Each faculty member eligible to be considered for promotion to this rank shall prepare a portfolio (including three duplicates) for review by his/her Department Head, Dean, Council of Deans, the Provost/Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, and the President. All information for the portfolio (Tabs I-V) must be presented in a single approved binder (available, along with tab dividers, in the Office of Provost/VPASA) and must be word-processed in the format noted below. Required Summary Cover Form and Attachments A-F can be downloaded in Word or PDF.

Criteria

• Minimum of five (5) full years in rank as a Full Professor at Jacksonville State University.
• Must have a continuous and sustained record of publications and presentations at the regional, national, or international level.
• Must have a continuous and sustained record of service to the University and to his/her discipline. 
• Must continue to meet University criteria for teaching effectiveness (or professional effectiveness for librarians with faculty rank).
• Must be recommended by the dean of the college and approved by the Provost/VPASA and the President. This rank and the concomitant salary supplement of $7500 per year is of limited duration (five years).  It is renewable for an additional five (5) years; however, the process must be successfully repeated for each subsequent five-year period during each sixth year.
• Portfolio
  • Portfolio preparation, with the exception of an extended time line due to outside reviews, will proceed as described above, including a review of the most recent full five-year period.
  • The portfolio must be positively reviewed by three outside reviewers, two of whom will be selected by the dean of the college.

Guidelines

• The five university deans will serve as the Distinguish Professor Selection Committee.  A dean from a respective college will bring forth his/her candidate(s) for consideration by the Committee.  Recommendations made by the Committee will be forwarded to the Provost/VPASA for consideration.
• A maximum of five (5) Distinguished Professor awards will be given per year.
• If a Distinguish Professor elects to renew his/her status at the end of the five (5) year period, the supplement from the previous award will not be given during the application year (6^th). 
• The decision of the President is final. The single ground for an appeal is that the University’s procedures were not followed.  In such cases, an appeal shall be directed to the University Hearing Committee as per policy in the Faculty Handbook.  It is the responsibility of the appellant to identify in writing any and all perceived procedural violations for the benefit of the Committee.
• Candidates, who are not successful, may apply again during the regular call for applications each fall semester.

Note:  It is the collective opinion of the Council of Deans that the Distinguished Professor rank is a privilege and not a right; and the award is to be viewed as a true honor given to a professor who has markedly distinguished him/herself above others in his/her discipline.  Furthermore, the fact that a faculty member may meet the minimum criteria for Distinguish Professor at the college and university levels does not guarantee he/she will be awarded the honor.

Once the final process is complete and any appeals resolved, the portfolios will be returned to the Dean's Office for distribution.  Documents in Tab 1, Tab IV, and Tab V will be retained in the faculty member's file in the Provost/VPASA Office.

Schedule