Teaching Award of Excellence
The NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence is presented to one individual who demonstrates excellence in post-secondary instruction in agriculture. To qualify for the award, a NACTA member must have previously received the NACTA Teacher Fellow Award and currently be on a full-time appointment involving at least 25% teaching. A committee of NACTA members reviews applications. Criteria included in the evaluation are the instructor's teaching philosophy; a statement about the nominee's promotion and enhancement of teaching at the university, state, regional and/or national level; evaluations submitted by current students, alumni, administrative officers, and peers; a self-evaluation as well as factors such as availability to students, teaching innovations, and departmental/institutional activity. Recipients receive a plaque and $1,500.00.
The NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence is based upon evaluations of dossiers submitted on behalf of nominees by nominators such as you. The dossier you submit should contain:
- Inclusion of the NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence Check List at the beginning of the nominee's file.
- Evidence of an individual NACTA membership for at least five of the past seven years (be sure an address this). Membership will be verified with the NACTA Secretary.
- Evidence that the nominee has been on a full-time appointment involving at least 25% teaching for at least five of the past seven years is required. (A statement by an academic administrative officer will suffice.)
- Nominee for the NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence must have received the NACTA Regional Outstanding Teacher Fellow at least three years prior to being nominated for this award. Nominee must clearly state when they received both the Teacher Fellow and Regional awards. Verification will be made with the NACTA Secretary.
- An essay by the nominee on his or her philosophy of teaching is required. This must not exceed five typewritten (double-spaced) pages.
- Statement about the nominee's promotion and enhancement of teaching at the university, state, regional and/or national level.
- Evaluations of the nominee's teaching by recent (last three years) students must be included. Since most institutions have an in-house teacher evaluation system, a summary of recent data on the nominee's performance as assessed by the home institution's system is appropriate. Such an analysis must be accompanied by appropriate interpretive materials and a copy of the evaluation instrument employed. The NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form - Current Student may be used if the nominee's home institution does not collect and analyze student evaluations or to supplement your institution's in-house evaluation system (include no more than ten evaluations).
- Evaluations of the nominee's teaching by recent (last 5 years) alumni. At least five (preferably up to ten) evaluations by recent graduates should be provided using the NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form - Alumnus/Alumna. This may be supplemented by alumni letters.
- An evaluation of the nominee's performance should be provided by at least one, but not more than three academic administrative officers using the NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form -Administrative Officer. This may be supplemented by a letter.
- An evaluation of the nominee's performance should be provided by at least one, but not more than three peers using the NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form - Peer. This may be supplemented by a letter.
- The nominee should provide a self-evaluation of his or her professional involvement with NACTA. This may be in the form of an essay not to exceed three typewritten (double-spaced) pages.
- The nominee should provide a self-evaluation of his or her professional activities, included should be evidence of: availability to students, ability to attract and motivate students, use of current, innovative and effective teaching methods, current in subject matter, scholarly activities, active participation in departmental and institutional affairs, mediator of the campus culture and link to the public, and student related activities.
*** Note: Nominees who are not selected for this award may be considered the following year without updating their files, but new copies must be submitted to the Chair of the Teacher Recognition Committee. However, a nominee can and may wish to update the packet if additional supportive material would enhance the nomination.
Special Instructions:
Attendance at annual meeting: Nominees should recognize that NACTA and sponsors expect awardees to be present at the annual conference to receive their awards. A consent of nomination implies that the nominee has an intention and, if selected for an award, will make a reasonable attempt to attend the annual conference. The 2010 annual conference will be held June 22 to 25 in State College, PA. All award recipients are expected to participate/make presentations at future NACTA conferences.
A photograph and short biography of each award recipient will be included in the awards program at the annual conference. Submit a biography not to exceed 250 words in WordPerfect or Word format, along with a good picture in the form of a JPG or GIF file (the larger/better quality, the better your picture will be). The biography and picture should be sent via e-mail to the Chair of the Teacher Recognition Committee.
Postmark deadline for all nomination materials is March 1, 2010.
First impressions do count. Some attention to neatness of organization, format, and presentation of dossiers can make a difference.
The nominator should submit four file copies for each person nominated. Receipt of the nomination packet will be acknowledged. Note: Copies of the file will not be returned, so the nominator should not send the original file.
A cover page should include the following information:
- Name, title, professional address, telephone number, e-mail address of the nominator;
- Name, title, professional address, telephone number, e-mail address of the nominee;
- A list of the awards for which the nominee is being nominated.
Score Form for NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence
