Bob & Kathie Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award

All career/specialty track faculty or academic staff with substantial teaching responsibilities who have not previously received a university teaching award are eligible for this award. 

Please submit an electronic version of the nomination as a single PDF attachment via the submission link below.

The nomination file must be assembled as one (1) pdf document. Name the file as follows: YearTaylor_ LastnameFirstname (e.g., 2025Taylor_HawkJay). No hard copies are accepted, unless the demonstration of teaching excellence is not capable of reduction to a digital document

The pdf file should include the following and be presented in this order:

• Nomination Letter
  
  • Written by the department chair, dean, or a faculty peer from the department (or school in units without departments), which addresses the award criteria
  • Maximum of five pages for the letter and five pages for any supporting documentation of student learning and engagement).
  • In writing a nomination letter, you should consider that there are many fine teachers at this institution. To differentiate among such outstanding educators is quite difficult, as all of the nominees will be individuals highly regarded by students and colleagues for their commitment to teaching excellence. You can help the committee to see the unique contributions of the nominee by attending to the award criteria in the nomination letter and any supporting documents.
    
    • For more information on writing the nomination letter, you may consider guidelines on evaluating teaching and examples of peer reviews online at the Center for Teaching Excellence website

• Following Materials Assembled by the Nominee
  
  • Nominee’s personal statement that speaks to the award criteria attached (maximum of 5 pages)
  • List of courses taught and enrollments for the last five years or since appointment at KU (1-2 pages)
  • Summary of course evaluations for the same time period indicated above (1-2 pages)
  • Evidence of student learning, including feedback from students in courses taught within the same time period indicated above (1-3 pages)
  • Nominee’s curriculum vitae, 5 pages maximum

• Chair Endorsement (if applicable)
  
  • Unless the chair has written the letter of nomination

1. Quality of intellectual content
   • What decisions has the instructor made in including material and choosing which particular aspects of the field will be included, excluded, or emphasized?
     • To what extent are the intellectual goals for students well-articulated and congruent with the course content and mission?
     • To what extent is the material in this course appropriate for the topic, appropriate for the curriculum, and for the institution? 
2. Innovation and quality of teaching practices
   • How does the instructor plan for use of students’ time both in and outside of class? What learning activities have the instructor created that enhance the course’s impact?
     • Are there any particularly creative or effective course structures or procedures that contribute especially to the likely achievement of understanding by students?
     • How are students actively engaged in understanding the material?
     • What opportunities (in or out of class) are provided for students to practice the skills embedded in the course goals?
3. Depth and breadth of student understanding
   • Does the instructor ask students to demonstrate their understanding of key course goals with challenging academic work? Is there evidence that a large percentage of students show high levels of achievement?
     • How does the performance request:
       • Require that students demonstrate different levels of conceptual understanding
       • Facilitate students’ critical evaluation of the material appropriate to the level of the course and of the students?
         • To what extent do course activities provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their understanding using intellectual skills typical of the field?
         • What evidence indicates that deep learning occurs in the course? If possible, consider the following:
           • What proportion of students are achieving a very good level of understanding?
           • What is the range of levels of performance and their distribution for an entire class?
4. Reflective consideration and development
   • Does the instructor regularly examine successes and difficulties in courses and make incremental adjustments that would promote better learning in future offerings? What new teaching skills and methods has the instructor added to make teaching more effective?
     • To what extent has the nominee examined the relationship between how she or he teaches and how students perform?
     • Is there evidence of insightful analysis of teaching practice that resulted from consideration of student performance?
     • Is there evidence that the faculty member has changed teaching practices based on past teaching experiences? Is there a positive trajectory of teaching skills and outcomes?
5. Dedication to students and to the profession
   • Does the instructor commit time and energy to further the goals of education for the institution and the field?
     • How does the nominee embody and express in his or her teaching practice and demeanor the scholarly, critical, and intellectual values professed?
     • What actions by the nominee indicate dedication to the success of students and to the teaching of the field of study?

Within the nominations from their unit, the Office of Faculty Affairs will ask each dean and CLAS divisional associate dean (in consultation with the CLAS executive dean) to rank nominations based upon the merit of the application and with the goal of ensuring distribution of the award across disciplines over time. These rankings will remain confidential. Following their review and ranking, the dean, or divisional associate dean, will return all nomination packets and this confidential ranking to the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs Office.

University Committee: The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs will convene a committee who will select, by majority vote, the most meritorious application with the goal of ensuring distribution of the award across disciplines over time.

Nominations are due by Monday, February 3, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. 

No announcement will be made concerning persons nominated. All materials received in relation to the process will be treated as confidential information.

Please contact us at facultyaffairs@ku.edu with any questions.

• 2024, Dyan Morgan, Undergraduate Biology Program
• 2023, Trevor Rivers, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
• 2022, Victor Gonzalez Betancourt, Undergraduate Biology Program
• 2022, Stephen Johnson, English
• 2022, Tamara Coder Mikinski, Educational Psychology
• 2021, Elizabeth Brand Six, Law
• 2021, Lisa McLendon, Journalism & Mass Communications
• 2021, Kelly Welch, Business
• 2020, David Griffin, Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
• 2020, Lauri Hermann-Ginsberg, Curriculum & Teaching
• 2020, Alee Phillips, Business
• 2019, Kerry Benson, Journalism & Mass Communications
• 2019, Brendan Mattingly, Undergraduate Biology Program
• 2018, Anne Patterson, Architecture
• 2018, Pamela Keller, Law
• 2018, Susan Marshall, Psychology