Nominations are submitted by Deans Offices to the Pew FTLC ([email protected]) by November 1 at 5 p.m. While each college sets its own internal process and deadline for the initial review, the Pew FTLC encourages college committees to uphold the ideals of inclusive excellence throughout the nomination process. Contact your Dean’s Office to inquire about internal deadlines for nominations and materials to be submitted to the college Dean’s Office for review.

Each college may nominate one faculty member to be considered for each Pew Teaching Excellence Award (exception: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which nominates up to five faculty members).

Nominations are submitted electronically – there is no longer a need to submit a paper copy of nominations. In the event that a supporting item is not readily submitted via email, it can be brought to the Pew FTLC office (068 Zumberge Hall) to be made available to the members of the teaching awards review committee.

Brad Ambrose from Physics has graciously agreed to grant access to his University Outstanding Teacher Award packet for those interested in seeing a sample set of nomination materials. A GVSU login is required in order to view this file.  

The criteria for the Pew Teaching Excellence Awards and the University Outstanding Teacher Award can be found on the webpages and nomination cover sheets for each award.

• Pew Teaching Excellence Award
• Pew Teaching Excellence Award for Adjunct Faculty
• Pew Teaching with Technology Award
• The Burch, Jacobs & Moore Diversity Teaching Excellence Award
• Pew Excellence Award for Teaching and Learning Enrichment
   
• University Outstanding Teacher Award

The supporting materials listed below are required for the following awards:

• Pew Teaching Excellence Award
• Pew Teaching Excellence Award for Adjunct Faculty
• Pew Teaching with Technology Award
• The Burch, Jacobs & Moore Diversity Teaching Excellence Award
   

1. Nomination Cover Sheet
    
2. Three artifacts
   • Description of Teaching Excellence
     • Statement authored by the nominee, emphasizing pedagogy and reflection on teaching experiences over time (1-2 pages in length)
       
       For Library Faculty, Description of Professional Excellence - Statement authored by the nominee, emphasizing reflection on professional practice over time. This includes teaching and/or support for teaching (1-2 pages in length)
        
   • Sample teaching material
     • Carefully selected item that best represents teaching excellence. Examples include: syllabus, assignment, project guidelines, teaching tool, self-authored learning object
        
   • Evidence of impact on student learning
     • A single item demonstrating impact on student learning. Examples include: student evaluations from a course, peer observation report, or student project sample (shared with permission)
        
3. Three letters of support
   • Two letters of support from faculty colleagues
   • One letter of support from a student (current or past)
      

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The supporting materials listed below are required for the Pew Excellence Award for Teaching and Learning Enrichment:

1. Nomination cover sheet
    
2. Three Artifacts
   • Reflective statement authored by the nominee, emphasizing reflection on the award criteria and contributions to the teaching and learning environment on campus (1-2 pages in length)
      
   • Two pieces of evidence, such as publications, presentations, lesson plans, tools, guides, reports and whitepapers, project or workflow plans, open educational resources, open data sets, digital scholarship, or other documentation
      
3. Two letters of support from individuals with knowledge of the nominee's abilities and commitment to the teaching and learning environment on campus (faculty, staff, or students)

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The supporting materials listed below are required for the University Outstanding Teacher Award:

1. Nomination Cover Sheet
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Reflective statement addressing the following areas:  (a) a description of the nominee's teaching philosophy and (b) a reflection on teaching experiences over time (up to two pages)
4. Two syllabi, from different courses
5. Two assignments
6. Two examinations or other final assessment in a course
7. Student evaluations from all courses taught in previous two years, arranged by semester
8. Two letters of support from faculty colleagues who have knowledge of the nominee's ability as a teacher and who are not committee members.  The letters should address the criteria for the award.
9. Two letters of support from students, at least one of whom is currently enrolled and at least one of whom is an alumnus/a.  The letters should address the criteria for the award.
    

Please note: no additional materials beyond these items will be accepted.

Only full-time tenured faculty are eligible for the University Outstanding Teacher Award.
 

All faculty, regular (tenure-track), affiliate, and visiting who have taught full-time at GVSU for a minimum of six semesters are eligible for the Pew Teaching Excellence Awards. (This includes the following: Pew Teaching Excellence Award, Pew Teaching with Technology Award, The Burch, Jacobs & Moore Diversity Teaching Excellence Award and the Pew Excellence Award for Teaching and Learning Enrichment). The semesters do not need to have been contiguous.
 

A faculty member may not be nominated for any other teaching award during the year that they are nominated for an award.
 

A faculty member may not receive the same award more than once every ten years.
 

There are two awards in Pew Teaching Excellence Award for Adjunct Faculty category, with different eligibility and frequency as follows:

1. Pew Teaching Excellence Award for Adjunct Faculty
   • Adjunct faculty who have taught at GVSU a minimum of six semesters are eligible
   • Full-time Administrative Professional (AP) employees of Grand Valley are not eligible
   • This is an annual award
2. Pew Teaching Excellence Award for AP Status Adjunct Faculty
   • Full-time Administrative Professional (AP) employees of Grand Valley who are also adjunct faculty and have taught at GVSU a minimum of six semesters are eligible
   • This is a biannual award and will next be given in the 2025-2026 academic year

Recipients are selected by the Teaching Excellence Awards Sub-committee of the Faculty Teaching and Learning Center Advisory Committee (FTLCAC). The Sub-committee – convened by a member of the Pew FTLC staff – comprises five faculty from the FTLCAC (two from CLAS, two from the other colleges on a rotating basis, and one graduate faculty member), one student, and the Information Technology representative to FTLCAC (ex officio).
 

Final selection of the recipient of the University Outstanding Teacher Award is made by the Provost. The recipient is recommended to the Provost by the Teaching Excellence Awards Sub-Committee.
 

Members of the Teaching Excellence Awards Sub-committee may not nominate or support candidates for any teaching award. If nominated for an award, any Sub-committee member must recuse him or herself from the selection process.

The Sub-committee will forward the names of award recipients to the Pew FTLC who then shares the information with the Provost and relevant Dean by December 15. The Pew FTLC will inform the recipient of his or her selection and also will inform nominees who are not selected. For the University Outstanding Teacher Award, the Provost will inform the recipient of his or her selection and the Pew FTLC will inform nominees who are not selected. The awards are presented at the Faculty Awards Convocation.

Each year, up to seven Pew Teaching Excellence Awards, two Teaching with Technology Awards, and one of each of the other awards will be given. Teaching Excellence Award recipients receive $500. The University Outstanding Teaching Award recipient receives $1000.