Over the next two years, four new Distinguished Term Professorships in Research and Undergraduate Education (one in each of the four divisions in the College of Arts and Sciences) will be filled. The recipients will receive an annual stipend ($6,000) and a annual project fund of $5,000  (3 years for those chosen in 2007 and 4 years for those chosen in 2008 and subsequent years). These Professorships will recognize tenured faculty who are making outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. They will also help to foster a culture of undergraduate research on our campus, and support and expand undergraduate research opportunities in all disciplines. The project fund can be used to modify existing courses to add a research component, create one or more new courses to teach research methodologies, travel with undergraduate students to professional meetings, or collaborate with others to increase the number of mentors for undergraduate research projects, as well as defraying other expenses associated with expanding undergraduate research opportunities. The recipients will teach a normal load, but if they create and teach new courses, the home department will be compensated to enable the regular course offerings to continue. The recipients will discuss their projects at an annual banquet sponsored by the Office for Undergraduate Research, and, on occasion, with members of the University administration and Board of Trustees.

The selection criteria include an outstanding record of research, scholarship or creative performance, and teaching, an outstanding record of and interest in mentoring undergraduate research scholarship or creative performance, and evidence of commitment to expanding undergraduate participation in original inquiry both inside and outside the classroom.

This year, Chairs of departments in the Fine Arts and Social Sciences have been asked to notify their faculty of the opportunity to nominate colleagues or themselves to a departmental screening committee charged with reviewing the qualifications of all nominees. The Chairs may forward one or two names by October 15, 2007 to the faculty review committee, who will make recommendations to the Dean so that he can announce the appointments. In 2008, a similar process will involve the Humanities and Natural Science departments. In 2010, two new appointments will be made in the Fine Arts and Social Sciences, and the cycle of alternating divisional nominations for the 4-year Term Professorships will continue in 2012 and subsequent years.
Nominations should include:

1. The nominee’s current curriculum vitae
2. A detailed explanation of the value and ongoing importance of the nominee’s mentoring of undergraduate research, scholarship and/or creative performance to her or his department, the university and profession. The nomination should be written in such a way as to be comprehensible to members of an interdisciplinary faculty review committee that may not include specialists in the nominee’s field
3. The names, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of three referees who are in a position to evaluate the nominee’s qualifications for their distinguished Term Chair and who have expressed a willingness to write on the nominee’s behalf. These referees may include colleagues from both UNC-Chapel Hill and other institutions. Official requests for letter from these referees will come from the chair of the college’s faculty review committee.

A faculty review committee will examine the nominations. The committee may request additional information from those candidates for whom reference letters are requested. After a full review, the committee will make recommendations to the Dean, who will announce the appointments.

Nominations should be sent by October 15, 2007 to:

Faye Lewis
College of Arts and Sciences
CB #3100; 205 South Building
Carolina Campus