1. GCSU EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARDS GUIDELINES 

Criteria

Nominees must be full-time faculty who have completed a minimum of three years of full time teaching.  The award committee will look for evidence that nominees have demonstrated through persuasive, direct documentation that they have on a campus-wide basis achieved excellence in a variety of the following activities, to be weighed in the order they are listed: 

• a record of superlative teaching that has enhanced student learning on campus;
• developed and implemented innovative pedagogy that exhibits creative solutions to classroom teaching and learning issues reflected in the scholarly literature;
• developed and implemented teaching methods that reflect current literature, practice, trends, and issues in their discipline and in higher education and that have had a demonstrable impact on student learning;
• developed, implemented, and changed classroom practices on the basis of strong and direct evidence that their practices enhance student learning;
• engaged in creative and documented assessment practices appropriate to their discipline that go beyond required institutional student evaluations and that have been used to refine teaching methods;
• been instrumental in developing special projects and innovative curricula on the school, college or university  level that have had a demonstrable impact on student success.
• a commitment to and record of achieving student success through activities that transcend the classroom, such as advising student organizations related to one’s  discipline, mentoring students as advisors, directing and/or facilitating service learning projects, facilitating living/learning communities, coordinating special programs, etc..

Required Documentation for the Teaching Excellence Awards

Nomination portfolios for this award are limited to 20 one-sided pages (in a font no smaller than 12 point).  Candidates are permitted to include multimedia resources (samples of student work; models of innovative use of technology, etc.) on a CD, but any text files included will count towards the 20 page limit.  Otherwise, the CD shall itself count as 1 page.  Nominees are encouraged to review the portfolios of past recipients of the BOR Teaching Excellence Awards or to consult with CETL for guidance on appropriate materials to include.  Each portfolio must include the following information:  

• Nomination letter from a colleague highlighting noteworthy achievements and explaining how the candidate meets the criteria.  (1-2 pages)
• Nomination letter from a colleague highlighting noteworthy achievements and explaining how the candidate meets the criteria.  (1-2 pages)
• A reflective statement by the candidate about their philosophy of teaching and learning that addresses the award criteria.  Candidates should include a description of innovative techniques and ways that these address and solve specific teaching and learning issues. (2-4 pages). Candidates are encouraged to work with CETL volunteers to develop teaching philosophy statements. 
• One or two other letters from colleagues familiar with the candidate’s teaching and how it addresses the above criteria. The letters should especially address the ways the candidate’s teaching has contributed to deep student learning.
• One or two other letters from colleagues familiar with the candidate’s teaching and how it addresses the above criteria. The letters should especially address the ways the candidate’s teaching has contributed to deep student learning.
• Persuasive, directly documented evidence of the impact of one’s teaching on student learning.  This documentation shall represent a wide-array of materials, which might include examples chosen from the following items:  description of creative assessment methods and their results with regard to student learning, a list of achievements of past and present students, student performance on standardized national instruments, results of interviews and formative surveys, course materials where these demonstrate innovative approaches or help to elucidate the student learning outcomes achieved, any other relevant direct documentation of student learning that demonstrate the impact of the candidate’s teaching on student learning, and a summary of student responses to the most relevant questions (i.e. responses to “This instructor is an effective teacher” or other especially pertinent questions) on the student opinion form over several terms.  The candidate should also clarify how the data have informed his or her teaching practices.

It is the responsibility of the nominator or department chair to collect information for the portfolio. A faculty member cannot nominate him or her self for the Excellence in Teaching Award.  Candidates for this award must be nominated by a faculty member, department chair, or dean.  Nominations from students will not be accepted. 

A five-year period shall pass before a recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award is eligible to be considered for the award again.  The Excellence in Teaching Award is not necessarily an annual award; instead it is an award given to up to 3 nominated faculty that meet the award criteria for teaching excellence. 

2. Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award

One of the three annual recipients of the teaching excellence awards may be named the winner of the Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award and will also be the GCSU nominee for the Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Award. 

