Criteria, Performance Expectations, and Department Procedures Relating to Merit Awards

Merit Awards are established pursuant to the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement. Procedures and timelines for determining Merit Awards for any given year shall be conducted in accordance with guidelines issued by the Office of the Provost.

When Merit Awards are to be made, a pool for this purpose shall be established for the Department of Philosophy. Twenty-five percent [25%] of the pool will be used to recognize documented meritorious performance in teaching (including graduate and undergraduate advising), twenty-five percent [25%] of the pool will be used to recognize documented meritorious performance service (including service to the department, college, university, and profession), and fifty percent [50%] will be used to recognize documented meritorious performance in Research.

The Chair will submit to the FAC a proposed update of the “Department Procedure with Schedule” and “General Guidelines” for the consideration of the FAC. After FAC has edited and approved the “Department Procedure with Schedule” and “General Guidelines” for candidates to be considered for Merit Awards, the chair will submit to all eligible Faculty copies of the Procedure and Guidelines. Faculty may apply for a Merit award in any or all categories: (i) Teaching (ii)Service, and (iii) Research.

Faculty must use the Department of Philosophy Merit Award Summary Form (see appendix) and provide all requisite supporting documentation in order to be eligible for consideration. If something is not appropriately documented, it may not be counted. Merit is performance above and beyond job expectations for faculty. The responsibility lies with each faculty member who applies to demonstrate truly meritorious performance in each category. Demonstration may take the form of additional materials or narrative that articulates why a performance is meritorious per the criteria contained in the Evidence sub-section of the Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion section of this handbook.

Preliminary Evaluation of the Completeness of the Merit File
1. The FAC will assess whether the member submitting a Merit file fulfills the eligibility requirements as stipulated in the General Guidelines.
2. The FAC will assess whether the Merit file submitted is complete according to the Department Merit Sheet Guidelines. All and only Merit files which are judged to be complete and in compliance with the Guidelines will be taken under consideration in the Merit Awards.
Preliminary Assessments of the Merit File
1. In each merit category, the quality and quantity of items included on the Merit Award Summary Form will be taken into account.
2. Assessment of the quality of a faculty member’s research, teaching, and service performance will be based on the criteria contained in the Evidence sub-section of the Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion section of this handbook.
3. To ensure that publications are only considered for one merit period, only works that have appeared in print or via online publication will be considered for merit.
4. Post-publication recognition (citations, reviews, awards, etc.) that occurred during the merit period will be considered even for works published prior to the merit period.
Review and Rank Order Evaluation of Approved Candidates' Merit Files
1. Teaching Category
1. Review of merit files for Merit Awards
2. Distribution of ballots for individual rank order of candidates
3. Counting of ballots and establishment of FAC rank order
2. Service Category
1. Review of merit files for Merit Awards
2. Distribution of ballots for individual rank order of candidates
3. Counting of ballots and establishment of FAC rank order
3. Research Category
1. Review of merit files for Merit Awards
2. Distribution of ballots for individual rank order of candidates
3. Counting of ballots and establishment of FAC rank order
FAC Proposed Allocation of Department Merit Awards to Rank Ordered Candidates

Ballots with the FAC determination of rank order in each of the categories will be distributed to members of the FAC. Members will divide the total Department “salary pool” for each category among the candidates for an excellence award in that category. Distribution of salary pool funds must be done in whole dollar amounts. The total amount of funds distributed in each category must maintain the FAC rank order of candidates. The total distribution of funds in any category must not exceed the total “salary pool” for that category. Ballots that violate these rules will be discarded from consideration. Completed ballots for proposed allocation of department merit awards of the salary pool to rank ordered candidates must be submitted to the Department Chair in accordance with the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement and with the procedures and timelines for determining Merit Awards for any given year.
Chair's Preliminary Determination of Merit Awards

The Chair will report to the FAC the tally of the FAC distribution of the salary pool for each category and will then distribute the Chair’s preliminary determination of merit awards for each category.

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