Selection Criteria
The review committee seeks nominations of teachers who have a long-term record of excellence in teaching, pedagogy, curriculum development, and student engagement with a special emphasis on civic engagement through community-based research, advancement of student civic and service learning, and other means of enhancing Indiana University’s contribution to the public good. Honorees typically have received teaching awards from their department, school, or campus before being nominated for this university award and have often been at Indiana University for a significant amount of time.
When reviewing nominations, the review committee places special weight on the following:
- Evidence that the nominee has had a profound and positive influence on students
- A sustained impact on student learning
- Supporting a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences enriching our community and driving innovation through civic engagement.
- Innovative teaching
- A demonstrated leadership role in teaching (on the nominee’s campus, in the region, nationally and/or internationally)
- Breadth of courses taught
- The ability to be highly reflective as a teacher in their self-analysis
While it is not expected that nominees will have distinguished records in all these areas, nominations are expected to document what distinguished the nominee as a teacher.
Note: The committee recognizes that numerical summaries in student course evaluations may reflect cultural biases, and low participation rates may skew results. As such, numerical summaries will not be used as the primary source of data for evaluating teaching. Additionally, while the committee appreciates the opinions of solicited letters of support, unsolicited letters are weighed more heavily.
