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    4. Awards

    Teaching Awards

    The University of North Georgia offers three Teaching Awards: the Distinguished Teaching Award, and the Teaching Excellence Awards for Tenure and Non-Tenure Track Faculty.

    Distinguished Teaching Award

    This award recognizes excellence in teaching by a faculty member over the course of a distinguished career. The awardee demonstrates a well-articulated teaching philosophy that has developed through methodical examination and improvement of teaching and learning. This faculty member has had a sustained and documented impact on student learning both in and out of the classroom. The nominee’s qualifications might include activities designed to advance the quality and practice of teaching and learning, to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and/or to increase global and multicultural understanding. The nominee’s qualifications might include effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning, such as active learning, student portfolios, and assessment. The awardee may demonstrate innovations that have influenced the methods and teaching effectiveness of other faculty. Previous winners of the Distinguished Teaching Award must wait five years before reapplying.

    The recipient may apply to be the UNG nominee for the University System of Georgia Felton Jenkins, Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award.

    • Criteria
      The award committee will look for persuasive evidence that nominees:
      • Are strongly committed to teaching and learning. This commitment might be demonstrated through activities designed to advance the quality and practice of teaching and learning, to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and/or global and multicultural understanding;
      • Use effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning, including, but not limited to innovative uses of technology, active learning, learning communities, student portfolios, and assessment;
      • Have a strong commitment to fostering the academic success of students through interaction with students outside of the classroom (e.g., advising, mentoring, recruiting, etc.).
    • Application Process

      Required Documentation

      Nomination portfolios are limited to 20 pages, including any appendices (1” margins, minimum 12-point font for each section below). Incorporating every kind of evidence will be impossible. Instead, each nominee will want to select only the strongest and most relevant evidence. Each portfolio must include the following information. 

      A complete application will contain the following documents:

      1. A Table of Contents (TOC) for the portfolio. NOTE: The TOC does not count toward the maximum of 20 pages.
      2. A letter of nomination from a supervisor (department chair/program administrator). This letter should provide details of an observation and/or other evidence of the quality of teaching practices and student learning.
      3. One or more letters of support from a colleague who is qualified to comment on the nominee's teaching. This letter should describe the nominee's teaching and why he or she is especially effective in advancing student learning. Observation of teaching and analysis of teaching artifacts will favorably influence the committee.
      4. A condensed curriculum vitae (2-3 pages).
      5. A reflective statement that summarizes the nominee's teaching and learning philosophy, strategies, and objectives (1-2 pages).
      6. One or more letters of support from recent and/or former students.
      7. A brief summary of 2-3 innovative teaching artifacts or practices used in the classroom to promote student success.
      8. A well-organized set of documents that provide evidence of the nominee's teaching excellence (e.g., data showing success of the nominee's students, selected components of course syllabi, handouts, methods of assessing student learning and achievement that go beyond student evaluations, examinations, summaries of recent student evaluations, peer evaluations, student mentoring and advising, etc. 9-10 pages). These documents should be accompanied by a brief explanation of why they are included in the dossier, i.e., how they document the excellence of the nominee’s teaching.

      Deadline for Nominations

      The award nomination material must be submitted by Monday, April 3, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

      To submit an application for these awards, please use your UNG login to access the Research Administration's Internal University Awards and External Grant Funding nominations site.

    Teaching Excellence Award for Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

    This award recognizes tenured or tenure-track faculty who have consistently demonstrated outstanding teaching, which includes all activities in which faculty members engage to facilitate learning by undergraduate, professional, or graduate students. The nominee’s qualifications might include activities designed to advance the quality and practice of teaching and learning, to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and/or global and multicultural understanding. The nominee’s qualifications might include effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning, such as active learning, student portfolios, and classroom assessment techniques. His or her commitment to students may also be apparent in enriching academic activities outside of the classroom. Up to three awards may be given annually.

    Previous winners of the Teaching Excellence Award for Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty must wait three years before reapplying.

    • Application Process

      Required Documentation

      Nomination portfolios are limited to 20 pages, including any appendices (1” margins, minimum 12-point font for each section below). Incorporating every kind of evidence will be impossible. Instead, each nominee will want to select only the strongest and most relevant evidence. Each portfolio must include the following information. 

