Research Award Guidelines

IU Kokomo Distinguished Research and Creative Activity Award Guidelines

The purpose of the Indiana University Kokomo Distinguished Research and Creative Activity Award is to annually recognize outstanding scholars on this campus. It is awarded to recognize excellence in research, scholarship, or creativity activity. The award winner receives a stipend of $3,000.

Award Eligibility

• Both tenured and tenure-track faculty members at Indiana University Kokomo are eligible for this award. All applicants in a given year are considered within a single pool—only one award is given per year.
• Applicants must demonstrate excellence in research/scholarly/creative activities over a period of no more than the five years prior to applying for this award.
• Only work performed while employed at Indiana University Kokomo will be considered for this award.
• A successful recipient can re-apply for the award after a period of five years.

Application Guidelines

The application deadline is October 15^th. Applications shall be submitted as a PDF to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Julie Saam, via email jsaam@iuk.edu. Applicants should consider inserting appropriate bookmarks within the PDF to help the awards committee in navigating the document. The PDF may be sent via email; if it is too large to send via email, it can be shared via Box.

An applicant’s research/scholarly/creative record must show progress towards becoming an established researcher/scholar/creator in his/her field of study. All applicants for the Indiana University Kokomo Faculty Research Award must submit the following:

A Reflective Statement

The reflective statement should discuss the applicant’s eligible research/scholarly/creative accomplishments during the period under consideration as well as their plans and goals. The reflective statement will present and discuss the various scholarly activities during the period under review. This should not exceed 12 single-spaced pages in length. Examples of possible activities include, but are not limited to:

• Peer reviewed publications
• Books
• Chapters in books
• Conference paper or poster presentations
• Supervision of student scholarly/creative projects
• Exhibitions and shows
• Research awards received
• External or internal funding received
• Scholarly/creative works in progress
• Plans for future scholarly/creative works

It is not sufficient to merely list activities, they should be explained and discussed, thus supplying the committee with information to make an evaluation. As part of their reflective statement, applicants are encouraged to provide evidence relevant to their discipline regarding of the quality and impact of the work. Examples of possible evidence include, but are not limited to:  

• Measures of journal or publisher quality
• Measures of conference quality
• Citations of publications
• Indications of exhibition venue quality or show selectivity
• Awards or recognition that publications or works received
• Evidence of innovative research done in collaboration with a community partner
• Evidence of using one’s disciplinary expertise to address and/or solve community problems (reports, white papers, proposals, etc.)
• Letters of support or reviews from community partners addressing community impact of the research partnerships and outcomes
• Unsolicited reviews from peers in the discipline

Applicants may also discuss other research/scholarly/creative activities, such as:

• Editing a journal
• Serving as curator or juror of an exhibit
• Reviewing articles for publications
• Reviewing research grants
• Serving as an invited speaker
• Public scholarship, such as newspaper articles, broadcast interviews, or blogs

Within the reflective statement, the applicant must also explain their contribution in the production of each work, along with the contributions of any others to the work. The goal here, given that much scholarship is collaborative and joint-authored, is for the author to clarify her contributions while giving fair credit to the work of others. Where appropriate, indicate student coauthors.

Evidence of Work

The applicant should also include in their application evidence of their work. This includes copies of articles published, books published (or a few pages from books), conference posters/papers, etc. It also includes copies of any creative works, or links to such copies on the Internet. For grants and awards, copies of award letters may be submitted as evidence. Works in progress can also be included.

Letter of Support

The applicant must supply a letter of support from the appropriate Dean/Chair. This letter should clarify the unit’s standards for excellence in research or creative work and explain how the applicant’s performance relates to the norms in his or her field of research or creative activity (e.g. norms on the number of co-authors in a publication, publication and presentation quality, grant or funding size, etc.). Applicants may also include letters of support from peers in their field if the letters would help define the quality and impact of an applicant’s research.

Curriculum Vitae

The applicant shall supply a curriculum vitae which includes all publications, presentations, funding, fellowships, etc.

Faculty Research and Creative Activity Awards Selection Committee

The Faculty Research Creative Activity Awards Selection Committee is an administrative committee appointed by the office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, as explained in committee guidelines. The committee is tasked with applying the established criteria and procedures for the award to make a recommendation to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs as to who should receive the campus’s research and creative activity awards.

The EVCAA’s office shall appoint a chair to the committee. The chair will review the applications received and contact the applicants in case any relevant information is missing.

Award Criteria

The committee shall use the following criteria in selecting a winner.

1. Quantity of research/scholarly/creative accomplishments and activities:  The committee shall consider the overall number of research/scholarly/creative accomplishments and amount of research/scholarly/creative activities of the faculty member within the five-year timeframe of the award. The committee should include in their judgment the differences in length and scope of the accomplishments and the effort they take. For example, the committee shall not merely count the number of publications, but also consider the length, scope and customary effort it takes to produce such publications; two brief research notes likely are not worth more than one lengthy book. In addition, the committee should consider disciplinary differences in research output and activities. This criteria is not limited to publication but includes all research/scholarly/creative accomplishments and activities.  If necessary, the committee may request additional information from applicants in order to better evaluate the applicant’s contribution to their discipline.
2. Quality of research/scholarly/creative accomplishments and activities: The committee shall consider the overall quality and impact of the scholarly activity, both per accomplishment and as a whole.

Protocol for Research Award Submission/Selection

1. The selection committee may decide not to award the award in a particular year if it deems that that there is no candidate with sufficient accomplishments.
2. The selection committee shall not bestow an award to someone when they have significant concerns about the ethics or integrity of the applicant’s scholarship. This prohibition is not intended to be applied in cases where scholarship is the subject of scholarly debate or criticism. Instead, it is intended for cases where there are concerns of professional misconduct.
3. The selection committee, with the chair serving as facilitator, should seek to meet and deliberate and arrive at a consensus on who should receive the award.
4. The selection committee shall submit a letter to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (EVCAA) summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of each applicant and making a recommendation of who should receive the award. The EVCAA may share this information when communicating with applicants.
5. The Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (EVCAA) uses this information to choose a winner and communicates directly to the winner and all other applicants. In making the final decision, the EVCAA shall ensure the winner meets standards for excellence, ethics, and integrity for receiving the award. 
6. The committee chairperson will send a letter to each candidate who was not selected with suggestions for how their application might be improved in the future. The other members of the selection committee do not communicate directly to the winner or other applicants.
7. The deliberations of the selection committee should be considered confidential by members of the committee in order to protect the integrity of the selection process.

Future Changes to the Award

If the Faculty Research Award Selection Committee wishes to make changes to the award criteria or procedures, they should make such recommendations to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (EVCAA). The EVCAA will consult with the Research Affairs Committee concerning any changes.

Additional questions about the Indiana University Kokomo Faculty Research Award should be directed to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.