University Undergraduate Teaching Awards
All of the nominations for faculty awards administered by Rackham are submitted directly through our website. This may require some changes in the way nominators put together the dossiers. Please read through this site before you begin the nomination process.
These awards were designed to honor faculty in the early stages of their careers who have demonstrated outstanding ability in teaching undergraduate students. Nominees must have: an evident commitment to students; a record of innovation in teaching and learning; notable dedication to working effectively with our diverse student body; a consistently positive effect on students’ intellectual/artistic development. Any tenure track faculty member who has been in the professorial ranks for more than two years may be nominated.
- General Information
- Guidelines for the Preparation of Nominations
- Recipients of University Undergraduate Teaching Awards
General Information
Eligibility
Any assistant or associate professor who has been in the professorial ranks for more than two years may be nominated, except that holders of Thurnau professorships are not eligible. Previous recipients of the award are not eligible. Departments and programs are encouraged to nominate women, minorities and members of other groups historically underrepresented in their disciplines.
Selection Criteria
Nominees must have: a demonstrated commitment to students; a record of innovation in teaching and learning; notable dedication to working effectively with our diverse student body; a consistently positive effect on students’ intellectual/artistic development.
Number of Awards
Each year up to 2 awards of $1,000 will be made.
Source of Nominations
Nominations may be submitted by deans, directors and department/program heads; by executive, promotion or award committees; or by individual faculty members and students. All nominations should be coordinated through the appropriate academic unit (e.g., dean’s, departmental, or program office).
Selection Process
Nominations are reviewed by an interdisciplinary selection committee comprised of faculty with a deserved reputation for outstanding undergraduate teaching. Awardees are selected by the Dean of the Graduate School based upon the recommendations of this committee. Awards will be announced by April 2012 and the awards will be formally presented at a ceremony in October 2012.
Deadline and Submission
The nomination deadline for 2012 University Undergraduate Teaching Awards is February 20, 2012, 12PM\noon EST.
For more information contact:
Pat McCune, Ph.D.
Senior Program Manager
915 East Washington Street
1130 Rackham
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1070
Telephone: 936-1647
E-mail: faculty-awards@umich.edu
Guidelines for the Preparation of Nominations
The complete instructions for submitting a nomination for this award, and the FAQ for the general process of submitting nominations online, are available here as well as on the separate nomination website.
Listed below are the eight items that must be included in the dossier before the nomination can be submitted. You will be asked to either enter text into text boxes or online forms, or upload documents in Adobe PDF format.
Before you begin, please read the section about requesting and submitting letters of support below. These letters should not be sent to you but rather submitted directly by the letter writer electronically through a separate website.
A nomination dossier can be set up by a U-M faculty or staff member. Up to six others may be given access to the site by the person who opens the dossier on the website. After a nomination dossier is started the nominator(s) and assistant(s) may login to the faculty awards nomination system as many times as needed in order to complete the nomination.
Contact Information Form
Provide in the online form all the contact information requested for both the nominee and the nominator—not the administrative contact.
Letter of Nomination
You may submit your nomination letter by uploading the document in Adobe PDF format. Or, if you would prefer to use the text box, we recommend that you write your statement in a non-web format (such as a word processing or text editor program), save a copy for your personal records, and then copy and paste the final document into the space provided.
The nomination letter may be no longer than five pages (3,400 words) in length.
The letter of nomination should be prepared by the nominee’s department/program chair or designate, or by a senior member of the faculty who knows the nominee’s record of undergraduate teaching well. If the nomination is being submitted by a department or program other than the one in which the nominee has his/her major appointment, the head of that department should also sign the letter.
This document should contain an evaluation of the nominee’s contributions as a teacher and mentor of undergraduate students, including information about:
- Development of new undergraduate courses or revitalization of existing ones.
- Strength of the nominee’s advising and mentoring skills as they relate to undergraduate teaching.
- Awards and other honors received in recognition of teaching, advising and mentoring.
- Any other course-related activities not included above.
