Committee | Caplenor Faculty Research Award

The Caplenor Faculty Research Award, established in 1984 in honor of the late Dr. Charles Donald Caplenor, former Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of Instructional Development, is awarded annually to one member of the faculty of Tennessee Technological University for outstanding research accomplished while employed at the University.

Name

Caplenor Faculty Research Award Committee

Purpose

The purpose of the committee is to administer the program for selection of the Caplenor Faculty Research Award recipient.

Membership

Composition

The committee will consist of one faculty representative elected from each college or school, the Dean of Graduate Studies, the Associate Vice President for Research, and the two previous award recipients. An alternate for each representative will be elected to serve should the representative be nominated for the award or be unable to serve. These elections are to be held in each college/school during Spring Semester as required, and the terms of the elected representative and alternate will begin the following Fall Semester.

Terms of Office

Elected Representative and Alternate - Three-year terms
Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President for Research - Permanent
Previous Award Winners - Two-year terms

Officers

The Executive Officer for the committee will be the Associate Vice President for Research. The award recipient in the second year of service to the committee will serve as Chairperson. In the event this award recipient is unable to serve as Chairperson, the committee will elect a Chairperson from the membership.

Executive Officer

The Executive Officer will provide technical assistance to the committee.

Chairperson

The Chairperson will take office at the beginning of the academic year. Responsibilities are to:

Preside at all meetings or designate another member to preside.
Prepare a tentative agenda for each meeting to be distributed at least five (5) working days prior to the meeting.
Approve the minutes of the meetings to be distributed to the committee members.
Call special meetings when necessary.
Appoint ad hoc subcommittees as needed.
Prepare an annual report to the Academic Council.

Staff Support

Staff support will be provided by the Office of Research.

Meetings

The committee will meet in November and at other times as needed.

Award Selection Procedures

Criteria for Nomination

Criteria to be considered for nomination for the Caplenor Faculty Research Award are outstanding accomplishments in pure or applied research.

The major portion of the research must have been performed while the nominee was employed at Tennessee Technological University.
An individual may be nominated either for an outstanding career of research performed at Tennessee Technological University or for a single, significant research accomplishment.
Any person who is employed as a full-time member of the faculty shall be eligible for nomination regardless of faculty rank or title provided that he/she satisfies the remaining qualifications.
"Faculty member" is defined as one who holds academic rank and who is directly engaged in instruction, research, or public service.
A nominee shall have been employed at least three academic years at Tennessee Technological University prior to being nominated.
A faculty member who has won the award shall be ineligible for the same award for a period of five years.

Nominations

Nominations will be made by submission of a signed nomination form. Any person who is a full-time Tennessee Technological University faculty member may submit a nomination on behalf of himself/herself or any other individual. No individual may make more than one nomination per year. All nominations must be submitted to the Office of Research. Only one nomination form is needed to place a candidate's name in nomination.

Nomination Form

Nominations will be made on a form provided by the Office of Research which will include a request for the following information:

Full name of nominee.
Nominee's current position.
Date of first employment at Tennessee Technological University.
Names and full addresses of only three individuals well acquainted with the nominee's qualifications. One must be off-campus.
Justification of why the nominee should receive the award.
Name and signature of nominator.

Letters of Recommendation

The committee will request a letter of recommendation from each of the three individuals listed on the nomination form as references.

Requested Materials from Nominees

Nominees for the Caplenor Faculty Research Award will be asked to:

Describe the significant accomplishments made to a research field (Please limit to four (4) pages).
List publications since employment at Tennessee Technological University categorized by those in refereed and non-refereed publications. Further, these two categories are to be listed according to abstracts, chapters, articles, technical reports of research, monographs, books, music scores, art works, etc.
List oral presentations for the last three years categorized into technical and non-technical; i.e., before professional or civic audiences.
List research since employment at Tennessee Technological University categorized by externally funded research including funding source, title of project, period of performance, and funded amount and internally conducted research including source of sponsorship (such as Faculty Research Fund, departmental, etc.), title of project, period of performance, funded amount (if any), and whether a final report was submitted.
Include a vita and other information not specifically requested in the above sections believed to be useful in evaluation for the award.

Nomination Carryover

The credentials of a nominee not selected for the award will automatically be reconsidered the next year. The individual will be given the opportunity to update materials. After the second year, consideration will be given to an individual only if renominated.

Time Frame

A call for nominations will be made the first week of the Fall Semester and published in the Tech Times or equivalent.
Reminders will be sent to all academic deans and department chairpersons during the first week of the Fall Semester.
Nomination forms must be received in the Office of Research by the third Friday in September.
Nominees will be notified the following Monday in writing and asked to submit their materials to support the nomination.
Materials must be submitted by the nominee to the Office of Research by the first Friday in October.
The materials of all nominees will be forwarded to the committee by the second Friday in October.
The committee will meet during the second week of November to select the award recipient.

Certification

The name of the award recipient will be certified by the Associate Vice President for Research and forwarded to the President of the University through the Vice President for Academic Affairs for public release.

The University shall give appropriate recognition to the recipient in terms of a cash award, a plaque presented at Fall Commencement ceremonies, and a listing on a permanent plaque located in Derryberry Hall.

Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised will govern the committee in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these procedures.

Amendment of Procedures

These procedures can be amended at any regular meeting of the committee by a vote of two-thirds of those present, provided that the proposed changes have been submitted in writing to each member at least one (1) week prior to the meeting.

Effective Date of Implementation

The procedures shall become effective April 1, 1995.
Date Approved by Academic Council: February 22, 1995
Date Approved by Administrative Council: March 29, 1995

Committee Member	Department	Campus Box No.	Campus Phone	TTU E-Mail Address	Term
Dr. Deborah Barnard, Associate Professor	Foreign Languages	5061	3773	dbarnard	2015
Dr. Sakir Ayik, Professor	Physics	5051	3156	ayik	2013
Dr. Billye Foster Professor	School of Agriculture	5063	3086	bfoster	2013
Dr. Tor Guimaraes, Professor	Business Adm.	5022	3385	tguimaraes	2013
Dr. Melissa Geist, Associate Professor	Nursing	5001	3654	mgeist	2012
Dr. Faisal Hossain, Associate Professor	Civil & Environmental Engineering	5015	3257	fhossain	2014
Dr. Joseph Ojo , Professor	Electrical Engineering	5104	3869	jojo	2013
Dr. Sandi J.W. Smith, Professor	Curriculum & Instruction	5042	3207	sjmith	2012
Dr. Jennifer Anderson, Associate Professor Alternate for D. Barnard	Sociology and Political Science	5052	3130	joanderson
Dr. Hwan-Sik Yoon, Assistant Professor Alternate for Dr. Ojo	Mechanical Engineering	5014	3287	hsyoon
Dr. Janice Branson, Associate Professor Alternate for Dr. Foster	School of Agriculture	5034	3373	jbranson
Dr. Francis Otuonye, Executive Officer	Research	5012	3233	fotuonye

Committee Procedures