Outstanding University Teacher Award Tenure Track Faculty

(revised June 2021)

Overview

This award is for tenured faculty whose teaching accomplishments are exceptionally significant and meritorious among their ISU colleagues. The award is designed to recognize persistent, focused, and purposeful dedication to striving for excellence over an extended teaching record. This includes: learning about and applying effective instructional practices across a wide range of teaching activities; evaluating the effectiveness of those practices; and reflecting on personal values and professional experiences to shape future teaching practices. This award is given to up to two recipients each year and includes a stipend.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a Tenured Faculty Award nomination, an Illinois State University teacher must:

Be a full-time tenured faculty member with at least three years of service at Illinois State University.
Have received an outstanding teacher award from an academic college or Milner Library.
Receive support for the nomination from both their department chairperson/school director and college dean.

Note: Tenured Faculty Award recipients within the prior five years and current members of the University Teaching Council (UTC) 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.