E. FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

  1. Institutional Support (internal)
    1. Research/Creative Activity
      1. The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts provides research and travel awards that are intended to encourage and enhance the research and creative activities of its faculty. They include:
        • Faculty Research/Creative Activity Grant
        • Faculty Presentation of Scholarly and Creative Activity Grant
        • Faculty Development Travel Grant

The eligibility guidelines, application procedures, and award criteria for these funds are available from the Dean’s Office. They are also posted on the college website at: https://arts.unl.edu/hlfpa/faculty-grants

The UNL Office of Research and Innovation, and the UNL Research Council provide faculty support through a variety of campus-wide competitive awards, funds, and programs, including: 

Office of Research and Innovation Opportunities

  1. Arts & Humanities Research Enhancement Program
  2. Layman New Directions Awards
  3. Layman Seed Awards
  4. Biomedical Research Seed Grants (Applications are accepted on a rolling basis)
  • Revision Awards (Applications are accepted on a rolling basis)

Research Council Opportunities

  • Distinguished Lecturer
  • Faculty Seed Grants
  • Grants-in-Aid
  • Interdisciplinary Grants
  • Symposia
  • Visiting Scholar

For more information about these programs or to access the requests for applications, visit https://research.unl.edu/internal-funding-opportunities/.

  1. NU recognizes outstanding faculty research and creative activity of national and international significance through its annual university-wide Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award (ORCA).
  2. The GKSOM and the College may recognize outstanding faculty research and creative activity through the appointment of a faculty member to an endowed chair in the GKSOM, or through appointment as a Hixson-Lied Professor in the College; campus-wide, the same honor may be bestowed by appointment as a Bessey/Cather Professor and other similar honors.
     
  3. Teaching
    1. Organizations sponsored by the UNL Office of the Senior Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs that work in support of teaching include the Teaching Council, the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, the Instructional Technology Advisory Committee, and the General Purpose Classroom Advisory Committee.
    2. The Academy of Distinguished Teachers and the Teaching Council invite proposals for seed grants for the development and enhancement of teaching and curricular initiatives at UNL. See the web page for the Academy of Distinguished teachers at: https://www.unl.edu/svcaa/academy/
    3. The Office of the Senior Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs sponsors an Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence that from time to time will make available competitive grants as special one-time funding for teaching- related projects.
    4. The College, UNL, and the NU system recognize and honor outstanding teaching through the following awards:
      • HLCFPA College Distinguished Teaching Award 
      • HLCFPA Junior Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching
      • Annis Chaiken Sorensen Award (a UNL Campus-wide Distinguished Teaching Award in the Arts and Humanities)
      • Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA) (University-wide)
      • Departmental Teaching Award (University-wide, recognizing an entire department or unit)
      • Election to the University’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers
  4. Fellowships and Leaves
    1. UNL Faculty Development Fellowship
    2. Eligibility for participation in the UNL Faculty Development Fellowship program is limited to persons who hold continuous appointments and who have held full-time appointments within the University of Nebraska for six years or more at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor. Faculty Development Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis, rather than as an automatic reward for years of service. The program cannot be used for the purpose of pursuing an advanced degree.
    3. A Faculty Development Fellowship provides the faculty member with full pay for one-half of his or her normal appointment period, or half pay for all of his or her normal appointment period, in order to engage in scholarly research, artistic activity, or study of teaching or professional innovations which will improve the faculty member's ability to contribute to the academic program of the University of Nebraska. It is presumed that the benefits of the fellowships will be enjoyed by the University for many years after the fellowship has been completed, but it is mandatory that each award winner spend at least one year in the employment of the University after completing the fellowship.
    4. Six full years of service must elapse before a candidate who has previously been awarded a Faculty Development Fellowship is eligible to be considered again.
    5. A faculty member's fellowship stipend can be supplemented with outside funds up to the level of the faculty member's normal full-time compensation.
    6. The number of fellowship awards granted each year should approach as closely as possible a ratio of one award for every ten eligible faculty members.
    7. Fellowships are awarded with due regard to the benefits to be derived by both the faculty member and the University. Application for the program must be in the form of a written, detailed proposal submitted well in advance of the anticipated starting date of the fellowship. The proposal must provide evidence that the activities contemplated for the fellowship can actually be carried out. In particular, evidence of concurrence on the part of any proposed participating institutions and/or individuals must be provided. The Chancellor makes final recommendations to the President and Regents for Faculty Development Fellowship award recipients on each campus.
    8. If, after a fellowship award has been announced, it becomes apparent that the specific proposal for that fellowship cannot be implemented, the award may be continued on the basis of an alternative proposal, or deferred, or withdrawn at the discretion of the Chancellor.
    9. Fellowship awards will be made on a competitive basis, under rules promulgated by the Chancellor, in consultation with the faculty. In reviewing applications for fellowships, consideration may be given to any previous leaves granted to the applicant during the six preceding appointment years.
    10. No later than one semester after return to normal academic duties, a fellowship recipient must file a written report with the Chancellor that compares the faculty member's actual activities with those outlined in the proposal; the relationship of these activities to the faculty member's intellectual, artistic, and/or professional growth within his or her discipline; and the ways in which the faculty member feels the experiences gained during the fellowship will improve his or her performance as a faculty member of the University.
    11. During the fellowship period the duties of an award recipient can be deferred until the fellow returns, assumed by colleagues, and/or carried out by temporary staff paid from funds available due to salary savings generated by full year fellowship leaves.

Note: Because of the unique, highly specialized nature of instruction in the GKSOM, and since the GKSOM has heavier than usual teaching loads calling for a proportionately larger number of contact hours, temporary staff, additional GTAs, or part-time teachers are required in most cases. Since additional resources are needed in most cases, all recommended fellowship leaves are subject to special approval by the Dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and are dependent upon the availability of funding for a temporary replacement.

The written proposal submitted as request for a fellowship leave by a GKSOM faculty member should include suggestions for an appropriate, temporary replacement and an estimate of the cost for the replacement. It is understood that while some temporary shifting of teaching assignments may occur, part-time or GTA personnel will still be needed for lower level and non-graduate-level teaching.

b. Other Paid or Unpaid Leaves

When a faculty member requests a paid or unpaid leave for personal or professional reasons other than on account of a UNL Faculty Development Fellowship (including, but not limited to, an unpaid leave of absence, or a leave of absence with full or partial pay, or a maternity, medical, or adoption leave), such leaves are subject to special approval by the Director of the GKSOM and the Dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, and may require the approval of the Senior Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Chancellor, and the UNL Board of Regents. 

GKSOM Faculty Handbook 2025