UNM Los Alamos

The Bobbye Straight Faculty Initiative Award: Background

The Bobbye Straight Faculty Initiative Award: Background

Award Title

The award will be known as The Bobbye Straight UNM-Los Alamos Faculty Initiative Award.

Purpose Of The Award

The purpose of the award is to encourage UNM Los Alamos faculty creativity and initiative. The award will accomplish this purpose by funding annually one or more original scholarly, professional, technical, or artistic activities resulting in a clearly defined product that benefits the applicant, UNM-Los Alamos, its coursework, and/or its students. Such activities would include, but not be limited to:

  • Curriculum development
  • Generation and submission of grant proposals
  • Activities and materials leading to the submission for publication of scholarly, professional, scientific, technical, or critical articles
  • Activities and materials leading to the creation of works of scholarly, professional, scientific, technical or artistic merit
  • Activities and materials leading to the scholarly, professional, scientific, technical, artistic, or critical enrichment of the faculty member

Nature Of The Award

During the application process, applicants will choose one of two award options:

  • Three credit hours paid course release time

- or -

  • A three thousand five hundred dollar ($3,500.00) cash award (less standard withholding)

Team applications may be submitted. In the event that a team project is selected, the release time or cash award will be distributed as outlined in the application, subject to eligibility requirements outlined below.

Eligibility

Eligibility will be restricted to current UNM Los Alamos and off-site faculty who have taught at the College and/or its off-sites for a total of 2 or more semesters. These semesters need not be consecutive. The recipient(s) must remain eligible for employment at UNM Los Alamos in order to receive remuneration by the Award.

Process And Timeline

The award process will begin with the submission of applications and end approximately 20 months later with the completion activities. A general outline of deadlines and activities is:

Early April

  • Submission deadline for applications

Mid-April

  • Selection and official notification of finalist
  • Finalist’s official acceptance

May Commencement

  • Public announcement of recipient
  • Presentation of Award Certificate

Within one academic year of public acceptance

  • Acceptance of remuneration for the Fall or Spring term, as selected by recipient
  • Initiation of project activities

Within two academic years of public acceptance

  • Completion activities
  • Documentation of the activities and completed project for UNM Los Alamos Archives
  • Presentation/display of completed project by recipient at Spring Faculty Orientation

Selection Of Award Recipient

The selection committee will be chaired by the Campus Executive Director or, in his/her absence, by the President of the Faculty Assembly. The Chair may choose to participate in the selection discussions but will be non-voting. The Selection Committee will be a committee of three composed of:

  • A non-applicant faculty member chosen by the Operations Committee of the Faculty Assembly
  • A representative of student interests:
    • A student chosen by the Executive Committee of Student Government or, if none accepts, by
    • A student chosen by the Executive Committee of Phi Theta Kappa, or if non accepts, by
    • A member of the Student Services staff, selected by the Director of Student Services
  • A community member chosen by the Dean of Instruction.

The Selection Committee may, at its discretion, choose not to make an award and/or to include in its selection process applications from the previous year’s competition and/or projects completed within the previous calendar year that have not yet received funds from the Award.

Previous Winners

  • 2005 - Dr. Mickey Marsee
  • 2006 - Dr. Kate Massengale
  • 2007 - Dr. Lynne Williams & Lee Bollschweiler
  • 2008 - Dr. Behzad Salimi, Dr. Gregory Schneider, and Siri Deva Khalsa
  • 2009 - Carol Furchner and Eva Artschwager (shared award) and Dennis Davies-Wilson
  • 2010 - none
  • 2011 - Jody Shepard
  • 2012 - Dr. James Cooke
  • 2013 - Irina Alvestad
  • 2014 - Dr. Ann Kaul
  • 2014 - Dr. Mickey Marsee
  • 2015 - Patrick Harris, MFA
  • 2016 - Dr. Sharon Hurley-Johns
  • 2017 - Dr. Zandree Stidham, Dr. Irina Alvestad, Dr. Kristy Nadler, and Dennis Davies-Wilson
  • 2018 - Cindy Budge, MS