Issue
No.1
Effective Date: 03/30/2009
Review: September 1 E5Y
01. POLICY
STATEMENT
01.01
This policy statement sets forth
guidelines for the Excellence in Diversity Awards.
02. GENERAL
BACKGROUND
02.01 The Excellence in Diversity Awards (the
Awards) program is established to honor university community members for
exceptional commitment to diversity at Texas State. These awards will recognize
and reward faculty and staff members for activities which promote the
university’s diversity goals.
02.02 The university will present two awards each
year, one to a faculty member and the other to a staff member. Individual
recipients will receive a $2,500 award and a plaque funded through the Office
of Equity and Access. All nominees will receive a letter from the President and
Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Equity and Access congratulating them
on their nomination.
02.03 The President will present the Awards at the
annual University Convocation. In addition, the Chief Diversity Officer and Director
of Equity and Access will host a fall reception with the recipients, their
guests, and senior academic administrators (President's Cabinet, Council of
Academic Deans, Council of Chairs, officers of Staff Council, as well as
members of the selection committee). The Equity and Access Committee, in
consultation with the President's Office, will also extend an invitation to all
individuals, groups and offices that have a diversity-related functional role.
03. AWARD CRITERIA
03.01 The selection committee will use the following
criteria to select recipients for the Awards:
a. Critical support
that assists diversity in our faculty, staff or students
b. Sustained
commitment to diversity through research, programs, services, activities, new
initiatives, etc.
04. PROCEDURES
FOR APPOINTING SELECTION COMMITTEE
04.01 No later than
January 31, the
Associate Provost and the Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Equity and
Access will appoint a selection committee to recommend recipients for the Awards
for the current fiscal year, comprised of the following:
a.
Chief
Diversity Officer and Director of Equity and Access (committee chair)
b.
Director
of the Center for Multicultural and Gender Studies
c. One graduate
assistant nominated by the Dean of The Graduate College
d. Assistant Vice President
for Student Affairs/Director of Multicultural Student Affairs
e. Two representatives-at-large
from the university: a faculty member nominated by Faculty Senate, and a staff
member nominated by Staff Council
f. One representative
selected from each of the following groups, each serving two-year terms: Alliance
of Texas State, Hispanic Policy Network, Coalition of Black Faculty and Staff,
and the President's Council for Women in Higher Education
g. Director of the
Office of Disability Services
04.02 The Chair will convene the committee for its first
meeting by February. At that meeting, the committee will review the criteria
for the award and make any necessary changes. The Provost must approve substantive
changes.
04.03 By February, the Chair of the committee will inform the
Provost that the selection process has begun.
05. THE
NOMINATION PROCESS
05.01 A timeline of the nomination process,
including dates and activities, is available in Attachment
I.
06. DOCUMENTATION
FOR THE AWARD
06.01 The documentation which accompanies each Excellence
in Diversity Nomination Form (see Attachment
II) should include the following:
a. Completed
nomination form, which should include reasons for the nomination and the period
over which the activities have occurred
b. Brief professional sketch of the nominee,
including the nominee's present position
c. Letters of support from colleagues,
co-workers, and students (recommend no more than a total of three)
07. THE SELECTION
AND AWARD PROCESS
07.01 A
timeline of the selection and award process, including dates and activities, is
available in Attachment
I.
07.02 By April, the committee will review the
nominations, basing its selections on the criteria outlined in Section 03. The
selection committee will present its choices to the full Equity and Access
Committee for consideration. The Equity and Access Committee will make its
first, second, and third choices for each category. Only committee members in
attendance at the meeting may vote.
07.03 By May, the Equity and Access Committee will
forward its choices to the President via the Provost. The committee will not
recommend awards if there are no qualified nominees for that year. A copy of
the nomination form for each person will accompany the list of finalists.
07.04 The President will send a personal letter to
each recipient by August announcing their awards and asking the recipients to
walk onto the stage to receive their awards at the Fall University Convocation.
The President will also send an administrative memo to the university community
by August 15th announcing the recipients.
07.05 News Services will prepare and distribute the
appropriate news releases.
08. REVIEWERS OF
THIS UPPS
08.01 Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
Chief
Diversity Officer and Director of September
1 E5Y
Equity
and Access
Associate
Provost September
1 E5Y
Special
Assistant to the President September
1 E5Y
09. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
This UPPS has
been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and
represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of this document
until superseded.
Chief Diversity
Officer and Director of Equity and Access; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Special
Assistant to the President
President