CLA Faculty and Staff Awards Nominations
Criteria
The College of Liberal Arts will distribute 12 awards to selected CLA faculty and staff this year. Awards for CLA tenured and tenure-track faculty will recognize exemplary contributions in the areas of research and creative activities, teaching, professional and institutional service, and innovation. The CLA Diversity Award exists for any CLA faculty member (tenured, tenure-track, or lecturer), and recognizes contributions toward furthering the college's commitment toward diversity and inclusion.
A lecturer teaching award will celebrate the outstanding contributions of lecturers in CLA classrooms. Lecturers may also be considered for the innovation award. Staff members will continue to be honored for demonstrating excellence in their positions. Awards will be presented at the college division meeting during Fall Conference. Detailed information for each award, including eligibility requirements, selection criteria, and nomination guidelines, can be found below.
Deadline
Nominations should be submitted electronically via the Forms links below by 5:00 PM on May 15h, 2026.
One form for each nomination, Faculty and Staff Nominations are on separate Submittable links.
See below for more details.
Award Categories
Please fill out the online nomination forms and indicate which category you are nominating the faculty/staff member for. All nominations will remain confidential.
Teaching Awards
Richard K. Simon Award for Outstanding Career Achievement in Teaching
This memorial award is presented each year to a tenured faculty member who has sustained outstanding teaching over the course of their academic career at Cal Poly.
- Eligibility: Any tenured faculty member who is twelve (12) or more years post doctorate or other appropriate terminal degree and has a minimum of six (6) years of service at Cal Poly.
Early Career Award for Achievement in Teaching
This award recognizes outstanding performance in teaching early in the candidate’s career.
- Eligibility: Tenured or tenure-track CLA faculty member with three (3) to eleven (11) years of service to Cal Poly and an average teaching assignment of four (4) courses or more per academic year.
Scholarship (Research and Creative Activity) Awards
Richard K. Simon Award for Outstanding Career Achievement in Research, Scholarship or Creative Activity
This memorial award recognizes a faculty member who, over the course of their career, has generated a national or international reputation for contributions in research and/or artistic creativity, and who has influenced the research and/or creative activities of students.
- Eligibility: Any tenured faculty member who is twelve (12) or more years post doctorate or other appropriate terminal degree and has a minimum of six (6) years of service at Cal Poly.
This award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in research and/or artistic creativity unusually early in their professional career.
- Eligibility: Tenured or tenure-track CLA faculty member with three (3) to eleven (11) years of service to Cal Poly and an average teaching assignment of four (4) courses or more per academic year.
Service (Institutional and/or Professional) Awards
Richard K. Simon Award for Outstanding Career Achievement in Institutional/ Professional Service
This memorial award recognizes a CLA faculty member for a history of exemplary service to the institution and/or discipline through the course of their career.
- Eligibility: Any tenured faculty member who is twelve (12) or more years post doctorate or other appropriate terminal degree and has a minimum of six (6) years of service at Cal Poly.
Early Career Award for Achievement in Institutional/ Professional Service
This award recognizes a CLA faculty member for a history of exemplary institutional service early in their career.
- Eligibility: Tenured or tenure-track CLA faculty member with three (3) to eleven (11) years of service to Cal Poly and an average teaching assignment of four (4) courses or more per academic year.
Douglas L. Epperson Innovation Award
This award recognizes a CLA faculty member who generates innovative scholarship and/or pedagogies that advance the college in creative and useful ways. Examples of innovation include creative and productive interdisciplinary collaborations in research/creative activity or teaching, development of new pedagogies in one’s discipline that are portable and scalable to similar disciplines, and creation of novel collaborations with public or private organizations and/or companies that enhance learning and/or scholarly opportunities for students and faculty and advance the college.
- Eligibility: Any CLA faculty member with at least three (3) years of service at Cal Poly.
CLA Diversity Award
This award recognizes a CLA faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding effort toward furthering the college’s commitment to diversity and equity in teaching, research, and/or service.
- Eligibility: Any tenure-track faculty member, or any lecturer who teaches a minimum of four (4) CLA classes per academic year at Cal Poly.
Outstanding Career Achievement in Teaching by a Lecturer Award
This award recognizes a lecturer who has sustained outstanding teaching over the course of their academic career at Cal Poly.
- Eligibility: Lecturer appointment in the CLA with a minimum of eight (8) years of teaching experience and at least five (5) years of employment at Cal Poly, and an average teaching assignment of four (4) courses or more per academic year.
Staff Awards
Outstanding Career Achievement Award
This award recognizes a staff member who has a record of sustained excellence throughout their employment at Cal Poly while demonstrating a commitment to teamwork and inspiring excellence in others.
- Eligibility: Any CLA staff member with a minimum of eight (8) years of service to Cal Poly, at least half of which is in the CLA.
This award recognizes a staff member whose performance in the current year and/or recent years has far exceeded expectations, advancing the department, college and/or university. Often, this will involve taking on special assignments of importance to the unit, possibly on an overload basis.
- Eligibility: Any CLA staff member with a minimum of two (2) years of service to Cal Poly, at least half of which is in the CLA.
Early Career Achievement
This award recognizes a staff member whose early performance within the college has established itself as exceeding expectations by supporting/advancing departmental operations.
- Eligibility: Any staff member who has two (2) years of service or less within the CLA.