Small Distinguished Professorship

MEMORANDUM

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TO:  All Faculty

FROM: Les Garner, President of the College

DATE: May 26, 2010

SUBJECT: Small Distinguished Professorship

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In the fall we will select the next Richard and Norma Small Distinguished Professorship at Cornell College.   The appointment will be for a two-year, non-renewable term (2011-12 and 2012-13).

The Small Professorship was established, through the generosity of Richard and Norma Small and their family, to support excellence in teaching and scholarship, and outstanding service to both college and community. The Small Professorship is particularly intended to honor the work of faculty members who have achieved the rank of full professor at Cornell College, recognizing the critical importance of the continuous, long-term commitment of a faculty community to the life of a residential liberal arts college.

The basis for selection will be exemplary teaching, service and scholarship, with the understanding that we define scholarship in the broad sense appropriate to a liberal arts college and to include artistic/creative endeavors.  More particularly, the Small Professor should provide leadership in the perpetuation of a vital and invigorating faculty community at Cornell College. 

The Small Professor will receive an annual award of $10,000. These funds are to be used at the discretion of the appointee during this two-year period, in consultation with the dean, in ways appropriate to the advancement of his or her work. The allocation may be used to support scholarly endeavors, course release, student research assistance, course design and improvement, summer projects, scholarly travel, or acquisition of books. Up to $5,000 may be used each year as salary supplement, in the case of course release.  These funds are not intended to support the purchase of equipment, computers, hardware, software, printers, and other computing accessories. (These items can be requested through the College’s regular process for capital requests.)

The Small Professor will not be eligible for other Cornell College monetary research awards (except student-faculty research summer stipends) during his or her tenure in the professorship, which extends from the start of the academic year through the final summer of the second year. He or she will receive the standard Dean’s Office faculty development allocation, if available.

We welcome self-nominations as well as nominations of colleagues. Each self-nomination should include a curriculum vita and a letter of application (no more than two pages) outlining plans for the term of the appointment.  Nominations form colleagues should include a brief supporting  statement addressing the criteria for the professorship.  Individuals nominated by colleagues will be invited to submit a curriculum vita and a letter of application.  The Faculty Development Advisory Committee will review the nominations and make recommendations to the Dean and President. 

The holder of the Professorship will be expected to file a brief annual report with the Dean summarizing his or her activities and expenditures. During the second year, the appointee shall present a Faculty Lecture on a topic of interest to the campus community.

Please send Nancy Rawson your nominations by September 15, 2010. The award will be announced in November 2010.