Office of Academic Affairs

Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

Award:
Recipient will be recognized at a luncheon hosted by the Governor during the Governor's Conference on Higher Education in December and will receive a certificate of accomplishment.

Eligibility:
Nominee must be a current, full-time, regular or non-regular, faculty member with at least five years teaching service at UM-St. Louis.

Criteria:
Nominees must show evidence consistent with the priorities and goals outlined in the UM-St. Louis Action Plan, demonstrating effective teaching and commitment to high standards of excellence, and one or more of the following:

  • Effective advising
  • Student learning and success
  • Service to the University community

Submission Materials and Format:
All nominations (regardless of format) must include the following materials.

  • Cover page with name, position, academic address of nominee and nominator.
  • Table of contents
  • Nomination letter
  • No more than ten (10) letters of support
  • Nominee's philosophy of teaching statement, explicitly outlining teaching goals, teaching strategies and methods of bringing their current research, scholarship, or creative activity into the teaching process. Statement should not exceed five double-spaced pages. The nominee may want to include the following in the personal philosophy statement:
    • innovative techniques developed to assess student learning and provide feedback.  
    • description of a created course or a revised curriculum.   
    • concrete examples of effective mentoring techniques.
    • innovative teaching techniques shared with other teachers.  
    • steps taken to extend the learning process beyond the classroom.
    • creative ways teaching draws upon one's research or public service.   
    • contributions to peer discussion of teaching and learning and/or class design through publications, presentations, Web-based resources, etc.    
    • evidence of impact at the state or regional level.
                     
  • List of courses taught and the number of students in each, as well as other teaching and advising activities during the preceding five years
  • Summary of methods of evaluating teaching activity; examples include (but are not limited to) student-generated teaching evaluations, evaluations of teaching effectiveness by peers, results of assessment of student learning. (Include interpretation of statistical data for reviewers who may be unfamiliar with the instrument.)
  • Nominee's curriculum vitae (if listing presentations, include only those made in the preceding five years)

Nomination Procedure:
The Committee requires submission through electronic format. These nominations should be in MS Word or pdf format, and should be emailed to the Senate office (senate@umsl.edu) no later than 5 pm on the deadline. In addition, one paper version of the nomination must be sent to the chair of the committee.

Deadline for Submission:
June 30, 2008 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for submission of nomination and completed materials packet.

Previous Award Winners:
2007 - 2008 Judith Maserang, Clinical Professor, Nursing
2006-2007 Gregory Geisler, Associate Professor, Accounting, College of Business Administration
2005 - 2006 Elizabeth Vining, Senior Lecturer, Marketing
2004 - 2005 Paul Paese, Associate Professor, Psychology
2003 - 2004 Helene Sherman, Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning
2002 - 2003 Janet Lauritsen, Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice
2001 - 2002 David Robertson, Professor, Political Science
2000 - 2001 Richard Pacelle, Associate Professor, Political Science
1999 - 2000 Rudolph E. K. Winter, Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
1998 - 1999 Bob Henson, Professor, Physics and Astronomy
1991 - 1992 Charles R. Granger, Professor, Biology and Education