidate.
- Description of Educational Efforts: Such as innovative devices, curriculum, syllabi, etc.
- Candidate Summary: The candidate summary provides a concise rationale for the campus's nomination and highlights the candidate's most outstanding qualifications, major achievements and contributions, and specifically address how the candidate excels in each of the award's selection criteria. Portions of the summary may be used in award announcements. The one-page summary must be written in essay format - not as a letter, not written by the nominee, not in the first person, not addressed to the committee, and not signed. The maximum length is 2,000 characters, including spaces.
Please note that after the campus selection committee makes its recommendations to the president, only the candidate summary and CV are submitted to SUNY to make the case for the nominee. SUNY does not see the nomination file.
If you are a student submitting a nomination form, you will need to coordinate with the nominee's department to prepare the nomination file.
Need more help?
Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities
Supports the pursuits foundational to sustaining the intellectual growth of SUNY institutes by recognizing consistently outstanding scholarly and creative productivity, conducted in addition to teaching, by SUNY's instructional faculty.
Deadlines
Submit Nomination Form: October 2026
Submit Full Nomination File: November 2026
- Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination. Years do not need to be consecutive.
- Full-time clinical faculty and non-tenure track faculty, including lecturers, are eligible.
- Individuals serving in part-time or visiting capacities are ineligible for this award.
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- Academic Background: Candidates must be tenured, tenure-track, or full-time non-tenure track faculty for the academic year in which the nominee is nominated, and regularly carry a full-time teaching load as defined by the campus for full-time teaching. (Note: Please see full discussion of this issue above under “Academic Background” section for the Excellence in Faculty Service award.)
- Length of Service: Nominees must have completed three academic years of full-time appointment within the previous five years at the nominating campus prior to the year of nomination.
- Academic Rank: Candidates may hold any full-time academic rank as defined in the SUNY Board of Trustees policies: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, assistant instructor, clinical professor, and fulltime non-tenure track faculty including the title Lecturer are eligible for nomination. The Scholarship and Creative Activities award requires that external peer evaluations (from impartial referees from the nominee’s discipline) are included in the campus nominating process. These evaluations should be referenced, but not included, in the Summary Presentations prepared for the candidates’ nomination portfolios.
Eligibility Limitations
- Individuals holding Distinguished Faculty rank (Distinguished Librarian, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) are ineligible.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- The chief campus officer for academic, student, or administrative affairs, or persons serving in these capacities, may not be nominated for an Excellence Award. Other exclusions include, but are not limited to, comparable titles: direct reports to the president or chancellor, vice chancellors and above, vice presidents and above, vice provosts and above, senior counsels and above.
- Individuals should not be nominated in the same season for promotion to Distinguished Faculty rank and an Excellence Award in the same category (e.g., an individual should not be nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Professorship and an Excellence in Teaching Award).
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
Evidence of sound scholarship (traditionally research and publication in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities) and creative productivity (in fields where scholarship takes the form of artistic production, performance, composition, etc.) can be demonstrated through a variety of avenues, including grants, release time, honors, etc. The selection criteria for this award shall include a reasonable combination of, but not be restricted to, those appearing below. Nominees should be individuals who have:
- For Scholarship (research in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities): An excellent,sustained record of research publications in peer-reviewed journals, and/or research monographs, and/or research-oriented texts; or a record of presenting at national and/or international conferences, presentation of papers published in conference proceedings and/or digests, patents awarded, grants secured, and citation of work by individuals or groups other than the nominee’s collaborators.
- For Creative Productivity (generally the fine or performing arts or those fields where creative productivity constitutes scholarship e.g., culinary arts, etc.): A record of excellence in creative activity appropriate for the specific field or discipline, such as exhibitions, shows, performances, productions, and stage work; or a record demonstrating evidence of critical reviews, grants, inclusion of works in permanent collections, retrospectives, and other forms of external recognition and acclaim.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Nominator's letter
- Candidate's current and detailed CV: An up-to-date and moderately detailed CV containing information on the nominee's career must be included in the nomination portfolio. Specific data must include the date of appointment to the SUNY system, highest rank attained and date of appointment to that rank. It should also include areas of specialization, research activities, professional and scholarly publications, honors, and campus and SUNY service.
- Supporting Statements: Letters of recommendation from the nominee’s supervisors, colleagues, and constituents served, if appropriate. Letters should address the nominee’s most outstanding qualifications and specific major achievements and include reference to the criteria for these awards. No more than 15 statements may be submitted. Letters emailed to the nominator are acceptable.
- Candidate Summary: The candidate summary provides a concise rationale for the campus's nomination and highlights the candidate's merit for selection. It should summarize the candidate's most outstanding qualifications, major achievements and contributions, and specifically address how the candidate excels in each of the award's selection criteria. Portions of the summary may be used in award announcements. The one-page summary must be written in essay format - not as a letter, not written by the nominee, not in the first person, not addressed to the committee, and not signed. The maximum length is 2,000 characters, including spaces.
Please note that after the campus selection committee makes its recommendations to the president, only the candidate summary and CV are submitted to SUNY to make the case for the nominee. SUNY does not see the nomination file.
If you are a student submitting a nomination form, you will need to coordinate with the nominee's department to prepare the nomination file.
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Chancellor's Horizon Award for Faculty Research and Scholarship
The award honors early career faculty whose scholarly or creative activities have already achieved significant recognition and, crucially, hold strong promise for field-defining impact in the future. Scholarly activities include research focused on pedagogy.
Deadline
To be announced by SUNY
All nominees must have completed at least three years of continuous, full-time permanent service in the Classified Service position for which they are nominated.
Eligibility Limitations
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another Excellence Award within a five-year interval.
- Recipients of an Excellence Award may not be nominated for another award in the same category.
- Posthumous nominations are ineligible.
- The nominee must be an individual who has continuously demonstrated outstanding achievement, skill and commitment to excellence in fulfilling the job description for the position held.
- The nominee must also demonstrate excellence in activities beyond the scope of the job description. The ideal candidate will demonstrate creativity and flexibility in performing his or her position to meet campus needs. Special consideration will be given to employees who consistently provide exemplary customer service to students, staff, patients, and other members of the campus community.
Nomination packets must contain and be organized in the following order:
- Completed nomination form: Find it at the button below
- Narrative Statement: Less than 500 words, written by the nominator, in support of the nominee
- Supporting Statements: Letters of recommendation from the nominee’s supervisors and constituents served, if appropriate. Letters should address the nominee’s most outstanding qualifications and specific major achievements and include reference to the criteria for these awards. No more than 5 statements may be submitted. Letters emailed or faxed to the nominator are acceptable.
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Looking for the The Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence?