Eligibility

Any Tenurable Employee or Senior Lecturer, as defined in Mount Royal's faculty collective agreement, who has completed their highest degree no more than 10 years before the time of nomination is eligible for this award.

All candidates are expected to demonstrate principles and behaviours consistent with the responsible conduct of research.

All candidates for this award must be nominated.

A nominated faculty member may apply for and be granted more than one Faculty Excellence Award in a given academic year. However, a faculty member may only apply for and be granted ONE award within EACH award category (Distinguished Faculty Awards, Teaching and Learning Awards, and Research Recognition Awards) in a given academic year.

A faculty member may not be granted the same Faculty Excellence Award more than once in a lifetime. This applies to all awards in the Faculty Excellence Awards program.

Criteria

Nominees are assessed on the demonstration of the following:

• Impact and originality by producing new knowledge in one’s discipline or field.
• Alignment with the priority areas outlined in Mount Royal's 2024-2030 Research and Scholarship Plan:
  • Advance knowledge
  • Inform teaching
  • Promote community engagement
    .

Nomination

Eligibility to nominate

Requirements

• All nominations must be seconded by a full-time or contract faculty member who is not a member of a Faculty Excellence Awards adjudication committee.
• Nominations should be accompanied by a statement that includes the reasons for the nomination (maximum 500 words). Specific reference should be made, where possible, to the nominee's qualifications relative to the criteria.
• Nominations should be submitted to the Office of the Provost and must be completed using the nomination form provided on this webpage during the nomination period.
• An mtroyal.ca email address is required to complete a nomination form. Anonymous emails or testimonials will not be accepted.

Application

Application process

1. All candidates for this award must be nominated.
2. The selection committee receives and reviews all nominations to confirm eligibility.
3. Eligible nominees are invited to apply for the award. They are supplied with detailed application instructions.
4. Applicants have approximately three to four weeks to submit their applications.
5. The selection committee reviews the applications and selects the award recipients.
6. All applicants receive a decision letter from the selection committee.
7. Award recipients are expected to be announced by mid-April.
   
   

Application package

Detailed instructions and an application form (in Google Forms) will be provided to nominees who are invited to apply. All application materials are to be submitted in PDF format.

The application package includes:

• Cover letter that articulates how the applicant meets the award criteria and their most significant scholarly achievements as they relate to the award.
  • Cover letter must be two (2) pages maximum with a 12-point font, double-spaced.
• Current Curriculum Vitae (any CV format is accepted – an MRU CV is not required)
• Two (2) signed letters of support. Letters may be provided by individuals, internal or external to Mount Royal, who are familiar with the nominee’s work and contributions. Applicants are asked to refrain from requesting letters from tenurable faculty members. 
  

Please note:
Applicants are expected to write for an interdisciplinary audience. Acronyms and jargon should be explained. Full citations for articles and grants (year, authorship order, amount, journal name etc.) must be included.

Dr. Rebecca Gilmour

Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Faculty of Arts

Since joining Mount Royal in 2020, Dr. Rebecca Gilmour, PhD, has generated an impressive body of research, obtained funding in national competitions and secured the long-term loan of a remarkable collection that is helping to establish Mount Royal as a leading bioarchaeological research hub.

Rebecca studies human skeletons with a focus on how disease impacts activity and bone health. Her co-edited volume, Behaviour in Our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology, is a significant contribution to biological anthropology research.

In 2023, Rebecca collaborated with numerous Austrian organizations and levels of government to secure a long-term loan to Mount Royal of a Roman archaeological collection comprising more than 250 skeletons from Carnuntum, Austria. A showpiece for the department and wider Mount Royal community, this collection is used in teaching and research. To date, 24 students have accessed the collection in their honours research, or as research assistants or volunteers.

“Dr. Gilmour consistently includes students in her scholarly work. With her honours student, she co-authored a paper that was published in a high-impact journal, and she has consistently included students as co-authors in poster presentations at national conferences,” says Mount Royal anthropology professor Dr. Samanti Kulatilake, PhD. “Dr. Gilmour, a passionate emerging scholar, is igniting the same sense of passion and excitement in her students.”

Dr. Breda Eubank

Assistant Professor
Department of Health and Physical Education
Faculty of Health, Community and Education

Dr. Breda Eubank is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education and is truly an emerging scholar. Having received her PhD in 2020 and joined Mount Royal as a full-time faculty member in 2022, Breda has already established a strong research program that oversees quality improvement initiatives across the province, with a mandate to transform the model of musculoskeletal care for Albertans in collaboration with Alberta Health Services’ Bone and Joint Health Strategic Clinical Network.

As part of her work, Breda has developed and implemented standardized provincial clinical pathways that ensure patients receive the right care in the right place, at the right time, and with the right outcomes. Her efforts serve to deliver important programs to Albertans, and to do so in a manner that will inform policy changes that result in provincial health system quality improvement.

One of Breda’s colleagues who endorsed her nomination said, “There is no question that Breda is one of the most promising faculty members at Mount Royal and I feel honoured to partner with her on a few of my own projects.”

The strength of Breda’s work is underscored by an impressive funding record, with multiple grants from a variety of provincial, federal and non-profit agencies.

Dr. Celeste Pang

Assistant Professor
Department of Humanities
Faculty of Arts

Dr. Celeste Pang joined Mount Royal in July 2023 as an assistant professor in Women’s and Gender Studies in the Department of Humanities. With a background in anthropology and sexual diversity studies, Celeste’s research, education and community work concentrates on aging, disability, and care access and equity, with a focus on 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and issues.

As a community-engaged researcher, Celeste prioritizes the mobilization of research to benefit these communities. For example, she is the co-founder and co-leader of the newly launched QriTical: queer + trans research hub, a connector and intellectual space for 2SLGBTQIA+ students, staff, faculty, and the broader community at Mount Royal.

“The early success of the (QriTical) Hub reflects Pang’s leadership capacity, dedication to improving the research culture at Mount Royal, and her commitment to student engagement, says the co-leader of the Hub, Corinne Mason. “Celeste Pang has had an incredible first year at Mount Royal, and the university is lucky to have her with us.”

Celeste’s collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to research is highly noted amongst her peers. She has also disseminated her work extensively in venues such as academic journals from various disciplines, policy documents, professional publications, podcasts, news media and community-focused resources.