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  5. Guidelines for the Presidential Teaching Awards

Criteria for Selection for the
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

 

The original and current purpose of these awards is to recognize excellence in teaching performance in the undergraduate program by the senior staff of the university, and to provide an incentive to achieve that goal.

There are four $2500 awards made each year for excellence in undergraduate teaching. One of these awards will go to a graduate teaching assistant. The other three awards are open to all undergraduate teachers, with some preference given to teachers in large freshman/sophomores courses. Veterinary Medicine students are eligible for this GTA award, but Veterinary Medicine faculty are not eligible for undergraduate teaching award, since their students are not in an undergraduate program.

The selections for the awards are made at the college level and all teachers in an undergraduate program are eligible for the same award. Nominations for the awards are solicited from students, faculty and administrators. Nominations are submitted by departments heads to the dean of the college in which the teacher is appointed. Each dean may submit up to four nominations from his or her college, one for the GTA award and three for the other undergraduate teaching awards. Colleges are strongly encouraged to nominate individuals who have not previously won this award.

Nomination Packet for Outstanding Teaching Award

The nomination packet should contain the following items:

  • Letter of nomination that describes in detail why the nominee is deserving of this award.
  • Nominee's current curriculum vitae.
  • Summary of courses taught within the last two years (include title and short description of course, along with number of students enrolled).
  • Student evaluations (as administered by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning) from at least two, but not more than three, undergraduate courses taught within the last three semesters. If a nominee has taught any large freshman/sophomore course within the last three semesters, those evaluations should be submitted. Student comments should also be included along with the numerical evaluation summary.
  • Up to three letters of support from students.
  • Paragraph from nominee on his/her teaching philosophy.
  • List of contributions made by the nominee to the teaching field within the last two years (one-page limit).

Once the nominees in each college have been chosen by the dean, student evaluations (as administered by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning) will be collected in all courses taught during the current semester by the nominee. These evaluations, along with the student comments, will be supplied to the selection committee.