Outstanding University Teacher Award Teaching Initiative Award (Pre-Tenure Faculty)

(revised June 2021)

Overview

This award is for assistant professors who have shown considerable promise in teaching early in their academic careers. This category is restricted to pre-tenure faculty with at least two years of teaching on a full-time, tenure track at Illinois State, but not more than five years of full-time, tenure track university-level teaching experience at Illinois State and elsewhere, combined, at the time of the nomination. Part-time, non-tenure track and/or graduate assistant teaching experience for any length of time are not counted in the teaching record restrictions. The candidate's teaching performance at Illinois State University in a tenure-track position will be given the greatest weight. Up to five recipients will be selected, and the award includes a stipend.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a TIA nomination, an Illinois State University faculty member must:

Be a full-time, tenure-track faculty member with at least two years of teaching on a full-time, tenure track at Illinois State, but not more than five years of full-time, tenure track University-level teaching experience at Illinois State and elsewhere at the time of the nomination submission date ;
Receive support for their nomination for the TIA from both department chair and college dean.

Note: Prior TIA recipients and current members of the University Teaching Council are ineligible.

Nomination Procedures

At the Department/School Level
At the College Level
University Teaching Council Process

Nominators

Any current or former ISU department chairperson, school director, division head, or dean; any current or former ISU full- or part-time faculty member; or any current or former full- or part-time ISU student may nominate someone meeting the eligibility requirements for this award. Nomination letters or emails should be sent directly to the candidate’s department chair/school director. Nomination letters/emails should:

Provide the nominee’s name and academic department/school
Explain the nominator’s basis of knowledge of nominee’s teaching
Explain why the nominee should be considered for this award

Selection

The chair/director should use a selection process developed and implemented in consultation with the DFSC/SFSC to identify no more than two nominees each year and forward those names to the Chair, University Teaching Council, via email no later than 4:30 p.m. on the last Tuesday of April. Nominees should then prepare their teaching portfolios and submit them to their chairs by the first Tuesday of September (or a date arranged with the chair/director). Chairs/directors then forward completed portfolios to their college dean’s office no later than the third Tuesday of September.

Each dean, dean’s appointee, and/or selection committee, in conjunction with the College Council, shall do the following:

Each college may nominate up to three candidates for each award category. (An exception is the College of Arts and Sciences, which may forward up to three in each category for each division: social sciences, sciences, humanities.)
Each nomination should include the candidate’s application materials, including the nomination form signed by the candidate’s chair/director and dean.
Nominations should be sent to the special email address included in the letter sent to deans from the chair of the University Teaching Council. If you need assistance, please contact Outstanding@ilstu.edu.
All materials must be received electronically no later than 4:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of October. No late nominations or materials will be accepted.
The college should notify each nominee’s department chair/school director of the college-level outcome.
Chairs/School directors should notify their department’s nominees of college outcomes.

The UTC shall evaluate nominees’ materials to select recipients and notify each finalist of the outcome. In the case of portfolios of equal merit, preference shall go to those who have not previously won the award.

Teaching Portfolio Contents

See Portfolio Preparation Guidelines for general tips and step-by-step instructions on creating a compelling teaching portfolio.