Collegiate Teaching Award

Owner
Associate Dean for Natural, Mathematical, and Social Sciences; Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities
Amended Date
Amended

Key Contacts

If you have questions, please contact the Dean’s Office.

Applicability

DEOs, Administrators

Policy Purpose and Description

Collegiate Teaching Awards are given each year to faculty who demonstrate outstanding performance in the classroom, laboratory, or studio. They are recognized by their peers for stimulating and satisfying students' desire to learn, developing innovative and effective methods of presenting the most current and exciting knowledge in their disciplines, and fostering productive and generous mentoring relationships with individual students. The award winners are chosen by the CLAS Collegiate Teaching Award Committee.

Definitions

N/A

Procedure

Nomination Instructions

  • All CLAS tenure-track, clinical-track faculty members, and instructional-track faculty holding a minimum 50% appointment, are eligible to be nominated.
  • The nominee must have taught in CLAS for a minimum of 8 semesters at the time of nomination.
  • The Collegiate Teaching Award can only be won once.
  • Previous nominees who did not receive an award are eligible for re-nomination.
  • Departments may submit one nomination each year. We expect to award up to six Collegiate Teaching Awards annually.
  • Completed nomination materials should be submitted electronically as a single PDF to the listed Teaching Awards Committee staff support person no later than 4:00 pm on the second Wednesday of February.
  • The nominee should also sign the Cover Page to indicate permission to release the information contained in the application and the DEO should sign the Cover Page to indicate that the nomination is complete, and that the DEO endorses it.

The nomination packet should also include the following information:

Teaching Evaluation Materials (no more than 4 pages in total)

  • Table of ACE Feedback Results for the past 8 semesters (see attached template)
  • Summary of selected comments from student evaluations (by course number/title, including average enrollment per course). One strategy is to select representative comments around particular themes that emerge (especially in the case of large enrollment courses).
  • Note that the DEO must sign on the cover sheet that they have reviewed the Teaching Evaluation Materials of the nominee and attest to the submitted materials being an accurate reflection of the teaching record of the nominee.

Letters of Support (no more than 6 pages in total)

  • 1 letter of nomination from DEO or faculty member (page limit: 2 pages)
  • 1 letter of support from DEO or faculty member (page limit: 1 page)
  • 3 letters of support from students (page limit: 1 page/letter)

All letters should be dated and have signatures attached (either electronic or scanned).

The nomination letter (2 pages):

  • The letter of nomination should include a description of the nominee’s activities and accomplishments which demonstrate unusually significant and meritorious achievement in teaching during the previous three academic years.
  • In addition, the nomination letter should address the following three prompts:
    • How do this nominee’s teaching practices enhance student learning?
    • How does this nominee’s other contact with students (e.g., mentoring, advising, sponsoring of creative and/or scholarly achievements) contribute to students’ development?
    • How has this nominee’s teaching efforts contributed to the delivery of the departmental or program curriculum?

The letter of support (1 page):

  • The letter of support typically should be more focused that the nomination letter and address one of the following prompts:
    • How do this nominee’s teaching practices enhance student learning?
    • How does this nominee’s other contact with students (e.g., mentoring, advising, sponsoring of creative and/or scholarly achievements) contribute to students’ development?
    • How has this nominee’s teaching efforts contributed to the delivery of the departmental or program curriculum?

The three letters of support from students (1 page/student):

  • The letters of support from students can be from current or previous students.
  • It is helpful for students to first introduce themselves (undergraduate student, major or graduate student and area of study, or graduate of the institution and what they are doing now) and how they know the nominee.
  • Letters of support from students should answer the following prompt:

How do this nominee’s teaching practices enhance student learning?

  • The most compelling letters of support from students convey specific actions that the nominee has taken to enhance education, inspire learning, and encourage ongoing exploration of learning and applications of learning within a discipline. Nearly all student letters speak to the enthusiasm and commitment of nominees in general ways, but letters that stand out tend to be specific.

Please submit your collated nomination materials in a single PDF using 12-point font and one-inch margins in the following order to the listed Teaching Awards Committee staff support person by 4:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of February:

  1. Cover Page
  2. Summary of courses taught during the previous 8 semesters
  3. Summary of additional teaching contributions
  4. Statement of teaching philosophy
  5. Table of ACE Feedback Results
  6. Summary of selected comments from student evaluations
  7. Letter of nomination (DEO or faculty member)
  8. Letter of support (DEO or faculty member)
  9. 3 letters of support from students

Forms

ACE Feedback Results Template

Collegiate Teaching Award Cover Sheet 2021-2022

Frequently Asked Questions

N/A

Related Information

Collegiate Teaching Award

Revision History