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, and the unit name will be 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). The Ferritor Award is co-sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the Provost, and the Teaching Academy.
Past Winners of the Award
2024 - Curriculum and Instruction
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 October 30, 2024. 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, 2025. 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):
- How does your department demonstrate its sustained commitment to teaching excellence?
- How does your department measure excellence in teaching and learning?
- How does your department demonstrate commitment to faculty development for teaching?
- 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:
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
Frequently Asked Questions
Gathering information and developing the award packet is a time-consuming task. The Daniel E. Ferritor Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching committee wanted to ease the strain on the department/unit by dividing the submission into two parts. Two submission dates also allow the units to see if some additional data might be needed and address any data gaps.
No, only applications submitted in two parts will be considered by the selection committee.
There is no defined type of support documentation. Departments/units can provide anything that further illustrates or enhances topics discussed in each section. Some examples of support documentation include departmental teaching workshop flyers and newsletters, grading rubrics, pictures of teaching-focused events, surveys completed by undergraduate/graduate students that focus on effective pedagogy, etc.
Yes, past award winners, Health Human Performance Recreation and Curriculum and Instruction, have agreed to provide their submissions for review by department/units interested in developing a submission for the award.
Yes, a department/unit that does not win the award can have their previous submission considered for a maximum of two years. In addition, if a department asks for this consideration, they will be allowed to update their submission packet prior to the next award review.
- Fund workshops, conferences, or training sessions for faculty focused on innovative teaching methods.
- Bring in guest speakers or experts to conduct seminars on pedagogy.
- Allocate funds to support faculty in developing or redesigning courses, notably to include more interactive or experiential learning components.
- Support departmental team-teaching initiatives.
- Organize student-centered events, workshops, or study groups to enhance learning outside the classroom.
- Support research projects focused on improving teaching methodologies or assessing the effectiveness of instructional innovations.
- Fund pilot programs to test new teaching strategies or technologies with the potential to scale successful ones.