ALUMNI DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR AWARD ($5,000)

Georgia State University views the “Teacher-Scholar” as the ideal for University faculty. Thus, scholarship and teaching are heavily weighted in the evaluation process. Service, while important, is given somewhat less weight. It is expected that the Alumni Distinguished Professor will have the rank of professor with significant and noteworthy achievements in all three categories.

Scholarship is judged for quantity and quality as defined in the discipline. Scholarship may include refereed and invited publications, grants for the support of scholarship, invited and contributed presentations, exhibitions, inventions and patents, published software, etc. Information on scholarship is obtained principally from a nominee’s curriculum vitae. Information is also obtained from letters of reference, particularly those from colleagues outside GSU.

Teaching is evaluated in a variety of ways, although the most direct evidence of distinguished teaching would be evidence of student learning. Both classroom instruction and one-on-one direction of individual students are of importance. Pertinent information may include theses, dissertations and undergraduate projects directed; student achievement (evidence of mastery of materials, publications, presentations); innovative instructional approaches; and courses or programs developed. Information on teaching can be obtained from assessments of learning, curriculum vitae, letters of reference from students and GSU colleagues, and student evaluations.

Service activities consist of service to the profession and GSU and discipline-based service to the community. Relevant activities include service to the profession such as offices held and participation in professional organizations, editorship and editorial board services, refereeing manuscripts and proposals, etc:, service to the community in which professional expertise is shared with the community; and service to GSU such as committees, advisement, etc. Information on service is obtained from curriculum vitae as well as from the letters of reference. Letters of reference are solicited by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs on behalf of nominees from two professional colleagues outside GSU, one GSU colleague, and one present or former student. Deans and Chairs of nominees are also invited to submit reference letters.

OUTSTANDING FACULTY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ($2,500)

The Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award recognizes a tenure-track faculty member who has been at Georgia State University for four to ten years and whose rank is below Professor. The selection criteria are otherwise the same as for the Alumni Distinguished Professor Award, that is, excellence in all three areas of scholarship, teaching, and service.The following two awards are open to all full-time faculty at GSU. Noting that the number and level of submissions may vary from year to year, these awards may not be given every year.

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE AWARD ($1,500)

The purpose of this award is to recognize an extraordinary accomplishment in discipline-related service to the community by a faculty member. Community is not meant to be limiting; it can be anything from the local to the global community.  This exceptional service must be accompanied by excellence in scholarship and teaching. Nominees will be invited to submit a summary (up to three pages) describing the exceptional service and its impact, a summary (up to two pages) describing excellence in scholarship and teaching, and a curriculum vitae.Letters of reference will be solicited by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs on behalf of nominees from three external persons qualified to evaluate exceptional service, two GSU colleagues, and two present or former students. Deans and Chairs are also invited to submit reference letters.

INSTRUCTIONAL AWARDS

The instructional awards may be given to an individual faculty member, a group of faculty members, or a faculty-led team. Self-nominations are welcomed. The awards are open to all full-time faculty members at GSU. Because submissions may vary over time, one or both of the awards may not be given every year. Nominees should send the documentation to the Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, within thirty days of the close of nominations. The documentation may be in the form of web pages (in which case, the nominee would send the URL for a contents page) or in the form of word processing files (sent as email attachments). Either form may incorporate references to additional files that would be helpful in documenting the instruction and learning effectiveness, e.g., publications in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

INSTRUCTIONAL INNOVATION AWARD ($1,500)

The purpose of the Instructional Innovation Award is to recognize and share at the university level outstanding innovations in teaching that result in improved learning. Nominees for the award should submit the following information about the instructional innovation:

For this award, the evaluation criteria are the strength of the learning principles or theories, the persuasiveness of the analyses of evidence of improved learning, and the potential of the innovation as a model for application across other courses and programs.

INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AWARD ($1,500)

The purpose of the Instructional Effectiveness Award is to recognize and share at the university level outstanding approaches in instruction that are effective in enabling learning. Nominees for the award should submit the following information about the instructional approach and its effectiveness: ·         A summary of the approach and the learning associated with it (150-word maximum) ·         A discussion of the following aspects (1,000-word maximum altogether):

For this award, the evaluation criteria are the strength of the learning principles or theories, the persuasiveness of the analyses of evidence of learning effectiveness, and the potential of the approach as a model for application across other courses and programs.

DEPARTMENTAL INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AWARD

The Departmental Instructional Effectiveness Award is to recognize and share at the university level outstanding work in promoting and documenting student learning. The Provost will award two departments a $250 per tenure-track faculty supplement to their non-personal budget for the fiscal year following their selection. Winning departments will also have their name added to a plaque that recognizes the annual winners. Departments will be in one of two categories: professional programs with accreditation associations; programs without accreditation bodies. No nominations are necessary. A faculty committee will select the winning departments from the annual reports on student learning outcomes that are submitted by all departments as part of their Annual Report.