Presidential Faculty Awards

Eligibility

To be eligible for these awards, a candidate must have served as a faculty member in any Touro College undergraduate, graduate, or professional school for at least three consecutive years immediately prior to nomination. Adjunct faculty are eligible to be nominated for the Excellence in Teaching Award, and must also meet the three consecutive years of teaching minimum for consideration. Faculty members who receive an award will not be eligible for the same award for five years following receipt. However, that faculty member will be eligible for awards in another category during that five-year period, provided the other eligibility criteria are met.

Guidelines for Nominations

The foremost criterion for the Presidential Faculty Awards is overall excellence in teaching, scholarship, and/or service.

Excellence in Teaching

Nominees for the Excellence in Teaching Award will have a demonstrated record of excellence in teaching that inspires others. Examples of excellence may include the following:

1. The faculty member promotes active learning and successfully encourages students to think imaginatively, critically, and independently.
2. The faculty member helps students appreciate the relationship between the subject and its place in the scheme of things.
3. The faculty member uses innovative and varied pedagogical techniques.
4. The faculty member interacts enthusiastically and effectively with students beyond the classroom, using office hours, special projects, and research activities to promote learning and address individual student needs.
5. The faculty member mentors students through special projects, research activities, publishing of student work, and outside learning opportunities.

Supporting Documentation to be Submitted May Include:

• Letters of support from a deans and/or department chair regarding the faculty member’s teaching abilities.
• Letters from former students and college alumni.
• Material demonstrating faculty member’s major and/or unique addition to the field of pedagogy

Excellence in Scholarship/Research

Nominees for Excellence in Scholarship/Research Award will possess a demonstrated record of quality, original research that advances knowledge.

Supporting Documentation to be Submitted May Include: 

• Quality journals, books, or venues in which the scholarship or research has been published and/or presented.
• Listing of creative works produced or presented.
• Peer review/reaction to the work(s).
• Letters from outside authorities in the field attesting to the significance and/or uniqueness of the research and/or scholarship within one’s field.

Excellence in Service

Nominees for the Excellence in Service Award should have a demonstrated record of exceptional service to the department, school, College, and/or the profession. Examples of extraordinary service may include but are not limited to:

1. Leadership service on a committee, task force, institutional governance body or commission that required a significant commitment of time and intellect to advance a program or policy of the College as a whole;
2. A record of distinguished volunteer engagement with one or more professional  organizations that includes a leadership role on a project or initiative, or a leadership role in the management of the entity, which enhances the professional standing of Touro College;
3. Departmental leadership leading to improvements, innovation and/or curricular developments significantly affecting the College and its students.

Supporting Documentation to be Submitted Includes: 

In addition to a listing of accomplishments, applications should be accompanied by a letter of support from a person or persons most knowledgeable about the faculty member’s contribution or an outside authority evaluating the faculty member’s leadership role in the professional/communal organization.

How to Nominate

Any member of the Touro College community may nominate an individual for a Presidential Faculty Award. Self-nominations are accepted as long as they are complete. It is the nominator’s responsibility to complete and submit the nomination.      

Nominations will be open from November 13, 2017 through January 15, 2018.

To nominate a faculty member, please submit the following:

1. Completed nomination form.
2. One-to-two-page summary description of why the nominee is deserving of the Presidential Faculty Award for excellence in a given category. (Please be sure to provide specific examples of how nominee meets the criteria for excellence).
3. Up to 10 pages of supporting documentation may be attached including letters of support/recommendation from present and former students (in this case, may include evidence of subsequent success and achievement), colleagues, supervisors, chairs, deans, and other academic staff.
4. *For Teaching Awards only, Subcommittee may review faculty evaluations. Permission from faculty member for release of evaluations must be obtained and confirmed in submission.

Reviewers/Selection Committee

Nominations will be reviewed by the Presidential Faculty Awards Committee. Committee members are ineligible for these awards while serving on the Committee and can neither nominate nor write in support of a candidate. If a Presidential Faculty Awards Committee Member is nominated, he/she must recuse himself/herself from consideration for that year. The Committee will apprise school deans regarding their faculty members who are nominated for awards. The Committee will recommend finalists to the President, who will make the final selection of the awardees.

Awards

Recipients of the awards will receive a Presidential Faculty Awards medal and $1,000* and will receive their award at a special luncheon with the President.

Deadline

Nominations along with supporting material must be submitted as a complete academic package to: Chair, Presidential Faculty Awards Committee by January 15, 2018. The material can also be emailed to presidentialawards@touro.edu.