TRUSTEE PROFESSORSHIP CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES

  1. Composition of the Trustee Professorship Selection Committee

    1. The Provost shall normally appoint annually a selection committee consisting of five tenured faculty members, each with a substantial record of scholarly achievement.
    2. The committee shall have representation from the natural sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences. Over time, all of USM's academic units shall be represented on the selection committee.
    3. Each Trustee Professor shall serve on the selection committee in the year following her or his award.
    4. Selection committee members shall be appointed for one year only.

  2. Criteria and Procedures for Awarding the Trustee Professorship

    1. All full-time regular faculty members who have completed at least three years of service shall be eligible for the Trustee Professorship. Applicants for the Professorship may be self-nominated.
    2. The Trustee Professorship application must provide a detailed description of a project that would be completed during the duration of the award. In the proposal the applicant must show how the project contributes significantly to understanding of her or his field and/or enhances academic excellence in teaching. Please be mindful of, and eliminate as much as possible, the often complex language that each of us uses within our many disciplines. Proposals are read and recommended by faculty who may not be familiar with all topics presented.
    3. According to the "Description and Criteria for the Trustee Professorships," the awards are "devoted exclusively to honoring and supporting University of Maine System faculty already making noteworthy contributions to academic excellence on their campuses...." Thus the selection committee shall review an applicant's past record to determine whether that requirement has been met. However, in choosing among the applicants who are found to have satisfied that criterion, the committee shall base its decision exclusively on the quality of the proposals.
    4. The proposal shall include the following elements (adapted from "Guidelines for Proposals for Pre-Doctoral Fellowships and Sabbatical Leaves," page 5 of Mark Lapping's memorandum of September 3, 1998, re: Professional Development Opportunities):
      1. Statement of the Project: Define clearly and in detail the proposed project. What is the problem your project will address? What is the state of current scholarship with regard to it? What unique contribution will your project make to its field?
      2. Method: Outline the procedure or approach you plan to take with respect to your project
      3. Outcome: What will be the expected outcome of your study?
    5. Each selection committee shall determine its own procedures for reviewing and judging applications. However, whenever practicable, the committee shall conduct an initial screening of applications and then solicit outside peer reviews of finalists' proposals to help guide in decision-making.

  3. Terms of the Trustee Professorship

    1. The Trustee Professorship normally shall be awarded for one year. At the end of that period the recipient shall make a public presentation of her or his work.
    2. The Trustee Professorship shall consist of two parts:
      1. funding for release time from teaching and other duties to free up time for activities that would not be feasible with a normal workload;
      2. funding that may be drawn on by the recipient to support the project itself, as well as other professional development during the Professorship.
    3. The Trustee Professor shall commit not to accept overloads or other assignments which might interfere with her or his proposed scholarly work.