COE Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence

COE Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence

Important: the Awards Committee will not accept late or incomplete dossiers. It is the responsibility of the nominator to ensure the dossier is complete and submitted by the College of Education’s deadline.

Purpose and Description

Title  Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence

Purpose The College of Education has established the Faculty Senate D. Keith  Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence.  There are two award categories: (a) Assistant Professor and (b) Associate Professor.

Deadline:  All nominations should be submitted to the Office of the Associate Dean for Research by noon on January 17.  Should this date fall on a weekend or holiday, nominations should be submitted the next working day. NOTE: The  Awards Committee will not accept incomplete or late nominations.

Eligibility: At the time of nomination, the nominee must hold the rank of full-time tenure-track or tenured faculty and have completed a minimum of three years of  service to the University.  An awardee is ineligible for re-nomination for five years.  Current members of the Faculty Senate Awards Committee are not eligible.

Recognition: Recipients of the award receive an instructional grant and a plaque or other memento. Presentation of the award will be made at a special College of Education function, and recipients will be  recognized at the UGA Honors Day ceremonies.

Application Procedures and Documentation

With the approval of the candidate, nominations may be made by any group of 10 or more full-time students, any group of 5 or more alumni, by student petition from a student honorary or professional group recognized by the College of Education, or by a group of any three faculty members. Those writing nominations should see sample dossiers housed in G-10 Aderhold Hall.

The Faculty Senate Awards Committee will review nominees.

NOTE: The Awards Committee will not accept incomplete or late nominations.  It will be the responsibility of the nominators to assemble a full dossier on the nominee, including documentation of the following criteria for selection:

  • The major contribution of the candidate is well defined and is clearly identifiable as an outstanding contribution.
  • The candidate has superior teaching evaluations from students, peers, or alumni.
  • The candidate has made a positive impact on students.

The dossier must contain:

The total nomination package cannot exceed eight pages, excluding the letters of evaluation from alumni or peers. Nominations not complying with the specified length, format, or application date will not be accepted.

  • a cover sheet (use the Keith Osborn Award Cover Sheet);
  • a two-page vita (single-spaced with 11-point font). This vita should provide background information relative to publications, presentations, previous honors/recognition, and grants.
  • a one-page letter of nomination (single-spaced with 11-point font). This letter is to be written by the nominators and should define the nominee’s qualifications for the award. Clear indication of the source of the nomination should be given, including the signature of each nominator.
  • the body of the nomination. This is limited to no more than five typed pages, single-spaced with 11-point font. The first three points below must be included in the body of the nomination. The last point is optional but may be included. Other points may also be included at the discretion of the nominee.
  • letters of evaluation from alumni or peers. This is limited to four letters.
  • Nominee’s major contributions to teaching. Examples include organizations of novel or innovative teaching methods based on a specific philosophy of education; development of new learning models for teacher education; model course or program development. This section must make the case for the nominee’s unique teaching qualities.
  • Nominee’s personal statement regarding the major contribution, including a self-evaluation.
  • Student evaluations of nominee’s major contribution to teaching with an emphasis on the THREE YEARS preceding the nomination. Evidence must be both qualitative and quantitative.  Quantitative data should be organized in a table and must include mean ratings for overall course and instructor evaluation for each course taught (individually, not collectively) during this period.
  • Summary of former or present student accomplishments related to nominee’s major contribution.

Please submit the application as a PDF file electronically via email attachment to gmason@uga.edu or PDF file on CD sent through campus mail to the Associate Dean for Research Office, c/o Faculty Awards Committee Secretary.

Please name the nomination file as [Last Name]_[First Name]_DKOA. For example, the nomination for John Smith for Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence would be named as “Smith_ John_DKOA.” Please label all separate attachments clearly.

Application Deadlines

Nomination packages, including documentation, are due in the Office of the Associate Dean for Research (G-10 Aderhold Hall) by noon on January 17each year. Should this date fall on a weekend or holiday, nominations must be submitted by noon of the next working day. NOTE: The Awards Committee will not accept incomplete or late nominations

Evaluation Criteria and Procedures

  • The Faculty Senate Awards Committee will be the review and selection body and will forward its selections by award category to the Associate Dean for Research.
  • In all phases of the selection process, the nominee will be judged on the basis of the criteria stated above.
  • A maximum of one award in each category will be made in a given year. The committee may choose not to recommend an award in either or both categories.

Updated April 2012