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Texas A&M International University considers the abuse of alcohol and/or illicit drug use by its faculty, staff and students to be unacceptable. The unlawful manufacture, distribution, sale, possession, or use of illicit drugs or alcohol and the abuse of alcohol are strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated. Any employee found in violation of this policy shall be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, and may be required to participate in an appropriate abuse assistance or rehabilitation program.
Bulletin boards are provided at several campus locations. Faculty members may use these bulletin boards for appropriate and approved general communications.
In accordance with federal and state laws and regulations regarding health and safety, measures will be taken to protect the health and safety of students, faculty, employees and visitors to the University.
In the event of emergency, appropriate notice will be provided via radio and/or television and/or electronic mail and/or other public broadcast media.
Keys will be issued to faculty through the various academic administrators. Keys remain the property of the University and will be returned upon request or separation. Keys are not to be duplicated.
Information concerning, but not limited to, vacation leave, sick leave, emergency leave, parental leave, family and medical leave, civic duty leave, and military leave is available from the University’s Department of Human Resources. Faculty members may expect the University to provide normal mail services to facilitate the accomplishment of the faculty members’ professional responsibilities. It is assumed that mail services provided by the University will be protected by appropriate federal and state law, |
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and the privacy of the faculty member’s mail, both electronic and paper, will be respected by the University.
Purchase Orders / Requisitions Faculty members may initiate purchase requisitions. Complete purchasing policies and procedures are available through the Purchasing Office.
Telephone service is provided to the faculty to permit and facilitate the accomplishment of the faculty members’ professional responsibilities. Abuse of telephones and/or long distance access will not be tolerated. More information regarding faculty use of telephones is provided in TAMUS Policy 33.04 Sections 1 and 2.
The annual faculty awards are an attempt on the part of the faculty to recognize outstanding professionalism among its peers. The faculty recognize that exceptional professionalism is measured by different criteria in different disciplines; however, it is the opinion of the faculty that it is extremely important that, regardless of how it is measured, professionalism be recognized. These awards provide a public recognition for quality, as defined by colleagues, peers and fellow professors. Annually, a circular medallion attached to an appropriate ribbon is presented by the Provost, during the Fall Assembly, to the selected faculty members. The medallion will be appropriate for, and should be worn as a part of, the recipients’ academic regalia. The medallion should be inscribed, “Distinguished University Scholar, [year],” or “Distinguished University Teacher, [year],” and “Outstanding Teacher, [year]”. Special parking and a small stipend may also be included for all award winners. In addition, the Distinguished University Scholar, Distinguished University Teacher and Outstanding Teacher of the Year may be invited to give short lectures during Fall Convocation.
At the beginning of each Spring Semester, each college’s promotion and tenure committee will call for nominations for the college’s Distinguished Scholar of the Year, Distinguished Teacher of the Year, and Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Each college’s promotion and tenure committee will decide how the nomination process will work within their purview (whether that be an open nomination process or one in which departments forward nominees to the college’s P&T committee). Only tenured and tenured-track faculty that have been at Texas A&M International University for at least three calendar years will be eligible for the Distinguished Scholar and Teacher of the Year awards. For the Outstanding Teacher instructors, lecturers, and fixed-term professionals must have been employed by Texas A&M International University for at least three years. |
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Nominees for college Distinguished Scholar of the Year, Distinguished Teacher of the Year, and Outstanding Teacher of the Year will be required to submit a brief (no more than 20 pages) portfolio highlighting their achievements (similar to the promotion/tenure portfolio) for the use of the respective P&T committees in the decision-making process. Nominees for Distinguished Scholar of the Year must include evidence regarding scholarly and creative accomplishments over a period of three calendar years (ending with the year covered in the most recent PPE), and the candidates will be judged on their accomplishments over that three-year period. College P&T committees will meet no later than February 15 to review nominees’ portfolios and select the college Distinguished Scholar and Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Teacher of the Year award recipients. The College of Arts and Sciences will choose two Scholars and two Teachers of the Year; the A.R. Sanchez School of Business, the College of Education, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University College and Killam Library will each choose one Scholar and one Teacher of the Year. These winners then become the nominees for the Distinguished University Scholar and the Distinguished University Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Once College / School award recipients have been designated, the chair of each college’s P&T committee will forward their colleagues’ names in a recommendation letter to the chair of the Faculty Senate Work Environment and Morale Committee. The Work Environment and Morale Committee will appoint a team of highly qualified faculty (not necessarily senators) who will observe and report on the classroom instruction of all college winners for Distinguished Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Teacher of the Year. The college winners will arrange these observation sessions with the appointed team during the last two weeks of March. The nominee's observation reports will be added to the portfolios prior to Faculty Senate review. The Distinguished Scholar of the Year, Distinguished Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Teacher of the Year portfolios will be made available to members of the Faculty Senate for their information and review during the last two weeks of April. At the May meeting of the Faculty Senate, the entire Senate will vote for a Distinguished University Scholar of the Year, Distinguished University Teacher of the Year, and Outstanding Teacher of the Year from the nominees for each award. Senators who are in the running for one of the awards and senators who have not read all the portfolios will not participate in the voting. Award recipients, as well as the college winners in all three categories, will be announced at Fall Assembly. Once recognized as Distinguished University Scholar or Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Teacher of the Year, faculty members will not be eligible for consideration for any additional faculty award for three years. |
