Poly eBriefs

The teaching awards committee is soliciting nominations for the 2008 Distinguished Teacher Award and the 2008 Jacobs Excellence in Education Awards. Help recognize faculty who make a difference in students’ lives.

Distinguished Teacher Award: Polytechnic’s premier teaching award. The awardee will receive a $10,000 award. The award will be presented at the University’s 2008 Commencement exercise.

Jacobs Excellence in Education Award: An award to individuals or groups who have demonstrated educational innovation and excellence. Up to three awards will be given as part of a gift made by Dr. Joseph Jacobs to recognize and foster teaching excellence. Each awardee (individual or team) will receive a $10,000 award and will be featured on the Polytechnic web site.

Note: faculty members may be nominated for BOTH awards in a given year, but would only be eligible to be awarded ONE. See below for guidelines for nominations.

Deadline for Nomination Letters: all nomination letters must be received by the nominee’s department head by Monday, March 31, 2008

Deadline for Nomination Package: all completed nomination packages must be sent by the nominee’s department head and received by Monday, April 21, 2008 at the office of:

Professor Mary Cowman
Chair, Teaching Awards Committee
Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences
Polytechnic University
Six Metrotech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Guidelines for the Distinguished Teacher Award

Eligibility

• All full-time Polytechnic faculty are eligible for the award. This includes tenure series faculty of all levels, industry professors of all levels, full-time instructors and full-time lecturers. Department heads with prior or current teaching responsibilities are also eligible. Members of the Administration above the Department Head level are not eligible.
• Candidates from previous years may be nominated again; however, documents must be updated and resubmitted. Previous recipients are also eligible. Previous winners serve on the selection committee for three years following their award and are not eligible for the award while on the selection committee. The Distinguished Teacher Award and the Jacobs Excellence in Education Awards cannot be awarded to the same individual in the same year or in consecutive years.

Selection committee
The Committee consists of nine persons: the three most recent recipients of the Distinguished Teacher Award, three previous recipients of the Jacobs Excellence in Education Award, two students (one graduate and one undergraduate, chosen by the Provost after consultation with the Student Council), and one alumnus/alumna.

Items to be submitted by the department head
All nomination materials, with the exception of digital media such as web pages, must be paper copies. Digital media materials must be submitted on DVD.

1. A nomination letter for the candidate from any of the following sources:

• One or more students (including alumni).
• One or more colleagues.
• The candidate’s department head. Please note that nominations made by department heads are limited to one per degree program.

All nomination letters should be submitted to the nominee’s department head.

2. Supporting statements, addressing the criteria listed below, from at least three current or former students of the candidate. If the nomination is not made by the department head, then a supporting statement from the department head is also needed.

3. Course survey results.

4. The curriculum vita of the candidate.

Criteria used in evaluating candidates

• Overall commitment to student learning as indicated by supporting statements.
• Preparation, delivery and testing of lecture material.
• Choice, organization and revision of materials.
• Accessibility to students both in and out of class.
• The writing of textbooks, course notes and laboratory notes.
• The development of new curricula, new courses, new laboratory experiments or new media for learning.

Guidelines for the Jacobs Excellence in Education Awards

Eligibility

• All members of Polytechnic’s full-time instructional staff of all ranks, tenure series or not, or teams led by full-time instructional staff are eligible for the award. Full-time non-instructional staff and/or full-time students may be members of a team. Department heads with prior or current teaching responsibilities are also eligible.
• Candidates from previous years may be nominated again; however, no candidate may receive an award in two consecutive years.
• Nominations are not limited to only one candidate per department.
• Colleagues, department heads, student organizations or a group of students may nominate an individual or a team.

Selection committee
The Committee consists of nine persons: the three most recent recipients of the Distinguished Teacher Award, three previous recipients of the Jacobs Excellence in Education Award, two students (one graduate and one undergraduate, chosen by the Provost after consultation with the Student Council), and one alumnus/alumna.

Items to be submitted by the department head
All nomination materials, with the exception of digital media such as web pages, must be paper copies. Digital media materials must be submitted on DVD.

1. A nomination letter for the nominee(s), describing why the person or group should receive an award. This nomination letter may come from any one of the following sources:

• One or more students (including alumni) or student organization.
• One or more members of the full-time instructional staff, not necessarily from the nominee’s department.
• The candidate’s department head. Please note that department heads can nominate more than one individual or team for the Jacobs Excellence in Education Award.

All nomination letters should be submitted to the nominee’s department head.

2. A supporting statement from the department head, if the department head does not make the nomination. (If the nominee is a department head, another department head will take on this role, with the concurrence of the Dean of Engineering and Applied Science).

3. Supporting statements, addressing the criteria listed below, are needed from at least three of any of the following:

• Current or former students of the nominee, or relevant student group.
• Full-time instructional staff members, not necessarily from the nominee’s department.

4. Student survey results.

5. Curriculum vitae of nominee(s).

Criteria used in evaluating candidates

1. Special educational recognition or awards received at the national level, such as:

• Recipient of educational grant.
• Invitation to present at organization or conference.
• Invitation to give educational workshop.
• Use of web material by educators outside of Polytechnic University, documented by tracking of web site hits and testimonials from users.
• Invitation to participate in educational showcase.
• Publication in a nationally distributed journal.

2. Overall commitment to students and active learning as indicated by supporting statements and documents (e.g., student assessments, testimony from relevant student groups).

3. Development and use of lecture material either in a traditional classroom, online or in a distance-learning course, involving active learning and/or innovative delivery style.

4. Development of innovative curriculum, innovative courses, innovative laboratory experiments, or for use of new media or technology in an innovative way.