Brock University Award for Distinguished Teaching Guidelines

Definition:

Distinguished teaching is defined as sustained remarkable contribution to student learning in the classroom, and significant contributions to learning such as: student consultation and thesis direction; the involvement of students in faculty research activity; the development of effective courses and curricula; work toward the improvement of the teaching of colleagues and teaching assistants; the development of successful innovative teaching methods; the enrichment of the learning environment at Brock University; the reflective development of a model of teaching.

Nominations:

Nominations for the award can be made by Deans, Directors, Chairs, or faculty members to the Chair of the Senate Teaching and Learning Policy Committee by April 30th of each year. Written permission of the nominee is required.

Eligibility:

All faculty are eligible; however, current members of the Senate Teaching and Learning Policy Committee who are nominated will be excused from any deliberations related to the Award. A nominator of a candidate for this Award is not eligible to serve on the Adjudication Panel for that year.

A faculty member is only eligible for one award every ten (10) years.

Evidence:

Evidence should be provided within the framework of a Teaching Dossier. The Dossier must include:

1. A curriculum vitae
2. A statement of teaching philosophy
3. A list of courses taught in the last five years, with enrolment figures
4. Course evaluations (summary of quantitative scores and a representative sample of qualitative evaluations)
5. Evidence of teaching excellence

For information on compiling a Teaching Dossier, please contact the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Educational Technologies.

Evidence of outstanding performance may be derived from a number of different sources, including:

• administrative summations of qualitative evaluations
• the results of systematic and sustained evaluation by peers
• testimonial letters from students, alumni, teaching assistants, fellow faculty members, and administrators
• objective measures of student learning, including committee-marked final exams and standardized tests
• documentation relating to the development of teaching theory and philosophy, to course and curriculum development, and to the development and testing of teaching methods

Criteria:

While there are no fixed decision rules for the selection of the Award for Distinguished Teaching recipient, preference will normally be given to nominees who:

• have been outstanding classroom teachers
• have been successful in several areas of teaching
• have developed their teaching methods and their courses reflectively in accordance with an articulated teaching philosophy
• have contributed to the learning environment in their class and department or program, and in the University
• have the support of several constituencies, for example, peers, alumni, and administrators, rather than only a single constituency

Selection Process:

 The Adjudication Panel will consist of the Director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Educational Technologies, as Chair; one Dean representing the Council of Academic Deans and one Associate Dean; two members of the CTLET Teaching Council; two members of the academic community, selected by the Vice-President Academic upon the advice of the Chair of the Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning, such that all Faculties are represented; one student representative and one external reviewer. These guidelines are consistent with those created for adjudicating the Chancellor’s Chairs for Teaching Excellence. This same committee shall adjudicate both the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Chancellor’s Chairs for Teaching Excellence (created in 2005).

The Chair of the Adjudication Panel will report its recommendations to the Senate Committee, which will in turn recommend to the Vice-President, Academic.

Guidelines for adjudication: It is recommended that among the faculty on the Adjudication Panel, there also be one or more previous winners of the Brock University Award for Distinguished Teaching and/or the Chancellor’s Chairs for Teaching Excellence.

The award need not be made each year if, in the opinion of the Committee and the Vice-President, Academic, there are no suitable candidates. However, a submission may be held over for up to two years.

Award:

The award will consist of University recognition of outstanding achievement in teaching, acknowledged at a Fall convocation by the presentation of a certificate and monetary award. The monetary award will be made available to the recipient of the Award for Distinguished Teaching in the form of a tax-sheltered professional allowance. The funds will not be attached to any specific activity or proposal, but must be spent according to the University policy for professional allowances.

Revised: April 2008

(Previously amended: February 2006, April 2005, March 2005, January 2003, March 2000, February 1999, September 1998)