Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Quick Jump:
I. Overview
II. Calendar
III. Eligibility
IV. Evaluation Criteria
V. Nominations
VI. Selection
VII. Submission
VIII. Other Awards
IX. Attachments

Overview

These are the principal campus awards for excellence in undergraduate teaching. Up to thirteen winners will be chosen (five members of the faculty, five graduate teaching assistants, and three members of the instructional staff). Faculty members and instructional staff who are selected will receive $5,000 in cash for their personal use.  Graduate teaching assistants will receive $3,500. Recurring increments of $3,000 will be added to the annual salaries of faculty members and instructional staff.  Each winner will also receive a personalized commemorative plaque.

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Calendar

January 30, 2009: Nominations are due by 5pm.
March 15, 2009: Results are expected to be announced.
April 29, 2009: Celebration for Teaching Excellence, 7pm, Alice Campbell Alumni Center.

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Eligibility

Faculty:

  • Tenured.
  • Taught on the Urbana-Champaign campus for at least 5 years.
  • Has not won this award in the previous 10 years.

Instructional Staff:

  • Taught on the Urbana-Champaign campus for at least 5 years.
  • Has not won this award in the previous 10 years.

Teaching Assistants

  • Taught on the Urbana-Champaign campus for at least two semesters. The semesters need not have been taught consecutively.  

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Evaluation Criteria

  • Sustained excellence in undergraduate teaching.
  • Positive impact on undergraduate student learning.
  • Innovative approaches to undergraduate teaching.
  • Other contributions to improve undergraduate instruction.  Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:  Engaging students in the classroom; developing courses and curricula; mentoring graduate teaching assistants; leading workshops on pedagogy; advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning; or making other multidimensional contributions beyond the classroom, laboratory, or studio.

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Nominations

  • Nominations may be submitted by students, faculty members, administrators, or alumni to a departmental committee, which should include at least one undergraduate student member.
  • Any academic unit offering undergraduate instruction may nominate no more than one faculty candidate and no more than one member of the instructional staff; however, more than one graduate teaching assistant may be nominated. 
  • Faculty members, instructional staff, or graduate teaching assistants who have been nominated during a particular year should not serve on the committee during that same year.

For ease of writing the nomination and committee evaluation, please follow this outline when submitting your nomination

  • The standard cover page (Attachment A) needs to be completed, including the appropriate signatures.   (Not to exceed 1 page.)
  • A statement of evidence to support each of the criteria itemized in the “Evaluation Criteria” section above.  (Not to exceed 3 pages.) 
  • A teaching and learning philosophy statement provided by the nominee.  (Not to exceed 2 pages.)
  • A longitudinal ICES profile from the Center for Teaching Excellence (Attachment B).  (Not to exceed 1 page.)
  • Two letters of support from students, preferably one from a student currently enrolled at UIUC and one from an alumnus.  (See Attachment C for a sample solicitation letter.)  (Not to exceed 2 pages each.)

    NOTE:  Letters from students should be solicited by the selection committee, not the nominee. The nominee may be asked to suggest some names and the department should add some names.

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Selection

  • Each departmental committee to which nominations are made will select its final candidates to forward to the college.  (The college may establish a limit to the number of candidates that is forwarded by each departmental committee.)
  • A college committee, which should include at least one undergraduate student member, then will select from among the final candidates which nominations to forward to the campus selection committee.  The number of nominations (based roughly on the size of the unit) that each college committee is encouraged to submit to the campus selection committee is as follows:

    NUMBER OF NOMINEES TO BE SUBMITTED

     

    Faculty

    Instructional Staff

    Graduate TA’s

    ACES

    2

    1

    2

    Applied Life Studies

    2

    1

    2

    Aviation

    1

    1

    1

    Communications

    1

    1

    1

    Education

    2

    1

    2

    Fine & Applied Arts

    2

    1

    2

    Business

    3

    2

    3

    Engineering

    3

    2

    3

    Liberal Arts & Sciences

    6

    4

    6

    TOTALS

    22

    14

    22

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Submission

Selected nominations from each college committee should be forwarded electronically to the Office of the Provost, tab-awards@uiuc.edu. The campus selection process is overseen by the Teaching Advancement Board, and is advisory to the Provost.

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Other Awards

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Attachments

List of Past Winners

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Programs & Courses / Teaching and Advancement Board / Awards for Excellence in Instruction / Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Teaching