The honorary title "Emeritus" confers continued academic appointments on retired presidents, vice presidents, deans, and faculty, normally without remuneration or authority. Emeritus status is conferred upon individuals who have made significant contributions to the university through long and distinguished service. To be considered for emeritus status, a person must normally hold a tenured faculty appointment and have served the university for at least 10 years. In appropriate situations, however, nontenured faculty, administrators, and those who have served less than 10 years may be considered.
For more information visit Campus Procedure 31.08.01.R2 Emeritus Designation
Nominations: The Faculty Senate Awards Committee will send a call for nominations via campus email near the end of the fall semester. Faculty senators will facilitate the process within their respective departments. Senators from each department will submit to the Faculty Awards Committee a ballot listing one nominee for each award. Faculty members may self-nominate by notifying their department’s Senator. Faculty can also nominate a colleague in their department by notifying the Senator. If a Senator receives nominations for more than one individual for a particular award, the department should reach a consensus on which faculty member’s nomination will move forward. The Senate encourages all faculty members within a department to discuss and agree on who should be nominated for a particular award.
Nominations should include:
Selection Process: The chair of the Faculty Awards Committee will contact the nominated faculty members. The chair will request supporting documentation from each nominee for the committee’s review. This documentation should be submitted via email to Faculty.Awards@tamuc.edu by the stated deadline. The Faculty Awards Committee will review all application packets and, after careful deliberation, will make one recommendation per award (except for the Barrus Award, which can have up to three recipients). These recommendations will be presented to the full Faculty Senate for approval at the March Senate meeting.
The award recipients will be announced at the Faculty Awards Ceremony, which will take place in the spring.
Purpose: Each year, the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System honors individuals at the rank of professor or equivalent whose distinguished performance in teaching, research, and service has been exemplary. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the A&M System on faculty members. The performance of those selected is considered meritorious and worthy of recognition of their achievements that had an impact on not only their institution or agency, but also the community, the state of Texas, and/or at the national and international levels.
Award: The Regents Professor Award is based on the accomplishments of the nominee up through the past fiscal year. The designation of Regents Professor is the highest Systemwide honor and it also carries with it significant responsibilities. Regents Professors are expected to function as role models within the A&M System and to devote appropriate service to System-wide activities, both ceremonial and professional, when requested to do so by their chief executive officer and/or the chancellor. The recipient shall retain the title of Regents Professor for the duration of their service within the A&M System. Recipients receive a monetary stipend of $15,000, payable as a non-based award. The stipend will be funded from each respective agency through the normal budgeting process.
The Regents Professor recipient is given a special commemorative medallion bearing the seal of the A&M System. The medallion is designed to be worn on occasions when academic regalia is required. The medallion, inscribed nameplate and certificate, signed by the Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Regents, are presented to the Regents Professor recipients at the special recognition ceremony.
Eligibility: A nominee for the Regents Professor award shall be a full-time faculty member who has held the rank of professor or equivalent for a period of not less than five (5) consecutive years within an A&M System university or agency (i.e., agency to mean the engineering or agriculture components) and may include department heads provided the faculty responsibilities are not overshadowed by the administrative duties.
Nomination Packet: The primary evaluation of the candidate’s qualifications shall be the responsibility of the university/agency. The following documents shall be submitted as part of the university nomination packet for a candidate to be considered a nominee:
Purpose: The purpose of this award is to give recognition to the teaching profession rather than to research, publication, administration, or other such related activity, although these criteria are also considered by the Faculty Senate Awards Committee on campus and the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. The Piper Foundation honors fifteen Texas professors during the academic year for their dedication to the teaching profession and for their outstanding academic, scientific and scholarly achievement. The University is allowed to nominate one professor (the number of professors any university is permitted to nominate is based on the student body enrollment).
Award: If selected by the foundation the recipient is awarded a certificate naming him or her “Piper Professor of said year,” receives an honorarium of $5,000.00, and a gold commemorative pin.
Eligibility: A nominee must complete a Piper Professor Nomination form and electronically submit an application packet addressing each of the following items, which encompass the criteria used to make the selection.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Senate webpage.
Purpose: The purpose of the William L. Mayo Professorship Award is to provide recognition to an individual who epitomizes the goals of Professor Mayo’s motto: “Ceaseless Industry, Fearless Investigation, Unfettered Thought, and Unselfish Service to Others.” This award will be presented to a person currently at the rank of professor who has performed in an outstanding manner, primarily in teaching, but also in scholarship and service to the university community.
