Teaching Excellence Award

Nominations For 2012-2013 Are Now Closed

Teaching Excellence Award Program 2012-2013

Mission

To recognize and foster excellence in graduate student teaching across all disciplines on all ASU campuses.

Nominations

Nominations for outstanding graduate student teachers may be submitted by undergraduate or graduate students, staff or faculty. Nominees may be lab TAs, course instructors, or session leaders who hold a consistent teaching schedule on any ASU campus. In order to be eligible, the nominee must be teaching during the Fall or Spring semester of the current academic year and must be available for an in-class observation by a member of the TEA sub-committee. No exceptions to this policy can be made.

If you have questions about the nomination process, please contact Amanda Fischer, GPSA’s Vice President of Internal Affairs.

Deadlines

Fall nominations period opens: Monday, August 27, 2012
Fall nominations due: Friday, September 14, 2012, 5:00 PM MST
Fall nominees’ portfolios due: Monday, September 24, 2012, 5:00 MST

Spring nominations period opens: Thursday, January 10, 2013
Spring nominations due: Friday, February 15, 2013, 5:00 PM MST
Spring nominees’ portfolios due: Monday, February 25, 2013, 5:00 PM MST

2012-2013 Decisions announced: Mid- to Late April
Awards luncheon: TBA

Administration

The TEA program is run by the Office of Internal Affairs, overseen by the Vice President of Internal Affairs and the Director of Graduate Research. The TEA sub-committee (drawn from the Internal Affairs Executive Officers & Committee, GPSA Assembly, and other volunteers) evaluates nominees/applicants and determines winners. There are normally 20-25 members of the TEA sub-committee. The VP-IA, Director of Graduate Research, and members of the sub-committee are ineligible for the competition.

Specifics

  • There are two rounds of nominations and application acceptance (Fall, Spring).
  • Nominees submitting full applications (CV, teaching philosophy, course syllabus and opportune times for in-class evaluation) are evaluated, in-class, by a member of the TEA sub-committee (peer-review).
  • Winners for the entire year (Fall and Spring nominations) are decided by committee in late Spring.
  • Awards are given at TEA luncheon near the end of the Spring semester.
  • Awardees names are submitted to ASU Insight magazine, the GradStu listserv, and on the GPSA website.

Program Information

This program recognizes graduate and professional students that exemplify excellence in education and classroom instruction. Teaching assistants/associates and graduate student instructors at any ASU campus are eligible for nomination. Previous TEA recipients are not eligible to receive the award in subsequent years; however, those who are nominated again will be acknowledged with a Continuing Excellence Award demonstrating a continued commitment to superior teaching.

Any ASU undergraduate or graduate student, staff or faculty member may nominate graduate students to be recognized for outstanding teaching. This can be as a lab or classroom TA, course instructor (class-room based, hybrid, or on-line), or session leader holding a consistent teaching schedule. Nominees must have a teaching assignment during the Fall or Spring semester of the current academic year to be eligible and must be available for an in-class observation by a member of the TEA sub-committee. No exceptions can be made to this requirement.

After nomination, each eligible nominee is solicited to submit a formal application for the program by a pre-determined deadline shortly following the close of nominations. These applications are peer-reviewed by the GPSA Teaching Excellence Award sub-committee, and each applicant will be observed teaching by a member of the TEA sub-committee. Evaluation criteria include, but are not limited to, classroom/session organization and content, instructor/TA presentation style, instructor/TA-student interaction, and effective use of materials and media.

These awards are prestigious, and recipients are recognized and announced on the GPSA website, GradStu listserv, and through a Press Release to ASU Insight. Awards are announced near the end of the Spring semester.

Brief History

TEA was re-established after some hiatus during the 1st GPSA Legislative Assembly (2003-2004) by then-GPSA President Brian Collier. (The program was formerly run by the undergraduates to recognize their best TAs.) During each of its first two years, 15 excellent graduate student instructors were recognized. In 2005-2006 the program expanded to 22 awardees, partially as a result of the increasing number of truly excellent graduate instructors and TAs and partially as a result of expanding the nomination period from fall only to both fall and spring. Since that time, no fewer than 20 awards have been bestowed each year. While the monetary awards given to winners are modest, the recognition for excellent teaching from peers and students is immeasurable. We hope that the program, in some small way, helps to spark increasing efforts at innovative, highly effective teaching and learning. Moreover, those who become involved with the program often regard it as one of the most rewarding activities in which they take part with GPSA.

Questions?

This program is administered through the GPSA Office of Internal Affairs. If you have any questions, email GPSAresearch@asu.edu.

Recent Award Recipients

Please select an award year: 2011-2012 | 2010-2011 | 2009-2010 | 2008-2009 | 2007-2008