Joanne E. Gates Faculty Research Award
Award Description
The Joanne E. Gates Faculty Research Award is a faculty-administered program designed to honor a faculty member who is actively engaged in exceptional scholarly research or professional development, and who would benefit from a monetary award for professional development, travel expenses, or release time. The award is named for Emerita Professor in English Dr. Joanne E. Gates whose research on suffragist writer Elizabeth Robins has spanned decades at JSU. Most notably, she is the author of the biography Elizabeth Robins, 1862-1952: Actress, Novelist, Feminist (1994), which won the Elizabeth Agee Award from the University of Alabama Press, and she serves as the project director for The Elizabeth Robins Web.
In honoring the reclaimed achievements of Elizabeth Robins, preference may be given to projects that champion women in the health professions, that promote gender equity, or that study women's literature, travel literature, biography, or theater history. Robins was an Ibsen actress, a novelist, diarist, and playwright who actively supported campaigns for women's suffrage. The person selected for this honor will receive an honorarium of $1,000.00 and a framed certificate recognizing this accomplishment.
Criteria and Eligibility
- Full-time faculty holding the rank of Instructor or higher, with preference given to a faculty member that is currently at the "near completion" stage of a project
- Only individuals actively engaged in scholarly research projects or professional development activities will be considered for this award
- Preference may be given to projects that champion women in the health professions, that promote gender equity, or that study women's literature, travel literature, biography, or theater history
- The award seeks to recognize those whose nominations show progress towards the finalization of a book contract or other creative activities at the point where they are in a similar stage of near-completion; years of sustained accomplishments are not as significant a criterium as is a need to fund a next project at a critical stage
- An awardee is ineligible to receive the same award again for three years but remains eligible for other awards during that time.
Nomination Procedures
This award will be selected by the Faculty Honors and Grants Committee, which is comprised of at least one faculty representative from each academic college. Nominations by self, students, colleagues, department heads, or other individuals aware of the significance of the participant's research or professional development are encouraged. Accomplishments from the previous three academic years (AY) will be considered (including AY 21-22, AY 22-23, and AY 23-24, beginning with Fall 2021 and ending with Summer 2024).
Required Nomination Documents
The nomination packet for this award will consist of the following, compiled into one single PDF file in the order indicated. Please contact Faculty Commons if you need assistance compiling documentation into a PDF file. All materials will be reviewed by the Faculty Honors and Grants Committee.
- One official Letter of Nomination by the nominator(s) advocating the basis for the nomination (relating the nominee’s research/creative activity to the criteria for the award)
- Up to three additional Letters of Support from internal or external colleagues to complement the Letter of Nomination—*No more than three additional Letters of Support will be considered
- Nominee’s Curriculum Vitae (no more than fifteen pages)—*For those nominating a colleague, contact the nominee for a copy of their CV, or contact the nominee’s departmental administrative assistant for help acquiring a CV
- Supporting documentation as it applies to the award—*Only supporting documentation from the specified years outlined in the Nomination Procedures will be considered
Nomination Deadline:
All nominations must be submitted electronically via the Faculty Awards nomination form, linked below, no later than 4:30 PM CST on Friday, February 21, 2025. No deadline extensions will be given.