Letters of Support
Note: Do not have the letters of support sent to you. These letters must be submitted by the writers directly to the nomination dossier through a separate website. Writers will be asked to either enter text into an online form, or upload documents in Adobe PDF format.
When you contact the letter writer with your request, direct him/her to https://secure.rackham.umich.edu/Faculty/support/ and provide the writer with the U-M ID of the nominee and name of the award. On this website the writers will find straightforward directions for submitting the letter of support for your nominee.
Once the letters have been sent into the website you will be able to read them in the nomination dossier and then select which letters you actually want to include when you submit the nomination. Only the letters you have selected will be seen by the review committee.
Nominations should include up to six letters in support of the nominee (additional letters will not be considered). At least two of these two letters must come from current and former students. The writers should reflect the full diversity of students taught by the nominee. Other letters of support may come from faculty members within the nominee’s department or program or from elsewhere in the University who can speak to the nominee’s effectiveness in teaching undergraduate students.
Each letter of support may be no longer than five pages (3,400 words) in length.
Complete and Current Curriculum Vitae
Include the nominee’s c.v. by uploading the most recent version in Adobe PDF format. Note: while information about courses taught may be in the c.v., providing that same information by completing the form below is necessary because it facilitates the review process.
Courses Form
Complete the online form by providing in the text boxes the following information for all courses, undergraduate and graduate, taught during the past eight terms: course number, course name, approximate number of students enrolled, term and year taught.
If your school/college represents course information in another format you will be able to describe this in a separate text box.
Teaching Evaluations
Please indicate the courses for which you would like us to request your nominee’s evaluation reports from The Office of Evaluations and Examinations. That office will send the summary reports on student evaluations directly to us in a digital file. This file will then be uploaded to the dossier.
If your school/college uses another mode of evaluation please contact us to determine how your nominee’s evaluations can be submitted.
Recipients of University Undergraduate Teaching Awards
2012
- Aline Cotel, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Kathleen Sienko, Mechanical Engineering
2011
- Edward Chang, Psychology
- Jamie Phillips, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
2010
- Brian Noble, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Susan Parrish, English Language & Literature
2009
- Adela Pinch, English Language & Literature and Women’s Studies
- Mika LaVaque-Manty, Political Science
2008
- Sara Blair, English Language & Literature
- Joseph Trumpey, School of Art and Design
2006-07
- Allen Hicken, Political Science, Center for Political Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies
2005-06
- David Gerdes, Physics
- Andrew Shryock, Anthropology
2004-05
- Matthew Lassiter, History
- James Diana, Natural Resources and Environment
2003-04
- James W. Cook, Jr., American Culture/History
- Steven J. Wright, Civil and Environmental Engineering
2002-03
- Trachette Jackson, Mathematics
- Karin Martin, Sociology
2001-02
- Timothy McKay, Physics
- Noel Perkins, Mechanical Engineering
2000-01
- Peter Chen, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- John Mitani, Anthropology
1999-2000
- Farnam Jananian, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Laura Olsen, Biology
1998-99
- Brian Coppola, Chemistry
- John Whittier-Ferguson, English Language & Literature
1997-98
- Betty Bell, English Language & Literature