      A complete application will contain the following documents:

      1. A Table of Contents (TOC) for the portfolio. NOTE: The TOC does not count toward the maximum of 20 pages.
      2. A letter of nomination from a supervisor (department chair/program administrator). This letter should provide details of an observation and/or other evidence of the quality of teaching practices and student learning.
      3. One or more letters of support from a colleague who is qualified to comment on the nominee's teaching. This letter should describe the nominee's teaching and why he or she is especially effective in advancing student learning. Observation of teaching and analysis of teaching artifacts will favorably influence the committee.
      4. A condensed curriculum vitae (2-3 pages).
      5. A reflective statement that summarizes the nominee's teaching and learning philosophy, strategies, and objectives (1-2 pages).
      6. One or more letters of support from recent and/or former students.
      7. A brief summary of 2-3 innovative teaching artifacts or practices used in the classroom to promote student success.
      8. A well-organized set of documents that provide evidence of the nominee's teaching excellence (e.g., data showing success of the nominee's students, selected components of course syllabi, handouts, methods of assessing student learning and achievement that go beyond student evaluations, examinations, summaries of recent student evaluations, peer evaluations, student mentoring and advising, etc. 9-10 pages). These documents should be accompanied by a brief explanation of why they are included in the dossier, i.e., how they document the excellence of the nominee’s teaching.

      Deadline for Nominations

      The award nomination material must be submitted by Monday, April 3, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

      To submit an application for these awards, please use your UNG login to access the Research Administration's Internal University Awards and External Grant Funding nominations site.

    Teaching Excellence Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

    This award recognizes non-tenure-track faculty who have consistently demonstrated outstanding teaching, which includes all activities in which faculty members engage to facilitate learning by undergraduate, professional, or graduate students. The nominee’s qualifications might include activities designed to advance the quality and practice of teaching and learning, to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and/or global and multicultural understanding. The nominee’s qualifications might include effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning, such as active learning, student portfolios, and classroom assessment techniques. His or her commitment to students may also be apparent in enriching academic activities outside of the classroom. Up to three awards may be given annually.

    Previous winners of the Teaching Excellence Award for Non-Tenure-Track must wait three years before reapplying.

    • Application Process

      Required Documentation

      Nomination portfolios are limited to 20 pages, including any appendices (1” margins, minimum 12-point font for each section below). Incorporating every kind of evidence will be impossible. Instead, each nominee will want to select only the strongest and most relevant evidence. Each portfolio must include the following information. 

      A complete application will contain the following documents:

      1. A Table of Contents (TOC) for the portfolio. NOTE: The TOC does not count toward the maximum of 20 pages.
      2. A letter of nomination from a supervisor (department chair/program administrator). This letter should provide details of an observation and/or other evidence of the quality of teaching practices and student learning.
      3. One or more letters of support from a colleague who is qualified to comment on the nominee's teaching. This letter should describe the nominee's teaching and why he or she is especially effective in advancing student learning. Observation of teaching and analysis of teaching artifacts will favorably influence the committee.
      4. A condensed curriculum vitae (2-3 pages).
      5. A reflective statement that summarizes the nominee's teaching and learning philosophy, strategies, and objectives (1-2 pages).
      6. One or more letters of support from recent and/or former students.
      7. A brief summary of 2-3 innovative teaching artifacts or practices used in the classroom to promote student success.
      8. A well-organized set of documents that provide evidence of the nominee's teaching excellence (e.g., data showing success of the nominee's students, selected components of course syllabi, handouts, methods of assessing student learning and achievement that go beyond student evaluations, examinations, summaries of recent student evaluations, peer evaluations, student mentoring and advising, etc. 9-10 pages). These documents should be accompanied by a brief explanation of why they are included in the dossier, i.e., how they document the excellence of the nominee’s teaching.

      Deadline for Nominations

      The award nomination material must be submitted by Monday, April 3, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

      To submit an application for these awards, please use your UNG login to access the Research Administration's Internal University Awards and External Grant Funding nominations site.

    2022 Teaching Award Recipients

    Distinguished Teaching Award

    hightower-victoria.jpg

    Victoria Hightower History


    Teaching Excellence Award for Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

    tomoe nishio

    Tomoe Nishio, Modern and Classical Languages

    linda purvis

    Linda Purvis, Biology

    dee gillespie

    Dee Gillespie, History


    Teaching Excellence Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

    sawako tsutsumi

    Sawako Tsutsumi, Modern and Classical Languages

    Stephen Northam

    Stephen Northam, Political Science


    Previous Teaching Award Recipients

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