Faculty Excellence in Service Award

The Faculty Excellence in Service Award Nominees for the 2025-2026 Academic Year

Preamble

Tenure-line faculty have an expectation of service included in the 3 units added to the 12 units of direct instruction. Lecturers have no expectation for service beyond what may be included in their appointment. This annual award recognizes and rewards excellence in any form of service at Sonoma State University. Each year the award honors a Sonoma State University faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to multiple levels of service to Sonoma State (e.g., department, school, college, university, discipline, and/or community). The award provides a stipend of $2,500 unless the terms of the awardee’s contract prohibit this financial compensation.

Number of Awards and Funding

More than one award may be given, based on available funding. In cases where funding allows, at least one award shall honor a non-tenured faculty member or lecturer, and at least one shall honor a tenured faculty member. The purpose of dividing the nominees into two groups is to encourage and promote excellence in service at all career stages.

Eligibility

Any member of the faculty may be nominated unless they have previously received this award at Sonoma State University.

To be eligible, the nominee must have served at SSU for at least six semesters during the previous five academic years, with one of those semesters being in the academic year in which the nomination occurs.

Nomination and Selection Process

Anyone in the SSU campus community may submit nominations. Self-nomination is encouraged. A call for nominations will be made in the spring semester. Nominations should be in the form of a letter to the FSAC. A list of those who have accepted nomination will be made public.

Nominated faculty will submit to the Academic Senate Office the following dossier by the timeline determined each spring semester:

A brief curriculum vitae of five pages or fewer, focusing on the impact of their service experience;
A two-page narrative of service, describing the nature of the service and its impact with a focus on the criteria described below;
Up to five pages of supplemental material related to service, e.g., statements of service excellence from colleagues, administrators or outside entities such as business groups, or research institutions. These materials may come from the nominee’s existing Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion file.

The Excellence in Service Winner(s) may be invited to serve as a resource to those individuals seeking ways to grow their own service in conjunction with Faculty Affairs, the Faculty Retreat, and/or CTET workshops. Winners may also become a future SSU nominee for the CSU Wang Family Excellence Award for Service.

Selection Committee

The Faculty Standards and Affairs Committee serves as the selection committee.

Criteria for Evaluation of Nominees

The selection committee shall choose from the current pool of nominees based on their extraordinary dedication to the campus and surrounding communities and achievements that advance one or more of the following:

Department and University service,
Student engagement,
Diversity and social justice,
Community engagement,
Service to the discipline and profession.

Additional weight is given for longevity, non-compensated (buy-out, reassigned time) effort, and leadership in each area.

Current Semester Timeline

Call for nominations – February 16, 2026
Nominations due – March 9, 2026
Names of nominees published – March 16, 2026
Dossiers due from nominees – April 13, 2026
Selection of awardees by FSAC – last meeting of semester
Recipients(s) announced – Fall 2027 Convocation