Many universities have observed needs and shared goals that include increasing faculty members' research productivity (in quantity or quality). Strategies for raising faculty performance include revising standards and supporting valued outcomes with rewards and incentives. One college at a research-extensive university received institutional funding to pilot a faculty rewards and incentives program to enhance scholarly productivity. This paper shares the goals, design and initial implementation of that program, as well as the range of faculty members' and units' initial responses. It demonstrates a strategic process of using standards to align faculty performance trajectories with changing academic and organizational needs.