Awards

Exceptional Service Assigned Time (ESAT)

ESAT Award Procedures

2024-25 Applications are open until March 27, 2024.

The purpose of the Exceptional Service Award Time (ESAT) Awards is to provide a process for all Unit 3 faculty to write proposals and compete for assigned time for exceptional levels of service to students that supports the priorities of the California State University (CSU) system and supports Chico State's mission and strategic plan
pursuant to Article 20, Section 20.37 of the 2022‐2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Call for applications come from Academic Affairs. Faculty applications should include:

  • a narrative proposal, not to exceed two pages;
  • an updated curriculum vitae (CV), limited to two pages;
  • letter from a Chico State employee who can speak to the credibility of the project, not the proposer, in support of the application; and
  • an acknowledgement signed by the department chair and dean stating that they are aware of the proposal and are not currently providing assigned time for the same general activity.

Applications are due to the Office of the Provost via academicaffairs@csuchico.edu.

A committee will review all applications following the deadline.

Each appointed committee member serves a one-year term. Faculty serving on this committee shall not be applicants for assigned time. The committee will be comprised of:

Voting Members

  1. College of Agriculture
  2. College of Business
  3. College of Communication and Education
  4. College of Humanities and Fine Arts
  5. College of Natural Science
  6. College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
  7. College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management
  8. Library
  9. Athletics
  10. Counseling
  11. Regional and Continuing Education
  12. In addition, there will be two student voting members:
    1. Undergraduate appointed by Associated Students
    2. Graduate appointed by Graduate Student Council

Non-Voting Members

  1. The Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs or his/her designee will serve as a non-voting ex-officio member.

The ESAT Committee shall submit its recommendations and the application materials to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs who in consultation with the appropriate administrator responsible for assigning workload (e.g., Dean or Vice President of Student Affairs), shall make the final determination regarding the approval or denial of assigned time. In addition to the recommendation of the ESAT Committee and input obtained via the consultation process, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs may consider equity across constituencies in his/her decision.

Awards will be announced after this process concludes.

  1. VPAA staff will create acceptance and denial letters for all applicants. This will include a signed letter from the Provost and a copy of their application packet.
  2. Email letters/applications to each college dean and copy the Provost, Provost’s Executive Assistant, Chair of the ESAT Committee, the faculty member, the department chair, the college AA/S, and department ASC.
  3. Faculty or deans need to respond by a given deadline whether they accept the award. These responses are sent to the Provost’s Executive Assistant (include email).

If a faculty member wishes to appeal the decision:

  1. Appeals of the decision made by the Provost shall be made, in writing, to the Chair of the Academic Senate and shall be filed no more than ten working days after the date upon which the applicant is notified. The Chair of the Academic Senate will appoint an Appeals Committee within ten working days of receiving the first appeal.
  2. The Appeals Committee shall comprise two members of the Academic Senate Executive Committee, and three members of the Academic Senate. The Appeals committee shall be appointed by the Chair of the Academic Senate and shall not include any members of the Exceptional Service Assigned Time Committee.
  3. The Appeals Committee shall complete their review in no more than thirty working days after receipt of the appeal. The Appeals Committee shall send the appellant notification of its decision. Decisions made by the Appeals Committees shall be final and binding and are not subject to the grievance procedures in Article 10 of the CBA.

A faculty unit employee granted assigned time under this program shall provide a final report to the ESAT Committee via the Academic Senate office no later than one semester following the use of assigned time. The report shall provide evidence that the proposed activities were completed and generally that the impact on the students was as claimed in the original application. Faculty are ineligible to apply for further assigned time from this program until their report is received within the stipulated time frame.

CRITERIA FOR ESAT AWARDS

The following criteria will be used for an award to be given:

  1. Demonstrated or hypothesized impact on student success and/or educational experience; impact includes the quality of the activity as well as the number students served. (35%)
  2. Demonstration that the impact on and/or quality of student experience could not be maintained without an increase in workload and that the faculty applicants are not otherwise receiving an adjustment in workload to reflect their effort. (35%)
  3. Demonstrated impact on historically underserved first generation, and/or underrepresented populations. (20%)
  4. Quality of the letter of support. (10%)

Eligibility and Restrictions:

  1. All Unit 3 faculty employees are eligible to submit a proposal to request assigned time for exceptional levels of service to students.
  2. Faculty who have previously received assigned time under this program and have not filed a final report on their activities are not eligible to apply again until their final report has been received.
  3. Faculty members already receiving assigned time for the same general category of activity (e.g. assigned time for excess enrollments, assigned time for committee service) shall not be eligible for support from this program.

The following activities may be supported:

  1. Student mentoring, advising, and outreach, especially as these activities support underserved, first-generation, and/or underrepresented students
  2. The development and implementation of high-impact educational practices; curricular redesign intended to improve student access and success
  3. Service to the department, college, university, or community that goes significantly beyond the normal expectations of all faculty
  4. Assignment to courses where increases in enrollment have demonstrably increased workload
  5. Other extraordinary forms of service to students
  6. Assigned time can only be utilized during the academic year (August – May) during which the activity is performed.
  7. The committee shall assign each proposal one of four ratings: 1) High Priority, 2) Medium Priority, 3) Low Priority, 4) Not Recommended

Refer to the following Executive Memorandum link for further details on the Exceptional Service Assigned Time Policy: https://www.csuchico.edu/pres/_assets/documents/final-signed-em-23-015.pdf (PDF).