Presidential Award for Distinguished Teaching

Now in its fifth year, the Presidential Award for Distinguished Teaching is presented annually to two full-time Bridgewater State College faculty members who have taught as full-time faculty at the college for at least two years. The awardees each receive a plaque and a check for $5,000. Award winners are notified through a surprise class visit and announced at the Awards for Academic Excellence Ceremony in the Spring. A faculty member may receive this award only once. Faculty on leave during the Spring semester are not eligible for the award.

This award recognizes outstanding performance and/or innovations in teaching at either the undergraduate or graduate levels. Documentation for this award will include a nomination letter from a faculty member, a 2-3 page statement of teaching philosophy by the nominee, sample course syllabi from the previous two years, a curriculum vita, at least two letters from colleagues and two from students, teaching evaluations, other types of student feedback from the previous two years, a sample of student work, and a classroom observation by one or more members of the review committee.

The review committee will consist of three faculty who are previous award winners (including DiNardo Teaching Award winners) and three students, drawn from different schools. A non-voting administrator will serve as convener.

Nominations for a colleague may be made by any faculty member or librarian at the college. You may nominate only one colleague in a single year, from inside or outside your department. You do not need to notify the person or obtain their consent, although you are free to do so. After the deadline for nominations has passed, the committee will request of each nominee the consent to proceed and will collect the supporting documentation listed above, including names of faculty and students to contact for letters of support. Based on this documentation, the committee will select finalists for classroom visitation, including a pre- and post-class consultation with the faculty member.

The deadline for nomination letters is Friday, November 27, 2009. Nomination letters should state the reasons for the nomination and should be submitted by e-mail to andrew.harris@bridgew.edu. An approximate timeline for the selection process is given below.

Last Modified: November 2, 2009