Criteria

Nominees must be full-time faculty who have completed a minimum of five years of full time teaching.  The award committee will look for evidence that candidates have  demonstrated through persuasive, direct documentation that they have attained recognition on a statewide or national basis (as evidenced by winning statewide and/or national awards for teaching, or dissemination of teaching insights and knowledge to colleagues through conducting teaching and learning workshops at other institutions or organizations, publications in peer-reviewed scholarly  journals,  conference presentations at peer-reviewed scholarly statewide or national conferences) for a variety of the following activities, to be weighed in the order they are listed:  

• a record of superlative teaching that has enhanced teaching and student learning on campus or, through adaptation of the candidate’s methods, in the university system, or across the nation;
• developed and implemented innovative pedagogy that exhibits creative solutions to classroom teaching and learning issues reflected in the scholarly literature;
• developed and implemented teaching methods adapted and employed by other professionals that reflect current literature, practice, trends, and issues in their discipline and in higher education and that have had a demonstrable impact on student learning;
• developed, implemented, and changed classroom practices on the basis of strong and direct evidence that their practices enhance student learning and shared these insights with others;
• engaged in creative and documented assessment practices appropriate to their discipline that go beyond required institutional student evaluations, that have been used to refine teaching methods, and whose results have been influential on other professionals in their discipline;
• been instrumental in developing special projects and innovative curricula on the university, state or national level that have had a demonstrable impact on student success;
• a commitment to and record of achieving student success through activities that transcend the classroom, such as advising innovations, service learning projects, living/learning community development, development of special programs, etc. that have impacted the state and/or nation;
• achievements of their students, such as awards and other recognition from scholarly organizations at local, state, and national levels; presentations at scholarly conferences; publications in peer-reviewed scholarly journals;  publications in student research journals; enrollment in graduate programs in the discipline; and/or placement in professional positions.

Required Documentation for the Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award

Nomination portfolios for this award are limited to 20 one-sided pages (in a font no smaller than 12 point).  Candidates are permitted to include multimedia resources (samples of student work; models of innovative use of technology, etc.) on a CD, but any text files included will count towards the 20 page limit.  Otherwise, the CD shall itself count as 1 page.  Nominees are encouraged to review the portfolios of past recipients of the BOR teaching excellence awards or to consult with CETL for guidance on appropriate materials to include.  Each portfolio must include the following information:  

• Nomination letter from a colleague highlighting noteworthy achievements and explaining how the candidate meets the criteria.  (1-2 pages)
• Nomination letter from a colleague highlighting noteworthy achievements and explaining how the candidate meets the criteria.  (1-2 pages)
• A reflective statement by the candidate about their philosophy of teaching and learning that addresses the award criteria.  Candidates should include a description of innovative techniques and ways that these address and solve specific teaching and learning issues. (2-4 pages). Candidates are encouraged to work with CETL volunteers to develop teaching philosophy statements. 
• One or two other letters from colleagues familiar with the candidate’s teaching and how it addresses the above criteria. The letters should especially address the ways the candidate’s teaching has contributed to deep student learning.
• One or two other letters from colleagues familiar with the candidate’s teaching and how it addresses the above criteria. The letters should especially address the ways the candidate’s teaching has contributed to deep student learning.
• Persuasive, directly documented evidence of the impact of one’s teaching on student learning.  This documentation shall represent a wide-array of materials, which might include examples chosen from the following items:  description of creative assessment methods and their results with regard to student learning, a list of achievements of past and present students, student performance on standardized national instruments, results of interviews and formative surveys, course materials where these demonstrate innovative approaches or help to elucidate the student learning outcomes achieved, any other relevant direct documentation of student learning that demonstrate the impact of the candidate’s teaching on student learning, and a summary of student responses to the most relevant questions (i.e. responses to “This instructor is an effective teacher” or other especially pertinent questions) on the student opinion form over several terms.  The candidate should also clarify how the data have informed his or her teaching practices.

It is the responsibility of the nominator or department chair to collect information for the portfolio. A faculty member cannot nominate him or her self for the Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award.  Candidates for this award must be nominated by a faculty member, department chair, or dean.  Nominations from students will not be accepted.

This award may be received only once during a person’s career at GCSU.   Previous winners of the Teaching Excellence Award may be nominated for the Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award, but a five-year period shall pass before a previous recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award is eligible to be considered for the Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award.   The Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award is not necessarily an annual award; instead it is an award given to a faculty member who meets the award criteria for distinguished achievement in teaching.    

3. GCSU DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR AWARD GUIDELINES 

Criteria:
The award committee will look for persuasive evidence that nominees have a record of superlative teaching, research, and service related to the profession while at GCSU. To be eligible for nomination, a faculty member must be full time tenured faculty at GCSU with a minimum rank of associate professor and must have completed five years of teaching at GCSU.

Required Documentation:
Nomination portfolios for these awards are limited to 20 pages, including any appendices (no smaller than 12 point). Each portfolio must include the following information:

·         Nomination letter.  (1-2 pages)

·         A condensed curriculum vitae covering tenure at GCSU.

·         A reflective statement about teaching, research, and service to the profession from the nominee. (2-3 pages)

·         Two letters of support from colleagues qualified to comment on the nominee's teaching, research, and service to the profession. 

·         Two letters of support from current and/or past students. At least one letter should be from one of the nominee's current students.

·         Any additional supporting documentation. 

A faculty member cannot nominate him or her self for the Distinguished Professor Award.  It is the responsibility of the nominator or department chair to collect information for the portfolio.  Letters of support from students should be requested by the nominator or department chair.  The nominee should only provide contact information on potential students of whom this request could be made. 

The Distinguished Professor Award shall be awarded only once to a faculty member.  This award is the highest level of achievement recognized at GCSU as a “lifetime achievement” award.  Once a recipient of this award, faculty will not be eligible to receive the award again. 

4. Department/Program Excellence Award 

Criteria:

• Individual and collective faculty efforts to improve teaching and student learning
• Comprehensive assessment of student learning and use of the results to inform teaching practices and curricular development revision
• Efforts to enable faculty to use innovative and effective forms of pedagogy and technology.
• Strong links between good teaching and various rewards, e.g., compensation, promotion, tenure, grants, leaves, travel, departmental or program based awards, etc.
• Encouragement of collaborative faculty efforts, including team teaching, teaching discussion groups, interdisciplinary courses, mentoring, etc.
• An on-going process for reviewing and reshaping curricula so that achieving academic excellence and serving the needs of all students remain as top priorities.
• Exemplary programs for advising, mentoring, recruiting, and retaining students.  Co-curricular work with students; out-of-class learning.
• Success of the department’s or program’s students, e.g., graduation, job placement, acceptance in graduate schools, etc.

Required Documentation:
Nomination portfolios for these awards are limited to 20 pages, including any appendices (no smaller than 12 point). Therefore, incorporating every kind of evidence will be impossible.  Instead, each department will want to select only the strongest and most relevant evidence.  Each portfolio must include the following information:

·        Nomination letter from the department chair/program director.  (1-2 pages)

·        A statement from the department or program that outlines its philosophies, goals, and strategies for making a difference in the academic success of students. (2-3 pages)

·        A one-page fact profile of the department or program

·        Data showing student successes, such as graduation rates, retention, job placement, acceptance to other schools, etc.

·        A concise, clear and well organized collection of evidence that details the department’s or programs distinctive efforts to foster student learning. 

 

Research Awards

 

1. Excellence in Research/Publication Award

• Each full-time faculty member is allowed to submit his/her collective published work for the preceding calendar year (e.g., January 1 - December 31). This procedure may result in the submission of more than one publication from an individual, but an individual faculty member is eligible for only a single award.
  
   
• Only the final published product is eligible for submission. A reprint of the actual journal article or chapter, or a copy of a book should be submitted. Manuscripts that have been accepted but not yet published are ineligible.
  
   
• The published work must clearly indicate that the author/faculty member is affiliated with Georgia College & State University.
  
   
• For journal articles, all submissions must include information concerning the scope and purpose of the journal, types of papers published, the nature of the peer review process, and instructions to authors.

 

2. GCSU Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

Criteria

Nominees for this award must be full-time faculty members.  The awards committee will look for evidence that candidates have demonstrated:

·        a record of investigating teaching and learning issues through well-defined formal research projects using methods appropriate for their disciplines;

·        a record of using the evidence gleaned from these projects to revise and improve their teaching methods in order to enhance student learning;

·        a record of disseminating results of teaching and learning research projects, preferably through publications in peer-reviewed journals, but presentations to scholarly organizations may also be valued though not weighed as heavily.

The award committee should have discretion as to which of the following criteria to weight the most heavily.  Candidates for this award should demonstrate through persuasive, directly documented evidence that they have engaged in teaching and learning research projects that have:

• defined a research problem related to teaching and learning that focuses on ways to foster powerful forms of student learning within a specific classroom setting;
• connected the research problem to studies in the scholarly literature;
• used appropriate formal disciplinary methods of research to investigate and document teaching practice and its impact on students' learning within the context of specific classroom situations;
• closed the assessment loop by documenting further modifications to research questions and teaching methodologies in response to results;
• focused not simply on teacher practice but on its direct and documented connection to deep student learning;
• directly documented student learning as a result of modifications to or experiments with creative teaching methodologies;
• been subjected to a formal process of peer-review by a scholarly publication or academic conference;
• been disseminated through scholarly networks preferably via publications in peer-reviewed journals.  Presentations at scholarly conferences may also be valued, but not weighed as heavily as peer-reviewed publications.  

Required Documentation 

Nomination portfolios for these awards are limited to 20 one-sided pages, including any appendices (in a font no smaller than 12 point).  Nominees are encouraged to review the portfolios of the BOR scholarship of teaching and learning award recipients or to consult with CETL for guidance on appropriate materials to include.  Each portfolio must include the following information: 

• Nomination letter from a colleague that addresses the candidate’s achievements in relation to the above criteria and noting the highlights of the nomination portfolio. (1-2 pages)
• Two other letters of support from colleagues qualified to comment on the value and quality of the candidate’s teaching and learning research projects and their role in advancing undergraduate education and learning. These letters should describe how the nominee's projects match the criteria above and how they have contributed to knowledge in the field.  Letters should also identify the ways that the research has enhanced the learning for undergraduate students.
• A formal narrative by the candidate that outlines the goals, theories, and methods of their most significant teaching and learning research projects.  The narrative should describe the ways in which students were/are directly involved in the projects and include a discussion of the specific data/evidence generated as well as an analysis of the significance or potential impact  of the projects on teaching and learning in the candidate’s discipline. (3-5 pages)
• A condensed curriculum vitae that focuses on and highlights the candidate’s scholarship of teaching and learning research projects, awards, and other relevant activities. (2-3 pages)
• One or two letters of support from students who were involved in one or more of the candidate’s scholarship of teaching projects.

Nominations must come from colleagues, department chairs, or deans.  Nominations will not be accepted from students. 

The Excellence in Artistic Endeavor Award is presented annually through the GC&SU Foundation to a full-time faculty member from faculty who submit evidence of off-campus artistic activities produced, published, or performed during the previous calendar year. All submissions should contain the following:

• A short narrative describing the nature of the activity of the medium.
  
   
• Evidence of off-campus professional/peer review.
  
   
• Documentation consisting of, but not limited to, copies of publications, slides or photographs, video or audio tapes, written evaluations or reviews, programs, or publicity notices as appropriate for the art form.

It is the responsibility of the faculty member to present the documented material to its best advantage. The documentation of the submitted work must clearly indicate that the faculty member's principal affiliation is with Georgia College & State University and that the work submitted was presented in the preceding calendar year.

The recipient of the award is not eligible to compete the following year. In February of each year, the submissions are evaluated by the Excellence in Artistic Endeavor Award Committee and a recommendation is sent to the Provost. Excellence in Artistic Endeavor Award

 

Service Awards

 

1. Irene Rose Community Service Award

 

2. Faculty University Service Award

The purpose of the Faculty University Service Award is to recognize extraordinary service and contribution to the GC&SU community by a member of the faculty. This award recognizes the importance of individual contribution for the common good of the college community. To be eligible for this award the nominee must hold regular full time faculty status, be tenured, and be a member of the Corps of Instruction.  While service can take many forms, the record of service for which this award is appropriate will be accompanied by evidence that this service made a noteworthy contribution to the university community.  The criteria for this award include the following:  

• Significant contribution in the form of time, talents, and/or vision that benefits Georgia College & State University 

• Service in the form of making a contribution at the level of the department, Library, school, or university

• Recognition of peers for noteworthy service 

• A persistent record of service over a period of time as distinct from a one time contribution