William S. Lee Distinguished Visiting Scholar

Criteria

• Visit will significantly impact research and/or educational programs.

• Visitor shows excellent potential to collaborate with one or more faculty members.  Nominations from faculty groups are encouraged.

• There is a good possibility that a long-term collaboration will unfold.

• Visit is aligned with department goals and objectives in education and/or research.  Support from the department is encouraged.

• Visits that contribute to faculty development, particularly junior faculty, are encouraged.

Selection Process

• Selection committee: one faculty member from each department appointed by the chairs and one advisory board member.  Appointments made in the fall semester.

• Faculty submit a nominating proposal to the selection committee by February 1st each year.

• Selection Committee ranks up to three candidates and submits recommendation to the Dean by March 1st. The selection committee may make no recommendation if they feel the cases are not strong.

• Dean of Engineering will make the final awards by March 15th.  The number of awards will depend on available funds and the strength of the recommendations.  Awards will not necessarily be made each year.

• The host/collaborator for international visitors must allow ample additional time to work with International Programs to make the necessary arrangements for the visitor.

Nominating Proposal

• Narrative describing proposed collaboration and impact

• Duration of visit

• Budget: salary, travel, supplies, etc.

• Candidate's curriculum vitae

Example scenarios might include:

A long duration visit for a semester or year with $30k provided by the college and matched by a grant and/or department funds.

Short duration visits for several weeks or months requiring $10k to supplement department or other sources of support.

An exchange visit where $20k is provided by the college for the Visiting Scholar and other funds (possibly from the college) support the UNCC collaborator to visit the exchanging institution.

Budgets will typically be limited to about $30k, but other funds may be available from time to time to allow for larger awards.

William S. Lee Doctoral Fellowships

·        The William S. Lee Doctoral Fellowship Program is intended to provide the doctoral programs in The William States Lee College of Engineering with an enhancement to attract exceptional graduate students for PhD study and research at UNC Charlotte.  A strong preference is given to US citizens. 

·        The fellowship awards, which initially are to be in the amount of $7500 payable over 12 months period, are to be supplemental to the program’s normal graduate stipend, which may be no smaller than the average stipend amount for the cohort being recruited.  Additionally, the Fellows are to receive tuition remission from the program for the periods during which they hold fellowships.  The fellowships are renewable for a second year given satisfactory academic progress by the recipient.  

·        The administration of this fellowship program will be the responsibility of the Associate Dean of The William States Lee College of Engineering.  Each year the available fellowships will be assigned to the PhD programs of the college on a rotational basis.  The program coordinators will be advised well in advance of the recruiting season as the availability of fellowships for their specific programs.  Graduate coordinators will recommend their nominees for fellowship awards to the associate dean.  Fellowship awards are made by the Dean of The William States Lee College of Engineering upon the recommendation of the Associate Dean for Graduate Study and Research.   The dean or the associate dean will annually host a dinner with representatives of the Duke Energy Corporation and all current William S. Lee Doctoral Fellows. 

·        The graduate coordinator of each program shall advise the associate dean on the appropriateness of renewing the fellowship for each of the Fellows in his or her program.  The dean is authorized to make modest adjustments in the dollar amounts of the fellowship awards in response to competitive pressure and/or the availability of fellowship funds. 

·        The fellowship program will begin with the fall 2000 recruiting season during which the electrical engineering PhD program and the mechanical engineering PhD program will each have one full fellowship.