Introduction and Eligibility

The Lawrence C. Gallen, O.S.A. Faculty Service Award is intended to recognize an individual member of the Villanova University faculty who has, over many years, contributed outstanding service to the Villanova University community. There should be at most token compensation for this service. All active, tenured faculty members with ten years of service or longer are eligible, including those who currently hold administrative positions, provided that they have taught full-time at Villanova for at least ten years. Above all, the faculty member’s service should have consistently exceeded the normal requirements and ordinary expectations of their position.

The President will open the annual nominations for the award by sending a letter to faculty, chairpersons, academic directors, and deans, with a copy of these guidelines. The evaluation criteria and selection process will be generally publicized by electronic posting, with a link to VPAA, University Senate and Faculty Congress websites. These sites will contain a link to the Committee on Faculty, to enhance responses by email.

Deadlines for 2013*

Nominations for the Gallen Faculty Service Award will be accepted until Friday, January 18, 2013. Supporting materials may be submitted after that date, but no later than Friday, February 15, 2013. After the nominating committee of the Committee on Faculty has made a careful review of these materials, to be completed by the end of March, the Committee on Faculty will recommend three faculty finalists to the VPAA for submission to the President of the University.

Instructions for Nominators

Full-time tenured faculty, chairpersons, academic directors, and deans are eligible to nominate. Eligible faculty may self-nominate. Nominators should consult the eligibility guidelines below and then contact the prospective nominee to ensure that he or she agrees to be nominated. Then submit the name of the nominee via the online submission form.

Please direct any questions about this form or the nomination procedure to Thomas Way (thomas.way@villanova.edu) and Mark Sullivan (mark.sullivan@villanova.edu) , members of the Awards Subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty.  

As nominator, you may submit by email a one-page supporting statement on behalf of the nominee. If more than one nominator chooses to nominate the same person, they may each provide a separate statement, or together they may submit a joint supporting statement of no more than three pages.

Instructions for Nominees

The Awards Subcommittee will notify the nominee by email, and the nomination will become effective when the nominee responds, confirming his or her willingness to be considered. The nominee will then need to submit by email a list of service activity at Villanova, with dates of service and a description of the nature of each type of service activity. This description may be in outline or narrative form, and should include the following information (overall length, up to five pages):

1. Leadership role in the service activity: to what extent did the nominee initiate the activity and take a formal or informal leadership role in carrying it out (the Committee on Faculty will give significant weight to the nominee’s level of contribution and initiative rather than just participation).
2. Impact of the service: indicate specific outcomes as they have affected the Villanova University community.

3. Level of compensation: if compensated, to what degree (reduced load, small amount, 20%, paid position, etc.); if uncompensated, indicate if it was an appointed or elected position (e.g. departmental committee, Faculty Senator), vs. a more informal, voluntary activity.  Work that is significantly supported with a salary or other monetary compensation does not qualify as service.

4. Include service that was both ‘visible’ and ‘invisible,’: ‘visible’ service would occur within a formal position (e.g., chair of Faculty Congress), whereas ‘invisible’ service could be extensive work on curriculum development, voluntary student counseling, etc.  

Procedures for Review and Selection

The Awards Subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty will be charged with the process of reviewing nominations for the Gallen Award and returning the names of finalists to the Committee on Faculty.  The Awards Subcommittee members are not eligible to nominate or to be nominated for any award overseen by the committee. The Awards Subcommittee will meet, discuss the nominations (considering the criteria noted above as well as the nominees’ record of past nominations), and will then recommend three faculty finalists to the Committee on Faculty who, after review and approval, will pass these names to the VPAA. The recommendation will list the finalists alphabetically, but indicate the vote for each finalist. A brief statement explaining the results may be attached. Supporting materials will also be forwarded. The VPAA will forward the recommendation and materials to the President, who will make the final selection. The chair of the Committee on Faculty will send to the Villanovan and Blueprints a statement describing the award, process and criteria, and alphabetically listing the finalist and other nominees. The presentation of the award will take place at Commencement.

Previous Winners