Roane State Community College

Introduction

The Sarah Ellen Benroth Award for Outstanding Teaching (the award) is awarded annually to the individual selected by their peers. The process involved is the selection of each division’s nominees by ballot from a listing of eligible division fulltime faculty. The nominees are then selected by a secret ballot process by the fulltime faculty within the division as outlined below. The year’s award winner is then selected by a committee from the Faculty Senate members with at least one member from each academic division.

Nomination Process Timeline

1. During the first week of each spring semester, when faculty return (usually 2nd week of Jan), the Vice President of Faculty Senate will send a request to each division office for a listing of eligible faculty within their division eligible for nomination. To assist in the process, the email will contain a listing of those eligible from the prior spring semester. Eligibility requirements will be included. The division office is requested to return the list within one week.
2. Two weeks later, (usually the 4th week of January), the Vice President will email all fulltime faculty within each division a listing of the eligible faculty in their division that may be consideration for nomination for the award along with information related to the nomination process. This is to verify the list is correct and allow people to self-select out. Faculty have one week to respond. The first week of February, the VP of FS will send a corrected list to Institutional Effectiveness to create a survey monkey vote.
3. Personnel in the office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research set up SurveyMonkey surveys for nominee selection. (The number of nominees vary by division based on the number of faculty within the division. Each division is allowed one nominee per every ten full-time faculty members (or major fraction thereof).
4. By the second Friday of February, the SurveyMonkey email ballot will be sent each faculty member for selection of nominees. The nomination process will close the third Friday of February.
5. Personnel from the Institutional Effectiveness and Research will notify the Vice President of the Faculty Senate the nominees selected by the individual divisions after the polls close. The goal is to notify the VP of FS by the beginning of the 4th week of February.
6. In the event of any ties, the names of those tied for the nominated positions will be distributed to the impacted division voters through a “survey monkey request” to break the tie. Only the individuals involved in the ties will be on the ballot for this round of voting. Tie-breaker voting is open for 3 days. 
7. By the fourth Friday in February, or as soon as tie breaker voting has concluded, the Vice President of Faculty Senate will notify the nominees of the nomination for the Benroth Award by their division peers and inform them of the portfolio preparation process.
8. The portfolios need to be completed and forwarded to the Selection Committee by 4:30 p.m. on the first Monday after Spring break.
9. In the event a faculty member declines the nomination, the nominee will advise the Vice President of Faculty Senate that a portfolio will not be prepared.
10. The selection committee will complete the review and scoring of portfolios by April ll. All results remain confidential and are only known by the VP of FS.
11. The VP of FS will send results to the administrative assistant for the VP of student learning (currently Cathy Smith) by April 12. 

Establishment of Selection Committee

1. The Selection Committee will have 6 members and be structured as follows:
   1. The Vice President of the Faculty Senate will act as chairperson and will coordinate the activities of the Selection Committee. If this officer is a nominee for the award, other officers in order of succession will substitute. If all Faculty Senate officers are nominees, then Faculty Senators will be assigned to the Selection Committee by the Faculty Senate President. (1 committee member)
   2. Additional Faculty will be appointed to the Selection committee by the Vice President of the Faculty Senate. Any full time faculty employed more than 2 years is eligible to be on the selection committee. One representative from each division will be appointed. Requests will be made for volunteers at division meetings, during convocation, and/or via email. From those volunteering, appointment may be based on one or a combination of selection methods including but not limited to years of experience at RSCC, random selection, or first come first served. (4 committee members total)
   3. The Support Staff council will provide one member. (1 committee member)

The sole purpose of the Selection Committee is to determine the finalists and the recipient of the Sarah Ellen Benroth Award for Outstanding Teaching

Selection Process

1. All portfolios will be submitted to the chair of the selection committee by the first Monday after Spring Break. The final screening of nominees and selection of a recipient is done by a committee, hereafter referred to as “The Selection Committee,” consisting of Faculty Senate representatives named by the Faculty Senate president.
2. For the review process, the selection committee will use established, specific criteria in the selection of finalists and the recipient of the award. 
3. The Selection Committee will review portfolios and determine three finalists by April 12.
4. From the three finalists, a recipient will be chosen for the Award.
5. The finalists will be chosen no later than April 12. Their names will be sent to the appropriate people for inclusion in the Graduation program and for plaques to be ordered.