Teaching Excellence Awards
Congratulations to the 2023 Teaching Excellence Winners!
Winners were announced at the 2023 Three Minute Thesis on Friday, February 24.
Instructor of Record: Susan Jones-Landwer
Non-Instructor of Record Discussion-Based Sections: Sarah LeBrun
Non-Instructor of Record Lab-Based Sections: Nicholas Titterton
Applications for 2023 nominations are closed
Applications for the following Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Awards:
Nomination application information
Interested graduate students may apply for nomination for one of the categories by submitting the required application requirements by the application deadline. Details of the awards and eligibility criteria and requirements can be found below.
Award recipients will receive $175, ticket to the 向日葵视频suite at the Fiserv Forum on March 1, 2023, and a certificate of recognition and the recipients will be announced along with the 2023 Three Minute Thesis Competition.
2023 Important Dates
- February 3: Student submits application materials via email to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) for his/her program.
- February 17: The DGS will review and select top nominee and send application materials for each award category to the Graduate School.
- February 20: All top nominees will be sent to the committee for review.
- February 22: Finalists selected by the committee.
- February 24: The awardees will be announced along with the winners of the Three Minute Thesis Competition.
Eligibility Criteria and Requirements
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Instructor of Record (1 award)
Eligibility Criteria and Requirements:
- Must be a current graduate student.
- Must have teaching experience for at least two semesters from Fall 2020 to Fall 2022.
- At least one of those terms must be as instructor of record.
- The second term could be instructor of record, non-instructor of record, or assistantship in a student learning support unit such as the writing center, gross motor lab, the digital scholarship lab, etc.
Evaluation Criteria:
- Evidence of exemplary course design.
- Evidence of excellent pedagogical approach(es) (e.g., instructional methods and techniques, assignment design, assessment of student learning, etc.).
- Evidence of student engagement that goes beyond standard expectations.
- Evidence of efforts to improve instruction and teaching effectiveness.
Application Requirements:
- Current CV.
- Teaching statement should explain how you implement your teaching philosophy and discuss successes and challenges in the classroom, as well as efforts to improve. You may include MOCES scores if relevant (maximum 2 pages, single spaced).
- A supporting letter from one faculty member who has observed you teach as an instructor of record (maximum 2 pages, single-spaced). The letter should:
- Situate teaching experience in light of department teaching opportunities and responsibilities.
- Provide explicit evidence of how your teaching is meritorious beyond standard expectations in satisfying the evaluative criteria
- (Optional): A second letter from a supervising faculty or administrator who is familiar with your assistantship work (maximum 1 page, single-spaced).
- Supporting materials to include:
- A syllabus from term served as instructor of record.
- Two examples of course assignments you designed and used.
- No more than 2 additional examples to demonstrate how your teaching goes beyond standard expectations (e.g., examples of feedback on student work, materials to improve engagement of diverse students across learning styles and identity backgrounds, etc.)
Non-Instructor of Record (2 awards)
2 Awards Available
- One award for discussion-based TA
- One award for lab-based TA
Eligibility Criteria and Requirements:
- Must be a current graduate student.
- Must have served as a TA under a supervising faculty member or members for least two semesters from Fall 2020 through Fall 2022.
- One term can be as assistant in a student learning support unit such as the writing center, gross motor lab, the digital scholarship lab, etc.
Evaluation Criteria:
- Evidence of exemplary support of the supervising professor(s) and/or broader class that goes beyond standard expectations.
- Evidence of excellent pedagogical approaches (e.g., in facilitating discussion or in preparing lab notes and facilitating lab instruction).
- Evidence of student engagement that goes beyond standard expectations.
- Evidence of efforts to improve teaching effectiveness.
Application Requirements:
- Current CV.
- Teaching statement should explain how you implement your teaching philosophy and discuss successes and challenges in the classroom, as well as efforts to improve (maximum 2 pages, single spaced).
- One supporting letter from a faculty member who has observed your teaching (maximum 2 pages, single-spaced). The letter should:
- Situate teaching experience in light of department teaching opportunities and responsibilities.
- Provide explicit evidence of how your support of the supervising professor(s) and student learning is meritorious beyond standard expectations in satisfying the evaluative criteria.
- Optional: A second letter from a supervising faculty or administrator who is familiar with your assistantship work (maximum 1 page, single-spaced).
- Supporting materials to include:
- Three (3) examples of materials that you designed as evidence of exceptional support of student learning (e.g., materials for facilitating discussion on difficult topics, lab notes you prepared that engage multiple learning styles, materials to improve engagement of students across diverse identity backgrounds).
Application Submission Deadline
Application Deadline:
February 3, 2023 by 11:59 p.m. (CST)
Application Submission:
Submit application materials via email to the Director of Graduate Studies for your program. The DGS will review and select the top nominee for each award category and forward to the Assistant Dean. Late submissions will not be accepted. Please indicate for which award you wish to be considered.