[comp.edu] Education Awards?

jff@groucho (Jim Frenzel) (11/09/90)

Our Electrical Engineering department is considering faculty annual
faculty awards for teaching and research.  I would be interested in
hearing from other schools with similar awards how nominations are
collected and evaluated.

-- 
===========================================================
  Jim Frenzel             Electrical Engineering
  University of Idaho     Moscow, ID 83843
  208-885-7888            jfrenzel@groucho.mrc.uidaho.edu

gln@cs.arizona.edu (Gary Newell) (11/09/90)

In article <1990Nov08.234642.29304@groucho>, jff@groucho (Jim Frenzel) writes:
> Our Electrical Engineering department is considering faculty annual
> faculty awards for teaching and research.  I would be interested in
> hearing from other schools with similar awards how nominations are
> collected and evaluated.

Here at Arizona the college of Arts and Sciences has awards for distinguished
lecturers who are nominated by their departments. Unfortunately, in my 
opinion (I'm a grad student), the award has very little to do with teaching
skill and has more to do with "who hasn't gotten the $1000 yet?" - it is
really a shame since there are many quality faculty members here who can
in fact teach very well.

 I for one would say that having any kind of teaching award without DIRECT, 
decisive input from students is absurd. They are the ones who know who
the best teachers are - not the dept. head, not other faculty......

			gln

g_harrison@vger.nsu.edu (11/11/90)

In article <1990Nov08.234642.29304@groucho>, jff@groucho (Jim Frenzel) writes:
> Our Electrical Engineering department is considering faculty annual
> faculty awards for teaching and research.  I would be interested in
> hearing from other schools with similar awards how nominations are
> collected and evaluated.
> 
> -- 
> ===========================================================
>   Jim Frenzel             Electrical Engineering
>   University of Idaho     Moscow, ID 83843
>   208-885-7888            jfrenzel@groucho.mrc.uidaho.edu

   My two cents follows.  Don't do it unless you have 100 or so faculty members
in the department.  

   I'm chairman of my university's teacher of the year award's committee.  The
committee is made up of seven members: six members are former Teachers of the
Year (I'm not!).

   We use strict criteria with subcriteria in teaching, in community and
university achievements, and in research.  The criteria are widely published
(as is the evaluation process).  Departments are allowed to select among the
faculty persons to be nominated.  The departments and the nominees are required
to submit full documentation (as must as possible) for the criteria.  The
departments may select a faculty by any method it chooses; nominees are
normally chosen by the faculty evaluation committees as a result of the
committees' work on yearly evaluations.  Normally, only 5 to 15 departments
submit nominees.  

   Evaluations of the nominees are made for a full THREE years of service.  The
evaluations are done by the committee members INDEPENDENTLY, and the individual
rankings are given to the chairman for final tally.

   We have over 400 faculty.  Will much less the award might become a rotation
and even may be questioned.  

George...

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----- Professor of Computer Science --------------------------------------
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