Members
- Cynthia Griffin (Chair, SESPECS)
- Dwight Irvin (SESPECS)
- Kent Crippen (STL)
- Pasha Antonenko (STL)
- David Therriault (HDOSE)
- Walter Leite (HDOSE)
Dean’s Office Representative
Thomasenia Adams
FPC Representative
Anthony Botelho (added because none of the RAC members were elected FPC members)
Committee Goals
Our committee had two goals:
- Review applications and provide recommendations to the Dean’s Office for several award competitions
- Continue to improve the process for evaluating award applications
Review Process
Our RAC, and at least two committees before ours, did not operate in a way that is typical of most FPC committees as we formulated recommendations for the awards. Instead of meeting in person and reviewing paper applications as a group, Dr. Adams made all award applications available to us in digital form. After individually reviewing all applications and completing Qualtrics surveys, RAC members had an opportunity to provide feedback on draft reports of results from Qualtrics. These reports included strengths and weaknesses identified by committee members for each applicant and the name of one or two top applicants, as requested by the Dean’s office. Once finalized, our reports of combined RAC recommendations were sent to Thomasenia (and all members were copied on these email messages).
Note: When a RAC member applied for one of the awards, that person did not participate in the review process or receive final reports. In addition, the RAC member applying for an award was replaced with an alternate faculty member designated by the Dean’s Office.
Awards Evaluated
Over the course of the year, we evaluated and made recommendations for the following awards:
- 2024 Research Opportunity Seed Fund (ROSF) – 1 application, 1 awardee
- Excellence Awards for Assistant Professors – 6 applications, 1 awardee
- BO Smith Term Professorship – 5 applications, 1 awardee
- Fien Term Professorship – 8 applications, 2 awardees
- Kubiak Endowed Term Professorship – 8 applications, 1 awardee
- Rosser Term Professorship – 10 applications, 1 awardee
Priority for 2024-2025 RAC Committee
Our largely asynchronous online approach to reviewing applications worked well as members of the committee were generally in agreement. With the approval of RAC members, the Chair of the committee developed all Qualtrics surveys. These simple surveys included text boxes for RAC members to type in applicants’ strengths and weaknesses based on the award criteria and indicate their top choices. In the future, the RAC may consider a review and possible revision of the survey design based on needs and preferences.