Piper Professor Award
Please note: 2024 Piper Professor applications should be submitted via the Faculty Requests portal, which will be available July 31 - September 23, 2024.
The Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award Foundation annually honors ten professors in Texas colleges and universities for outstanding achievement in the teaching profession. Each award includes an honorarium and a plaque designating the recipient as a "Piper Professor". All faculty members who hold current appointments and have had at least seven years of full-time workload assignment at Texas State University are eligible to apply or be nominated.
Any application for the Piper Nomination from an active faculty member made in the past two years will be considered for the current year, provided that candidate was not selected as the university's nominee and resubmits the application. Further, except in the case where a faculty member receives a Swinney award one year and the Piper Nomination the next year (thereby automatically obtaining a second successive Swinney award), faculty may not receive Swinney awards in consecutive years.
The purpose of this award is to give recognition to teaching rather than to scholarship, research, publication, or administration. The university is permitted to submit one nomination each year. The foundation encourages wide participation in the selection of nominees. The Faculty Senate coordinates the nomination process. The Texas State submission deadline is in September, and the Piper Foundation will issue award notification in May. See AA/PPS 02.04.21
In the past, twenty-five members of our faculty have been recipients of this prestigious award. (Texas State Piper Professors)
Each year the Faculty Senate recognizes the Piper Professor nominee and two runners-up with the Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching Award, for which awardees receive an honorarium and a plaque.
Guidelines for the Nomination/Application Process:
Members of the faculty are encouraged to nominate colleagues who they believe to be strong candidates for this award. Please notify the nominee immediately. The nominee should begin completion of the application at the earliest possible date.
The nominee is encouraged to review the sample documents from successful university nominees. Successful applications may be viewed here.
Apply via the Faculty Requests portal. Do not submit paper applications.
Attach ONLY five letters of recommendation (the nomination letter, if used, is considered to be one of the five letters of recommendation).
Nominees are encouraged to communicate with Texas State Piper Professors. Nominees may also wish to solicit comments on their application documents from additional colleagues.
One of the goals of the application process is to make the strongest case possible to both the Piper Professor Committee at TXST and the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. To that end, the narrative written by the applicant should clearly state the applicant’s teaching activities and why they merit serious consideration for this award. Additionally, letters of support from both internal and external sources should be solicited expeditiously.
The final application must be submitted via the Faculty Requests portal and must include: a) the Texas State Application Form; b) a current curriculum vita; and c) a maximum of five (5) letters of recommendation from deans, chairs, faculty, professional associates, and/or former students.
| July 31 | Call for applications is issued by the Chair of the Faculty Senate. |
| September 23 | Completed applications are due via the Faculty Requests portal. |
| October 09 | Piper Professor Committee (appointed by the Faculty Senate) submits its recommendation to the senate for approval |
| October 14 | The approved nominee is notified of his/her nomination. |
| November 1 | The completed application from the nominee is due in the Office of the Provost. |