PSU's Research Faculty Award for Non-tenure-track Faculty recognizes a non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF) member engaged in research and scholarship of exceptional quality, volume, and impact. This award also recognizes the recipient’s extraordinary success engaging students in rigorous research and academic discourse. The person selected for this honor will receive an award and a $1,500 taxable honorarium.
Eligibility Criteria
This award recognizes an outstanding non-tenure-track faculty member.
Selection Criteria
Nominations should clearly address the following:
Importance of the nominee’s contributions to their field, advancing understanding and adressing significant challenges
Originality of their work
Pattern of research productivity
Academic reputation of the journals, publishing houses, exhibitions, and professional presentations in which the candidate’s work has appeared
Length and impact of service to PSU
Recognition of their peers nationally and/or internationally
Involvement of students in their research
Demonstrated commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion at PSU, and beyond
Who May Submit Nominations
Faculty, chairs, and deans are encouraged to nominate faculty fitting the criteria listed above. Nominations must be submitted via the 2026 Research Awards Nomination Form. Please limit nominations to one nominee per department for this award category.
Required Nomination Materials
Complete nomination packets must include the following, in pdf format:
Nominator’s Letter
The primary nominator’s letter should articulate how the nominee meets the selection criteria listed above, specifying the nominee’s most noteworthy contributions to PSU and to their field while communicating any broader impacts of these contributions.
Abbreviated Current Professional Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Additional Letters of Support (3 maximum)
No more than three additional letters of support are recommended.
Selection Process and Deadlines
Nominations should be initiated via the 2026 Research Awards Nomination Form by Monday, October 27, 2025 and must be completed by Monday, November 17, 2025 (pdf format is preferred for all nomination materials).
Deans will approve completed nominations before they are submitted for review by an interdisciplinary selection committee.
The award selection committee, composed of past award recipients, associate deans, and other faculty, will evaluate all nominations approved by the deans according to the selection criteria listed here.
No more than one awardee will ordinarily be named each year, and the review committee may forgo naming an awardee in any given year.
The nominee selected for this honor will be notified in January 2026, along with those who contributed to their nomination. The nomination packets of nominees not selected will automatically be included for consideration the following year, with letters of support and other nomination materials carried forward by the RGS Awards Manager. Current CVs and/or updated primary letters of nomination may be submitted to update these nomination packets. Nominees not selected in two consecutive years must remain out of review for one selection cycle (one year) before regaining eligibility.
Recognition
The individual selected for this honor will receive an award and public recognition at PSU’s Research Awards Ceremony and Reception. The winner will also receive a $1,500 taxable honorarium and an invitation to participate in the selection process to choose next year’s recipient of the Research Faculty Award for Non-tenure-track Faculty.
For answers to questions about this award or the nomination process, please contact RGS Awards Manager Amy Crelly: acrelly@pdx.edu, 503-725-9944 or research@pdx.edu.