SHSS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

SHSS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for Academic Year 2008-2009

AUI is primarily a teaching university. With a course load of at least 6.5 courses per year (over two years), faculty spend the majority of their effort on teaching. For this reason recognition of teaching excellence can be viewed as an implicit strategic goal of SHSS and of AUI more broadly. To this date, no such teaching recognition (or award) exists at AUI. To address this need, SHSS is proud to announce the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for 2008-2009.

SHSS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
Criteria: Demonstrated excellence and innovation in any of the following:

• Use of learner-centered teaching methods
• Incorporation of a variety of teaching methods into courses
• Incorporation of a variety of appropriate teaching technologies into courses, where feasible
• Curriculum innovations

Excellence must be demonstrated in a variety of ways including:

• Student course evaluations
• Faculty peer reviews of teaching
• Evaluation of course materials such as syllabi, handouts, assignments, examinations (or measures of student learning), course software or web resources.

Nominations: Letters of nomination (at least three) must clearly document the demonstrated success in meeting the criteria, during the academic year (i.e. Fall 2008 and Spring 2009) for the SHSS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. Supporting documentation must also be included at the time of nomination.

Anyone can nominate a SHSS faculty for the SHSS Teaching Excellence Award including:

• Students (with a cumulative GPA ≥ 3.7)
• Parents of SHSS students or parents of SHSS alumni
• AUI administrators (exclusive of those with supervisory authority over the faculty or selection committee – to avoid conflicts of interest)
• SHSS faculty (excluding the nominee and selection committee – to avoid conflicts of interest)
• SHSS alumni
• Members of the general public who are sufficiently familiar with the faculty’s teaching to provide a strong case for teaching excellence. Note: letters from these constituents should clearly establish the basis of familiarity with the faculty’s teaching.

Nominations from multiple constituencies (e.g. students, other faculty, parents) will be considered stronger.

All letters of nomination must accurately disclose the relationship of the nominee to the nominator. This is to avoid conflicts of interest and to build the credibility of any teaching award made by SHSS.

Timeline:

• All nominations and supporting materials must be received by the Dean by the end of the first week of Summer semester.
• The Faculty Evaluation (Promotion and Retention) Committee will base its selection on the criteria given above, by July 1 and will announce its decision immediately.
• If no faculty nominations meet or exceed the criteria then no award will be made for that year.
• The award will be presented by the SHSS Dean during a SHSS wide event, including all faculty and students, during the first week of classes in August.

• A picture of the winner with description of the award will be placed on the SHSS “wall of fame” in the main entrance of Building 8 where it will be on display for at least five years.
• A letter of commendation will also be placed in the faculty’s employment record file kept by the University.