Committee
on Teaching
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
University of California
Application Guidelines :Word
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Purpose of the award
The Distinguished Teaching Award is intended to recognize individual faculty for teaching that rises above and beyond the individual fine class to a sustained performance of excellence; this kind of teaching incites intellectual curiosity in students, inspires departmental colleagues, and makes students aware of significant relationships between the academy and the world at large.
Nature of the Award
Recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Award receive a cash award from the campus and recognition by the Academic Senate. They are honored at a public ceremony, and they are permanently indicated as Distinguished Teachers in the UC Berkeley catalog. Distinguished Teachers are frequently called upon by the campus to provide a voice in issues related to teaching. They serve on forums, panels, and committees involving teaching issues, and they are advocates for excellence at Berkeley.
Eligibility
All members of the Academic Senate and non-Senate faculty/instructors with continuing appointments are eligible.
A. The intent of the Distinguished Teaching Award is to recognize faculty members who have established a sustained a varied record of teaching excellence. At minimum, nominees must have taught at least six regularly scheduled courses in the last eight semesters in residence. Evidence of accomplishment does not necessarily require long years of service, which in themselves would not be considered sufficient grounds for recognition.
B. The Committee on Teaching believes that excellence in teaching and excellence in creative and scholarly work—both essential duties of Senate faculty members—go hand in hand. Therefore, Senate faculty members who are nominated will be those who have successfully united these two roles.
C. Lecturers are judged on their excellence in teaching and their contributions to the teaching mission of the University.
D. Part of the selection process involves classroom visits by members of the Committee on Teaching. All nominees must therefore be scheduled to teach during the Spring 2012 semester; if not, then the Committee cannot accept the nomination.
E. Only one candidate should be nominated by a department in any year.
Selection criteria
There is no one way to be a Distinguished Teacher. Therefore the Committee on Teaching cannot provide one single set of absolute criteria or rely on one kind of evidence. The Committee draws criteria from a number of sources, including but not limited to, the University of California Academic Personnel Manual, Section D, Criteria for Appointment, Promotion, and Appraisal, and the Committee on Teaching’s policy on the Evaluation of Teaching for Advancement and Promotion (Spring 1987).
Awards Ceremony
Each year, near the end of spring semester, UC Berkeley’s distinguished teachers are honored in a public ceremony to recognize their achievements. The 2012 Ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 26, 2012 beginning at 5 p.m. Nominee’s schedules must be free for this date.
Criteria for Teaching Excellence
In general Distinguished Teachers will excel in the following areas:
• Command of the subject.
• Continuous growth in the field of study.
• Ability to organize course material and to present it cogently.
• Effective design and redesign of courses.
• Ability to inspire in students independent and original thinking.
• Ability to encourage intellectual interests in beginning students and to stimulate advanced students to creative work.
• Enthusiasm and vitality in learning and teaching.
• Guidance of student research projects, both undergraduate and graduate.
• Participation in advising students.
• Participation in guiding and supervising Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs).
• Ability to respond to a diverse student body.
In addition, the Committee seeks evidence from a wide variety of sources, detailed below in sections Nomination Process: Stage One and Stage Two.
Nomination Process
Since the nomination process can be time-consuming, the Committee has divided it into two stages. In the first stage, less information is required. Those candidates recommended for Stage Two will be asked to submit more substantial information.
Please note that it is the requirement of the Committee that a candidate not be informed of a Stage One nomination. The Committee wishes to minimize the number of candidates who pass nearly a whole academic year in anticipation of an award that may not be conferred. Only if a nominee is forwarded to Stage II should the nominator inform the candidate.
While the nomination needs to be approved and submitted by the department chair, vice-chair for instruction, or other appropriate official, the nomination itself might be initiated by anyone in a department, including students.
In order to simplify the nomination process for both the department and the Committee, we have provided a number of forms which are to be used to provide the information requested below.
Stage One
Deadline: Friday, October 7, 2011
Materials to be submitted via bSpace (instructions below):
a. Nominating letter: No more than 2000 words, from the department chair or head of the departmental committee on teaching, etc. This letter carries a great deal of weight in the Stage One nomination. It will show, among other things, how the nominee clearly rises above otherwise good teaching in the department, how the nominee’s research and teaching work together, and how students respond to the teaching. Please see Criteria for Teaching Excellence, above, for some guidance.
b. Spreadsheet containing a chronological list of all courses taught during the last eight semesters of residence, along with a quantitative summary and comparison of student evaluations of those courses. Use the “2012 Quantitative Summary” document.
c. Grade distribution charts for any two courses offered in the most recent four semesters of residence. Use the “Grade Distribution” spreadsheet.
e. Raw student evaluations gathered for the same two courses in (d). Do not submit summary data, but rather the evaluations themselves with student comments.
f. Nominee’s fall 2011 and spring 2012 “Teaching Schedule.” Members of the Committee on Teaching will observe classes of those nominees advanced to Stage 2 and may visit in late fall if time permits.
Submission InstructionsLog onto bSpace with your Calnet I.D. In “My Workspace” click on “Membership.”Click on “Joinable Sites.” A list of all sites will appear, and you can search for “2012 Distinguished Teaching Award Nominations.” When you get to that site, click “Join.” When you sign up to be a member of the site, a “drop box” will automatically be created for you. It can be found by clicking on “drop box” in the left-hand menu. It will be in your name, rather than the nominee’s name. Once we receive all the materials, we’ll move them to a folder with the nominee’s name. Only members of the Committee on Teaching will have access to any of these folders. In the “Resources” section you will find the necessary forms and spreadsheets. When you have completed those forms, simply put them in the drop box, along with the nominating letter and a zip file of the raw student evaluations. Please feel free to contact teaching@berkeley.edu, with “DTA” in the subject line if you have questions or problems.
Stage Two
After reviewing the nominations from Stage One, the Committee on Teaching will select a number of nominees for further consideration.
Deadline: Friday, February 10, 2012 by 5:00pm
Materials (should be submitted to DTA bSpace site):
a. A reflective statement by the candidate of teaching goals, objectives, and experiences, not to exceed 1,000 words.
b. Candidate’s curriculum vitae.
c. List of teaching responsibilities outside the classroom. Use form“Teaching Responsibilities Outside the Classroom.”
Evaluations and charts for two courses were submitted in Stage One. In Stage Two, evaluations and charts for two additional courses should be submitted, as follows:
d. Grade distribution charts and grading policies from two additional courses in the most recent four semesters of residence. Use “Grade Distribution” Spreadsheet".
e. Raw student evaluations from the courses in (d).
f. Letters of support: No more than eight total, including at least three (3) from current or former undergraduates; at least two (2) from current or former graduate students (including GSIs); and at least one (1) from a colleague (campus or off-campus), including, when available, from a colleagues who has recently observed the candidate’s class. No letters longer than 1,000 words should be submitted.
g. Class materials for any one of the four courses for which evaluations have been submitted. Materials might include syllabi, handouts, tests, assignments, and so on. When available from a website, or through bSpace, please simply provide the URL .
Questions? Please contact: teaching@berkeley.edu. Please note "2012 DTA" in subject heading.