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Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Outstanding University Teacher Award- Category I

(Tenured or Tenure-line Faculty)

Portfolio Preparation Guidelines

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Printer friendly Version of Portfolio Preparation Guidelines (PDF)

Overview

This award is for tenured or tenure-track 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 time. 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

To be eligible for OUTA-I nomination, a faculty member must:

  1. Be a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member with at least three years of service at Illinois State University.
  2. Meet at least one of the following conditions:
    1. Receive an outstanding teacher award from an academic college or Milner Library;
    2. Be the recipient of the Illinois State Alumni Association’s Outstanding University Teacher Award between 1985 and 1993.
  3. Receive support for the nomination from both their department chairperson/school director and college dean.

Note: OUTA-I recipients within the prior five years and current members of the University Teaching Committee (UTC) are ineligible.

Timetable

  • Last Monday of February – Program information and guidelines are posted to the CTLT Web site and memos outlining the time frame and any changes in the process are distributed to Chairs, Deans, and others by the University Teaching Committee.
  • First Monday of May – Names of nominees are due from departments to the Chair of the University Teaching Committee (Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology, Campus Box 6370). Departments should inform nominees of their nomination.
  • Summer – The Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology provides nominees with portfolio development support through workshops and individualized consultation. See CTLT summer programming for details (www.teachtech.ilstu.edu).
  • Third Monday of September – Completed application materials due from departmental nominees to the offices of their respective college deans.
  • Third Monday of October – Application materials of final college nominees are due from college offices to the chair of the University Teaching Committee (Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology, Campus Box 6370).

Nomination Procedures

The process begins at the department level, where departments select departmental nominees among eligible faculty who merit nomination. Departmental nominees then prepare application portfolios for submission in Fall to their respective colleges, where they are evaluated with all other department-level nominees in the college. Colleges then forward their final nominees’ application materials to the University Teaching Committee for evaluation and selection of the awardees in late Fall. Details are explained below.

Department Level Process

Chairs should facilitate a nomination process in their departments and, using the Nomination Form, submit the names of final department nominees to the University Teaching Committee by the first Monday of May. Nominees should prepare their application portfolio, which chairs should forward to their college dean's office by the third Monday of September. When the college-level process is completed, department chairs will be informed of the college-level outcomes and then should inform all departmental nominees of those outcomes.

College Level Process

Each college dean, in conjunction with the College Council, shall evaluate departmental nominees based upon the selection criteria to select nominees to forward to the university level. (College Council members who are nominees for this award should not participate in the deliberations.) Colleges should forward the application materials of only those nominees who are judged as qualified for award consideration, accompanied by a nomination letter from the dean by the third Monday in October, to the University Teaching Committee.

There is no limit to the number of nominees each college may forward. The dean and/or college selection committee has the option of ranking nominees and/or providing written rationales, which should be forwarded to the UTC as advisory information. The dean and/or college selection committee should notify each departmental nominee’s department chair of the college-level outcome so chairs can notify their department’s nominees.

University Teaching Committee Process

The UTC shall evaluate nominees’ materials to select OUTA-I 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 OUTA-I.