- Gabriel Rebeiz, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
1996-97
- A. Roberto Frisancho, Anthropology
- Christopher Peterson, Psychology
- Theresa Tinkle, English Language & Literature
1995-96
- Anita Norich, English Language & Literature
- Phillip Savage, Chemical Engineering
1994-95
- Daniel Fader, English Language & Literature
- Scott Paris, Psychology
1993-94
- Sabine MacCormack, History
- Lawrence B. Radine, Sociology (Dearborn)
- Stephen H. Sumida, English/American Culture
- Herbert G. Winful, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Jens Zorn, Physics
1992-93
- Jean P. Krisch, Physics
- Patricia Yaeger, English Language & Literature
1991-92
- Bruce Karnopp, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics
- Roy Nelson, Romance Languages & Literatures
1990-91 (back to name of Amoco Awards)
- Terrence J. McDonald, History
- Kathryn Tosney, Biology
1989-90
- Donald Herzog, Political Science
- Michael D. Kennedy, Sociology
- Eric Rabkin, English Language & Literature
1988-89 (begins two-year period where the awards were known as University Teaching Awards)
- Burton V. Barnes, Natural Resources
- George H. Jones, Biology
- R. Thomas Lenaghan, English Language & Literature
1987-88
- June Howard, English/Women’s Studies
- Richard Lawton, Chemistry
- Louis Marinaro, Art
- Gregory Markus, Political Science
1986-87
- Walter H. Clark, English Language & Literature
- Harold Jacobson, Political Science
- William B. Stapp, Natural Resources
- James O. Wilkes, Chemical Engineering
1985-86
- William J. Adams, Economics
- Kenneth Lieberthal, Political Science
- Gordon M. McAlpine, Astronomy
- Jack E. McLaughlin, Mathematics
- Robert M. Owen, Atmospheric & Oceanic Science
- Ralph G. Williams, English Language & Literature
1984-85
- Frank Beaver, Communication
- Thomas F. Storer, Mathematics
- Robert A. Weisbuch, English Language & Literature
- Adon A. Gordus, Chemistry
- Roy A. Glover, Anatomy
- H. Don Cameron, Classical Studies
1983-84
- Enoch Brater, English Language & Literature
- Zvi Gitelman, Political Science
- Wilfred Kaplan, Mathematics
- Gerald F. Linderman, History
- Raji M. Rammuny, Near Eastern Studies
- Marcellus L. Wiedenbeck, Physics
1982-83
- George Bornstein, English Language & Literature
- Anthony H. Francis, Chemistry
- George Grassmuck, Political Science
- R. Glen Northcutt, Biological Sciences
- Maxwell O. Reade, Mathematics
- Paul Stewart, Art
1981-82
- William Alexander, English Language & Literature
- Helen Erickson, Nursing
- Karl T. Hecht, Physics
- Peter Hinman, Mathematics
- Michael C. Oksenberg, Political Science
- Donald R. Peacor, Geology
1980-81
- David O. Ross, Classical Studies
- Milton Tamres, Chemistry
- Gene E. Smith, Mechanical Engineering
- Samuel J. Eldersveld, Political Science
- Alphonse E. Burdi, Anatomy
- Herbert C. Burrows, Jr., English Language & Literature
1979-80
- Warren J. Hecht, Residential College
- Jack L. Goldberg, Mathematics
- Frank Grace, Political Science
- Warren H. Wagner, Jr., Biological Science
- William Martel, Radiology
1978-79
- John M. Allen, Biological Sciences
- James G. Gindin, English Language & Literature
- Eugene F. Krause, Mathematics
- Frithjof H. Bergmann, Philosophy
- Judith S. Reitman, Psychology
- Sybil Kein, English/Theatre (Flint)
1977-78
- Edna A. Coffin, Near Eastern Studies
- Eugene E. Dekker, Biological Chemistry
- Seyhan N. Ege, Chemistry
- Bert G. Hornback, English Language & Literature
1976-77
- Richard D. Alexander, Zoology
- Carl Cohen, Philosophy
- Herbert W. Hildebrandt, Business Administration/Speech
- Alan B. Howes, English Language & Literature
- Alfred G. Meyer, Political Science
1975-76
- Mark A. Chesler, Sociology
- Hansford W. Farris, Electrical Engineering
- Erasmus L. Hock, Psychology
- George W. Nace, Zoology
- Robert P. Weeks, Humanities
- Special Joint Award
- Donald E. Hultquist, Biological Chemistry
- Harvey J. Whitfield, Biological Chemistry
1974-75
- Oliver Edel, Music
- Daniel Janzenv, Zoology
- Justin Leonard, Natural Resources
- Howard Martin, Speech
- Arthur Vander, Medicine