Excellence in Teaching Awards

Recipients for 2007-2008 - Patricia Kim-Rajal and Sunil Tiwari

Preamble. These annual awards recognize and reward excellence in teaching at Sonoma State University. Each year the award honors two Sonoma State University faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to the education of Sonoma State students through classroom instruction and other activities that promote student learning. These awards provide students and faculty an opportunity to reflect on the importance of teaching at Sonoma State University and in particular the contributions that award recipients have made to students’ intellectual and moral growth and development.

Eligibility: Any member of the instructional, library or student affairs faculty, any administrator, or staff member who teaches credit-bearing courses may be nominated. To be eligible, the nominee must have taught at SSU for at least four semesters during the previous five academic years, one of those semesters being in the academic year in which the nomination occurs.

Nomination and Selection Process: Anyone in the SSU campus community may submit nominations. A call for nominations will be published in both the NewsBytes campus newsletter and in the SSU Star newspaper, and will be distributed by e-mail on the SenateTalk listserve and through other e-mail distribution lists. A nomination form will be available in the Academic Senate Office, and also on the SSU Web site. A list of those who have accepted nomination will be published.

Nominated Faculty will submit to the Academic Senate Office, no later than the First Friday in March, the following dossier:

• A curriculum vitae of no more than 5 pages

• A two page statement of teaching philosophy

• Supplemental materials of no more than 10 pages that might include additional letters of reference from students, sample course syllabi, statements of recognition from former students or from the community.

After the list of nominees has been published, anyone may submit signed comments regarding nominees.

The Executive Committee of the Academic Senate will appoint two previous recipients of the award serving staggered two-year terms and the Associated Students will appoint a student representative serving a single year term to a selection committee.

Once a person is nominated and has submitted their dossier that person will remain in the pool of nominees until selected or until that person withdraws from consideration through a written request, provided that the eligibility requirements continue to be met.

Criteria for Evaluation of Nominees. The selection committee shall select to receive the award those persons in the current pool of nominees whom they deem to be exemplars of excellence in teaching because of their quality of instruction, their creation of an academic environment that successfully encourages high intellectual aspiration and achievement, their effectiveness in mentoring students, and their promotion of learning outside the classroom.

When there is a sufficient number of nominees one award shall honor a non-tenured faculty member and one shall honor a tenured faculty member. The purpose of dividing the nominees into two groups is to encourage and promote excellence in teaching at all stages of faculty members’ careers.

Announcement of Award: The Committee will announce the award the mid April.

Ruben Arminana, President; Bernie & Estelle Goldstein, donors; Wayne Rowlands, alumni & donor
The Excellence in Teaching Award display is on the third floor of the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center.

Calendar
Excellence in Teaching Award

Call for nominations - First Friday in February

Nominations due and names published - Third Friday in February

Dossiers due from nominees - First Friday in March

Due date for signed comments - Third Friday in March

Committee announces decision - early April

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