Award: A William L. Mayo Professor will be selected every third year, unless a meritorious faculty member is not identified. The recipient will be designated as "Mayo Professor" and shall retain the title of "Mayo Professor" for the duration of his/her service at the University, unless he/she is withdrawn by the President for cause. A cash stipend of $ 2,500 will be awarded each of three years, for a total of $7,500. A special medallion and a plaque, with the seal of the University and Professor Mayo’s motto inscribed on it accompany the award. The William L. Mayo Professorship is the ultimate award granted from the University, and is intended to highlight an exemplary career in teaching, scholarship, and service. In the event that the Awards Committee determines that none of the nominees meet the high standards for this award, nominees will be called for the following year.
Eligibility: A nominee must electronically submit an application packet addressing each of the following items, which encompass the criteria used to make the selection.
Evaluation Materials: Because the Mayo Professorship is the ultimate award from the University to highlight an exemplary career in teaching, scholarship, and service, the packet assembled for review should offer a distillation of the best of the nominee's career. Therefore, each selected nominee should submit a portfolio including, but not limited to the following suggested materials. Teaching materials may include: (i) letters from former students; (ii) a narrative covering courses developed, touching upon such areas as philosophy of teaching, course content, teaching methodology, and other appropriate material; (iii) student evaluations from graduate and undergraduate courses (if the nominee teaches at only one level, that fact should be noted); and (iv) letters of support from peers.
Scholarship: Nominees should include a selection of the best work in research or other creative or scholarly activity. While articles are not required, they may be submitted as representative selections. Books should be summarized, but not included.
Service: Nominees should give a summary of university, college, and department service activities, stressing activities of particular significance. Nominees are invited to submit any other materials in support of their nominations.
Special Recognition: The Mayo Professor shall be recognized at a formal university convocation to be held in the fall semester at a date chosen by the Faculty Senate, in consultation with the President of the University. The new Mayo Professor shall serve as the convocation speaker.
Special Assignment: Because Mayo Professors are identified as being the best instructors in the University, they should be accessible to members of the student body who wish to avail themselves of these professors' courses. Those chosen as Mayo Professors should be required, during the first three years of this designation, to teach at least one introductory or entry level course. A capstone course may be substituted. In cases where such instruction presents an undue hardship, service activities may be substituted.
Eligibility for Other Awards: During the first three year period, a William L. Mayo Professor will not be eligible for nomination to other internal awards by the University.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Senate webpage.
Purpose: The purpose of the Paul W. Barrus Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching is to provide recognition and a monetary award for individuals who have performed in an outstanding manner in teaching.
Award: The Paul W. Barrus Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching is awarded every year. Up to three awards per year may be given. A cash stipend of $2,000 and a plaque are given to each recipient. This award is usually given in the spring semester at a Faculty Awards event.
Eligibility: A nominee must electronically submit an application packet addressing each of the following items, which encompass the criteria used to make the selection.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Senate webpage.
Purpose: The purpose of the H.M. Lafferty Distinguished Faculty Award for Scholarship and creative activity is to provide recognition and a monetary award for an individual who has performed in an outstanding manner in scholarship and/or creative activity.
Award: The H.M. Lafferty Distinguished Faculty Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity is awarded every year. One award is given each year. A cash stipend of $2,000 and a plaque are given to the recipient. This award is usually given in the spring semester at a Faculty Awards event.
Eligibility: A nominee must electronically submit an application packet addressing each of the following items, which encompass the criteria used to make the selection.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Senate webpage.
Purpose: The purpose of the Neill Humfeld Distinguished Faculty Award for Service is to provide recognition and a monetary award for an individual who has performed in an outstanding manner in service to the university, his or her particular college and department.
Award: The Neill Humfeld Distinguished Faculty Award for Service is awarded every year. One award is given each year. A cash stipend of $2,000 and a plaque are given to the recipient. This award is usually given in the spring semester at a Faculty Awards event.
Eligibility: A nominee must electronically submit an application packet addressing each of the following items, which encompass the criteria used to make the selection.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Senate webpage.
Purpose: The purpose of the Faculty Senate Awards for Professional Excellence is to recognize faculty who have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievement in particular areas of their professional duties. Areas include various aspects of teaching, scholarship, and service. These awards were established to recognize the excellence of the faculty for which the particular awards were named and to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of awardees that have endeavored to uphold those high standards of excellence in the areas identified by the awards.
Awards: Faculty Senate Awards for Professional Excellence are awarded every year in the spring term. Any faculty member may be eligible for consideration for a Faculty Senate Award for Professional Excellence. Awards are given in recognition that recipients have upheld the highest standards of excellence in the areas in which awards are recognized. Recipients are recognized with a plaque and a cash stipend of $500. There are a total of 9 of these awards: Teaching-Classroom Award
Visit ETAMU Procedure 12.99.99.R0.03 for eligibility criteria, nominations and additional information.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Senate webpage.