College Sector Educators Award
The College Sector Educators Award recognizes individuals at Canadian colleges and equivalent institutions (polytechnics, cégeps, institutes etc.). The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) invite submissions for this prestigious award to celebrate individuals who promote and support the development of their peers and/or the Canadian college sector with regard to teaching excellence.
Description of Award
The College Sector Educators Community is a group of peers dedicated to quality education across our post-secondary sector. Our teaching award differentiates itself from other teaching awards by focusing on recognizing those who have made quality efforts to promote and support the development of their peers with regard to teaching excellence. This support can be both one-to-one and one-to-many.
Evidence that might support a nominee’s claim would be participation in activities that support the teaching excellence of peers, such as leading workshops, presenting at conferences, mentoring others, participating on academic committees, being active in academic associations (such as the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Educational Developers Caucus, College Sector Educators Community, etc.), publishing research related to teaching, and leading program teams in responding creatively to constraints, etc. These activities should be local, regional, provincial, national and/or international in scope. Please see details in the application procedure.
The award will be open to any educator actively teaching in the college sector. While it may be assumed that any educator who is providing peer coaching/leadership around teaching is him/herself an excellent educator, the award submission criteria also includes a requirement to provide evidence of consistent teaching excellence through student and supervisor feedback data, and/or letters from supervisors.
Eligibility
Awards are open to all individuals who have a primary appointment within a Canadian college sector institution at the time of submission (i.e. does not teach/work primarily at an educational institution other than a college sector organization), regardless of discipline, level, or term of appointment. Applications in French or English are welcomed.
Application Procedure
Applications for this award are limited to 25 pages and must include the following:
| 1. | Application Form—includes contact information, educational background, current position, media relations, etc. |
| 2. | Official Endorsement Letter from Senior Management—person responsible for your institution’s academic program (e.g. Vice-President Academic, Program Director) |
| 3. | Approach to Peer Leadership |
| a. Philosophy of college education, teaching goals, and academic leadership in formal or informal roles | |
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b. Reflections on college teaching, with specific examples, especially regarding the role of peer support/knowledge sharing |
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Evidence of Sustained Teaching/learning Peer Leadership Activities—over the past five years or more |
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a. Activities providing support/mentoring/coaching to peers (individually or in groups) |
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b. Leadership of program teams or task groups in relation to curriculum or teaching topics, especially where creative approaches were taken to retain or to improve academic quality in the context of constraints or challenges |
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c. Scholarly activities contributing to the knowledge base about college teaching/learning (informal or formal research into teaching/learning, presentations, publications, etc.) |
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d. Participation in teaching-related professional development (conferences, courses, workshops, professional associations) |
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| 5. |
Evidence of Consistent Excellence in Teaching Practice |
| 6. |
Letters of Support—from two peers, specifically in support of this nomination |
Selection Process
Nominations will be reviewed by a sub-committee appointed by the STLHE Board of Directors, comprised of the College Sector Educators Award Program Coordinator and four members of STLHE. Each Committee member will serve for a minimum of two years.
Award Winner(s) Recognition
- Up to five (5) awards are presented annually at the STLHE conference in June to recognize exemplary contributions to peer leadership within the college sector.
- Each winner will receive a framed certificate in recognition of their peer leadership in the college sector.
- Each winner will receive a free one-year membership in STLHE the year they win their award or the following year if they have already paid their membership in the year in which they win their award.
- $800 towards expenses associated with attending the annual STLHE Conference.
- Recipients will attend a one-day scholarly pre-conference retreat at the STLHE conference to celebrate exceptional achievements in peer leadership and to provide an opportunity for outstanding peer leaders to share experiences and ideas.
- Award winners will be announced via a press release issued by STLHE and directed to the recipient’s institution and may also be announced by a media partner.
Deadline
The deadline for 2012 submissions is March 19, 2012
Submission Procedure
The completed submission and supporting documentation (of no longer than 25 pages) should be submitted in a single PDF file, on or before the deadline, through the following Drop Box:
http://dropbox.yousendit.com/STLHE
Each submission should follow these format guidelines:
- 8½ x 11 inch letter-sized paper
- 1 inch margins on all sides
- 12-point text font
- Numbering of each page
- Maximum 25 pages (Beyond 25 pages will not be read)
All submissions received in the Dropbox will be acknowledged upon receipt by an automated return email reply so applicants will know their submissions have been received.
Telephone and Email Enquiries
Janice MacMillan
CSEC Awards Coordinator
(905) 721-2000, ext. 2371
or
Sylvia Avery
STLHE Administrator
(905) 525-9140, ext. 20130
