The University Distinguished Teaching Award, formerly the Good Teaching Awards Program, was introduced by the Standard Oil (Indiana) Foundation in 1966. The purpose of the program is to recognize excellence in teaching performance at the undergraduate level and to provide an incentive to achieve that goal. The University of Oklahoma has participated in the program since 1968. In 1973, the name of the foundation was changed to the AMOCO Foundation, Inc and was changed to BP Amoco in the late 1990s. In 2003, the award was changed to the Good Teaching Award. In 2019, the award was renamed at the University Distinguished Teaching Award.
The purpose of the University Distinguished Teaching Award is to recognize excellence in teaching performance at the undergraduate level and to provide an incentive to achieve that goal.
CRITERIA
Full-time regular and non-regular faculty members of the University of Oklahoma from an academic program with an undergraduate component are eligible to receive the University Distinguished Teaching Award. The faculty member must have been a University of Oklahoma employee during the period for which the outstanding contributions are being recognized; previous accomplishments at other institutions, if applicable, may be used in support of a continued outstanding performance in the area of the specific award.
Those holding distinguished professorships are not eligible. Persons receiving the Regents' Award for Superior Teaching, Research and Creative Activity, and Professional and University Service, are not eligible during the year of their award. A person who has received a University Distinguished Teaching Award (previously known as the Good Teaching Award) is not eligible for the next three years after he or she receives it.
NOMINATION PROCEDURES
The Senior Vice President and Provost of Norman campus will solicit recommendations for the award by September 15 of each year and announce appropriate schedules for processing the nominations. Furthermore, the solicitations will be posted on the appropriate campus website.
Nominations may derive from department chairs or unit directors, elected members of departmental/unit Committee A, a departments/unit's approved nomination committee, Center leaders, or a group of faculty who are familiar with the nominee's qualifications for the award. Only one nomination by an academic unit or other nominating group of faculty is allowed. The nominating entity will be responsible for assembling the nomination packets including supporting documentation.
Nominations shall be forwarded to the respective dean for review and endorsement. An optional letter from the dean, if included, will focus on evaluatory comments regarding the quality and significance of the nominee's impact on the broader OU mission. The dean's letter will not count towards the 25-page limit outlined below. The dean will forward the nomination materials to the respective Senior Vice President and Provost by November 1.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Nomination packets must include the following, not to exceed 25 pages combined. Substantiating data should relate directly to the individual’s teaching effectiveness at the undergraduate level:
In addition, the nomination packet must also include letters of support. No more than five letters should be included. Additional letters will be removed. Letters may come from current or former students, student organizations, faculty colleagues, alumni, department chairs, members of Committee A, or others familiar with evaluating the individual’s teaching effectiveness at the undergraduate level. These letters of support will not count toward the 25-page limit.
SELECTION PROCEDURES
The University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors shall consider only the formal nominations. The Council may seek additional data about the nominees from supplemental sources, as appropriate. The Council shall forward to the Senior Vice President and Provosts its recommendation(s). The Council also shall transmit all substantiating materials pertaining to all nominees.
The Senior Vice President and Provosts will review the nomination materials and the Council’s recommendation(s), and will forward their recommendation(s) by February 1, along with all nominations and all substantiating material pertaining to all nominees, to the President.
AWARDS
Each awardee will receive a one-time award of $3,000 and a framed certificate. The recipient will be announced for Norman Campus at the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony and for the Health Sciences Center at the Spring General Faculty meeting.
The University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors (UCFAH) requests that the following guidelines are followed for nominations submitted for the following University awards:
David L Boren Professorship • David Ross Boyd Professorship • Regents' Awards (Superior Teaching, Superior Research and Creative Activity, Superior Professional and University Service) • University Distinguished Teaching Award
PLEASE NOTE: To prepare dossiers for Presidential Professorships, George Lynn Cross Research Professorships, and Provost's Awards, please refer to these particular awards for specific requirements.
ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF NOMINATIONS
An electronic dossier for each nomination is to be submitted by the Dean's Office, via email, to the Provost's Office for placement on a secure website accessible to University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors members only.
HARD COPY NOMINATIONS
Hard copy dossiers (one unbound copy) are still required for departmental and college review committees, the Dean, the Provost, and the President. FOLDERS AND NOTEBOOKS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE. Double-sided copying of the materials in the dossier is encouraged wherever possible to reduce volume and weight. DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS.
FACULTY AWARDS COVER PAGE No other cover document will be accepted.
ONE PAGE INDEX
THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED (not to exceed 25 pages):
Letter of Nomination (no more than 7 single spaced pages for Distinguished Professorships, no more than 3 singled spaced pages for other awards)
This is the most important part of the application and should be written with that in mind. It should describe the nominee's impact on the scholarly and overall professional development of the students they teach and mentor. It should also outline the candidate’s qualifications for the award and be a synopsis of the entire application. The letter must point out how the candidate meets the requirements for the award. Look at the criteria for selection and address each point. Include innovative teaching, research or service. The letter should be in plain English without jargon and technical terms. The nominator should distinguish between normal (expected) faculty performance and extraordinary achievements.
Short Biography (about 100 words) highlighting the nominee's most significant accomplishments and written for a general audience.
Customized Vitae that contains the relevant information pertaining to the accomplishments being cited for the award consideration
Additional document(s) (not counted towards the 25-page limit):
Letters of Support
No more than 5 letters total. It is wise to solicit more letters than can be used then select from those the most appropriate to include in the application. Letters should be limited to 5 or fewer pages and specifically address award criteria. Additional letters will be removed.
David L. Boren Professorship (Required): Letters from nationally or internationally recognized experts in the nominee’s area of expertise. The letters should include 2 for research/scholarly activity, 1 for teaching, and 1 for service/outreach.
David Ross Boyd Professorship (Required): Of the 5, no more than 3 letters from students or student groups.
Regents' Professorship (Optional): Letters can be either internal or external, but favoring at least two external letters. Letters must specially address the criteria of the Professorship.
Regents' Awards (Optional): Include letters from students, current or graduate, OU faculty, or professional colleagues. For teaching awards, letters from students are appropriate; whereas letters from professional colleagues are suitable for research awards. Service awards should be supported by letters from other faculty or individuals who have worked with the candidate in service-related areas.
University Distinguished Teaching Award (Required): Letters may come from current or former students, student organizations, faculty colleagues, alumni, department chairs, or others familiar with evaluating the individual’s teaching effectiveness at the undergraduate level.
Other Supporting Materials
Letter from the College Dean (Optional)
This letter will focus on evaluatory comments regarding the quality and significance of the nominee's impact on the broader OU mission.
In accordance with Regents' policy, only one nomination by an academic unit or other nominating group of faculty is allowed for each of the Regents’ Awards (teaching, research and creative activity, and professional and university service).
*The nomination packet should contain only the items listed above unless stated otherwise *
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