Trustees Scholarship Award

It was created by the Education Core Committee of RIT’s Board of Trustees. Each year, up to two recipients are eligible to receive the prestigious award.

The Trustees Scholarship Award is granted to pre-tenure and tenured full-time faculty at RIT.

The primary evaluation criteria for the RIT Board of Trustees Scholarship Award (as expressed in Policy E12.2) are as follows:

1. Demonstrated record of excellent scholarship at RIT over a sustained period.
2. Scholarship must be integral to, and not separated from, all aspects of a student’s education experience at RIT.
3. Scholarship that fits within one or more of the following classifications: teaching/pedagogy, application, integration, or discovery.

These criteria can be further delineated through metrics that help distinguish exceptional candidates from the candidate pool. These metrics are grouped into two major categories plus professional. Candidates applying for the Trustees Scholarship Award will be asked to complete application material that directly aligns with these metrics.

Quantity, Quality and Impact of Scholarly or Creative work on the Field of Study over a sustained period:

• Number of peer-reviewed publications; measure of quality based on journals, conference publications, awards, citation counts/impact factors, or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of scholarly books published; measure of quality based on publisher, awards, reviews, citation counts/impact factors, or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of textbooks published; measure of quality based on publisher, awards, or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of exhibitions or performances of creative work; measure of quality based on awards, reviews, or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of peer-reviewed published games, computing applications, or software; measure of quality based on publisher, breadth of use, awards, reviews or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of museum collection acquisitions; measure of quality based on reputation of museum, visitor count, reviews, or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of manufactured products; measure of quality based on manufacturer, sales of product, reviews, or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Number of judged national or international competition award winners; measure of quality is reputation of competition, depth of competition, reviews or other measures of impact as appropriate.
• Impact of intellectual property as exhibited by the number and impact of patents granted and/or revenues resulting from commercialization of intellectual property or other measures as appropriate.
• Other external recognition or validation of scholarly or creative work, as demonstrated through membership on prestigious committees, editorships, professional society awards, or other external validation.
• Where applicable, the amount and sources of funded research.

Quantity, Quality, and Impact of Scholarly or Creative Work on Students over a sustained period including:

• Quantity of student engagement, based on the number of students involved in scholarly or creative works and whether these students were undergraduates or graduates.
• Quality of student engagement, including whether students were observers, contributors, co-authors, or participants in exhibitions, associated with the creation or dissemination of the scholarly work.
• Evidence of sustained efforts in student mentorship.
• Impact of student engagement, through qualitative presentation of how scholarly and creative work enhanced students' learning or affected students' courses of study or career pathways.

Professional Context

• Educational and professional background.
• History of prior Trustees Scholarship Award nominations including changes in the impact on the field of study and students since the last nomination.

Each college shall establish a process whereby a faculty committee annually nominates up to three faculty members for consideration to receive a Trustees Scholarship Award. These nominations shall be sent to the dean and shall include a memo summarizing each nominee's accomplishments vis-à-vis the award criteria. The dean of the college, in consultation with department heads, may select one of the college nominees to forward to the provost.

For more information about the nomination process, go to section E12.2 of RIT’s University Policies.

Award recipients will be honored at the Provost’s Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship awards. 

More information about the ceremony

2022-2023

Callie Babbitt, Golisano Institute for Sustainability
Jeyhan Kartaltepe, College of Science

2014 Trustee’s Lifetime Achievement Award
R. Roger Remington, College of Art and Design

This award was given by the RIT Board of Trustees in 2014 in recognition of Professor Emeritus R. Roger Remington’s exceptional accomplishments throughout his 50 years of service to RIT. The award serves as an acknowledgement of his teaching excellence and his many scholarly contributions to the fields of graphics and design as well as his commitment to design education and preservation.

• RIT faculty member from 1963 - 2020
• Established the Massimo and Lella Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT, which serves as the preeminent source for design education and preservation as well as the home of the Upstate New York chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)
• Developed the Graphic Design Archive at RIT reserving and interpreting the original source materials of 30 Modernist design pioneers
• Recipient of the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching
• Inducted into both the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, an honor whose past recipients have included Walt Disney and Andy Warhol, and the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI), an exclusive group of the world's leading graphic artists and designers
• Author of several books on the history and pioneers of graphic design

For more information, contact the Academic Affairs team at academicaffairs@rit.edu.