George B. Vaughan Leadership Award for
Outstanding Adjunct Faculty

This award is made possible in part by support from the George B. Vaughan Leadership Endowment Fund through the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education.

Purpose

Friends and family of Dr. George B. Vaughan established an endowment fund in 2014 to honor Dr. Vaughan’s distinguished service of over 40 years as a national leader in community college education. The George B. Vaughan Leadership Award for Outstanding Adjunct Faculty serves as a legacy of Dr. Vaughan’s achievements and as an inspiration for VCCS faculty. The award recognizes one outstanding VCCS adjunct faculty member per region for a total of up to five awards to be bestowed per year. The George B. Vaughan Leadership Award for Outstanding Adjunct Faculty is the first VCCS award to recognize the approximately 4,600 adjunct faculty members who are making an impact with countless students across Virginia.

The Award

Each Vaughan Award recipient receives an honorarium paid before the end of the spring semester.

Eligibility

Individuals applying for this honor must be current VCCS employees, serving as adjunct faculty members at the time of nomination, with a minimum of two years of service to their current, nominating college. Service does not have to be continuous but should be at a single VCCS college. Applicants’ adjunct teaching careers should reflect the excellence in leadership, teaching effectiveness, and student service exemplified by Dr. Vaughan. Adjunct faculty are nominated by their college president via a letter of recommendation. Presidents may nominate no more than one adjunct faculty member per campus.

Application Process

Applicants for the George B. Vaughan Leadership Award for Outstanding Adjunct Faculty must submit an Online Application form, which includes the following items:

1. Letter of recommendation from their college president
Supporting letter should demonstrate the nominee’s history of outstanding leadership, teaching, and service.

2. Current Resume or Curriculum Vitae (Two-page maximum)

3. Demonstration of Leadership Excellence (300 words/2,000 characters with spaces)
Describe how your career in the VCCS has demonstrated excellence in leadership, in the classroom and beyond.

4. Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness including additional supporting materials (300 words/2,000 characters with spaces along with up to five supporting file uploads)
Describe how effective teaching is evident in your VCCS adjunct faculty career. Applicants should demonstrate superior innovative teaching techniques and practices with a commitment to providing students with instruction of the highest quality; adapt readily to student needs, interests, and problems; provide outstanding support for the growth and development of individual students; and demonstrate use of relevant, contemporary information from their discipline in their teaching. Supporting materials may include:  class syllabus, student evaluations, professional presentations, and professional publications. (maximum of 5 files uploaded)

5. Dedication to Service (300 words/2,000 characters with spaces)
Describe how your career in the VCCS has demonstrated your dedication to service, especially in the area of student success.

6. Additional Information (300 words/2,000 characters with spaces)
Awards & honors; professional memberships and/or certifications

7. Completed Signature Sheet

Selection

Vaughan Award recipients are chosen through a competitive selection process overseen by a panel of outstanding educators assembled from across the VCCS by the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Student Success and Professional Development. The panel will select adjunct faculty members who they determine best embody the excellence in leadership, teaching, and dedication to student success Dr. Vaughan inspires. Candidates should demonstrate consistently superior teaching and a commitment to providing students with instruction of the highest quality; adapt readily to student needs, interests, and problems; provide outstanding support for the growth and development of individual students; and demonstrate use of relevant, contemporary information from their discipline in their teaching.

Application Due Date and Recipients Announcement

Award applications and nomination submissions for 2022-2023 are now closed.
Award recipients and their college president will be notified confidentially prior to the public announcement during the annual New Horizons conference in the Spring.

Questions

For questions related to the George B. Vaughan Leadership Award for Outstanding Adjunct Faculty, contact the VCCS Student Success Center at StudentSuccess@vccs.edu.