Daniel E. Ferritor Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching

The Daniel E. Ferritor Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching is awarded annually to the department or academic unit on campus that best displays excellence in teaching. This department will receive $10,000 and a trophy, as well as having the unit name placed on a university plaque housed in that department for a year. In addition, the department or academic unit will be asked to present and discuss their successful submission at one Teaching Academy or Teaching and Faculty Support Center (TFSC) monthly event. The Ferritor Award is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Teaching Academy. 

Past Winners of the Award

2023 - School of Human Environmental Science 

2022 - Health Human Performance Recreation

2021--Sociology and Criminology

2020--Eleanor Mann School of Nursing

2019--School of Social Work

2018--Department of Industrial Engineering

2017--Department of History

Eligibility

All academic tenure-home units are eligible to apply for the award.  The winner will not be eligible for the following two academic years.

Academic units that are not identified as the winner can have their submission considered for a maximum of two years following the initial submission.  

Submission Deadlines 

Applications will be submitted in two phases.

The first phase should include five-page responses to criteria 1 and 2 and supporting documentation. The deadline for this submission is November 30, 2023.  Applications can be uploaded using the online form. Please upload materials in one pdf document.

The second phase should include five-page responses to criteria 3 and 4, supporting documentation, and a one-page executive summary. The deadline for this submission is January 30, 2024. The total submission page allotment is ten pages, excluding the executive summary, references, and the cover page. 

Criteria for Selection

Applications will be evaluated on the following four criteria (please see the examples below): 

  1. How does your department demonstrate its sustained commitment to teaching excellence?
  2. How does your department measure excellence in teaching and learning?
  3. How does your department demonstrate commitment to faculty development for teaching?
  4. How does your department demonstrate commitment to student success? 

Selection Process

The seven-member selection committee, comprised of four members of the Teaching Academy—including the president—and three faculty at-large appointed by the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, will review the documents, assess how they reflect the four criteria detailed below and choose one recipient of the Daniel E. Ferritor Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching.  The committee will complete the selection process by February 28. The winning unit will be recognized during the Teaching and Faculty Support Faculty Awards Reception. 

Examples of the Four Criteria

Applications will be assessed on the following four criteria:

  1. How does your department demonstrate its sustained commitment to teaching excellence? 
    Examples include:
    • Offers activities or structures that establish a positive and inclusive instructional climate for tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track faculty, and graduate assistants
    • Incentivizes and recognizes teaching excellence
    • Applies rigorous evaluations of teaching quality to tenure/promotion decisions
    • Demonstrates a commitment to collaborative and interdisciplinary teaching within the unit and/or the college/university
  2. How does your department measure excellence in teaching and learning?
    Examples include:
    • Monitors teaching effectiveness by methods beyond standard student evaluations; these could include additional feedback from current and former students, staff, employers, graduate schools, and other departments and peer review by fellow faculty
    • Utilizes feedback from unit constituencies in an ongoing, data-driven instructional improvement and curricular revision process
    • Addresses the educational program as a whole, with attention to majors, minors, general education, elective courses, and service offerings for students on and off campus
    • Tracks exemplary academic and professional success of current and former students
  3. How does your department demonstrate commitment to faculty development for teaching?
    Examples include:
    • Provides orientation, feedback and mentoring for new faculty and teaching assistants
    • Provides departmental discussions on effective teaching, encourages attendance and presentations at teaching conferences, and research and publication on teaching and learning
    • Provides evidence of faculty efforts to adopt innovative and effective pedagogies and instructional technology that have improved teaching and learning
    • Provides evidence of faculty involvement and ownership of the teaching mission and curriculum development within the department
  4. How does your department demonstrate commitment to student success?
    Examples include:
    • Demonstrates that academic excellence and serving the needs of all students are top priorities for the unit
    • Promotes student development by offering exemplary programs for recruiting, advising, mentoring, and retaining students
    • Provides and supports student learning opportunities outside the classroom, including meetings, internships, co-curricular activities, and research experiences
    • Creates an inclusive culture by involving students in departmental teaching decisions, activities, and appropriate committees