Endowed Chair Program
North Arkansas College initiated an Endowed Chairs Program to recognize and reward faculty excellence by funding projects in faculty and/or program development. The description below provides an overview of the Program.
Eligibility:
To be eligible to submit a proposal for an Endowed Chair award, a faculty member must have completed three years of continuous full-time or part-time teaching and must provide evidence of excellent performance as a faculty member for the three years preceding the application for the Chair.
Term of the Endowed Chair:
The Endowed Chair will be awarded for a period of one to two years. For example, if the award amount were $3,000, then the recipient’s project would receive only $3,000, but it could be spread over a two-year period. It would not mean that the recipient’s project would receive $3,000 each year of the two-year period.
Use of Funds from the Endowed Chair:
Funds from the Endowed Chair award may be used for a specific professional development project or to purchase equipment or supplies directly related to that project. The project may include travel to professional conferences, development of instructional materials, the purchase of release time, the design or redesign of entire courses, and/or other appropriate professional development activities.
Selection Process:
- 1. Eligible faculty must submit a proposal outlining their projects for professional development to an Endowed Chair Committee.
- 2. Eligible faculty must submit a portfolio documenting their teaching excellence to an Endowed Chair Committee.
- 3. The Endowed Chair Committee will make the selections and provide the names of the successful applicants to the Foundation Board.
Brief Time Line:
The Vice President of Learning will announce the availability of applications during each Fall Semester, applicants will submit materials to the Endowed Chair Committee prior to February 1, and the Committee will select the recipient(s) prior to the March Foundation Board meeting of each year.
Accountability:
At the end of the period of the award, the recipient will provide the Northark Foundation with an accounting of the expenditure of the funds and an oral and written report describing the project and its outcomes. The oral report will be provided at an informal luncheon hosted by the Foundation honoring the recipient(s) and donor(s).
Endowed Chair Selection Committee:
- 1. The Endowed Chair Committee will consist of six full-time faculty members (one appointed from each division), the Vice President of Learning, and the Vice President for Institutional Advancement. Members of the Committee can not be considered as applicants.
- 2. The Vice President of Learning will serve as the Committee Chair.
- 3. The Committee will evaluate all proposals/portfolios. Each Committee member will individually rate each applicant using a point scale of 1 to 5, with 5 indicating the highest level of excellence.
- 4. Each applicant's scores will be totaled. To be considered for the award, an applicant must score 32 points or an average score of 4.0 if fewer than the entire eight member Committee rates the applicant. If applicants receive the same total score, the Committee will rate those individuals again to break the tie.
- 5. The Chair will be awarded to the highest rated applicant.
- 6. The recommendation of the recipient will be forwarded to the North Arkansas College Foundation. All members of the Committee, acting as witnesses, will sign the recommendation.
- 7. The Endowed Chair Committee Chair will notify in writing those applicants who have not been selected and all proposals/portfolios will be returned to the applicants.