Academic

Affairs

Regents Distinguished Teaching Award

Award Philosophy

To be eligible to receive an award, a full-time member of the faculty must have evidenced unusually significant and meritorious achievement in the instruction of students (graduate and/or undergraduate) for a significant period of years. Such achievement should be evidenced by:

• Unusual effort devoted to ensuring the quality of the students' classroom learning experience.
  
• Possession of high scholarly standards for both the rigor and currency of course content and for the level of student performance with respect to these standards.
  
• Available measures of the faculty member's direct impact upon and involvement with students.
• Service as a mentor role model to other faculty.
  
• Quality of relevant information and/or nominations submitted by current and former students, including any teacher evaluation forms.

Number of Awards

• At least two nominations from each college, but no more than three, should be received in the Office of Academic Affairs by the stated deadline. Arts and Sciences should submit at least four nominations, but not more than six.
  
• One honoree per college will be selected (Arts and Sciences will have two), and each honoree will receive a $2,000 permanent stipend plus appropriate fringe benefits.

Source of Funds

• State appropriated funds, provided by the General University through the Office of Academic Affairs, covering the permanent increase in salary/benefits for successful nominees, will be allocated to the respective colleges during the budget development cycle.
  
• Plaques paid from Foundation account or auxiliary enterprises funds.
  
• Refreshments for organizational meeting and interview sessions paid from P&VPAA Foundation account.
  
• This program could be made available at branch campuses or other budget agencies, with funds provided by the respective campuses/agencies.

Criteria

• Must be nominated by a student and dean.
  
• Full-time faculty member at OSU for four or more years (must have completed 4th year).
  
• Hold rank as a tenure track Assistant Professor or above.
  
• Devotes a significant amount of assigned duties to teaching for the past four years.
  
• Receive award no more than twice during tenure at OSU

Support Materials Would Include

• Materials must fit in a one-inch binder and be placed in the following order. An electronic (pdf) file of support materials must also be submitted to provost@okstate.edu.
  
  1. Letter of nomination from the dean and a student (in addition to supporting letters listed below).
     
  2. Curriculum vitae
     
  3. Statement on philosophy of teaching (maximum of two pages)
     
  4. Listing of courses taught, number of students in the last four years, current course syllabi and summary of mandated course evaluations for the past three years (do not include individual evaluations)
     
  5. Supporting letters from:
     
     1. department head (one)
        
     2. faculty members (no more than two)
        
     3. students and alumni (no more than four)
        
  6. Optional materials:
     
     1. Evidence used by unit to gather feedback on teaching effectiveness
        
     2. Description of the nature and extent of the nominee's involvement with students (i.e. how does the nominee actively engage students in learning inside and outside the classroom?)

Award Process

• Deans and department heads will be notified of the availability of this award.
  
• Colleges will develop a process whereby nominations are accepted and support materials are reviewed internally. The top three nominations for each college award will then be forwarded to the P&VPAA, with a letter of support from the dean, for consideration by the university-wide selection committee.
  
• Support materials for the deans' nominees will be due in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs approximately two months after award has been announced.
  
• Review and Selection Committee members will review support materials to identify winners. (It might be necessary to schedule interviews with the finalists prior to the selection of winners.)
  
• College award winners will be notified of the award and a permanent salary increment of $2,000 annually ($222/month for nine-month faculty) plus fringe benefits added on top of the normal merit increase recommended by the respective department head.
  
• Winners will be announced in connection with the regular September meeting of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, at which time they will receive public recognition of their awards and approximately inscribed plaques.

Review & Selection Committee

• One undergraduate student appointed by the President of the Student Government Association.
  
• One graduate student appointed by the President of the Graduate Student Association.
  
• Two faculty members at large appointed by the Chair of the Faculty Council.
  
• Two department heads appointed by the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.
  
• The Provost and Vice President will chair by the President.

Approval of RDT Guidelines

• Original guidelines approved by the OSU/A&M Board of Regents (May 17, 1991)
  
• OSU/A&M Board of Regents approved the following changes (May 22, 1992):
  
  • Under Award Philosophy, add: "Service as a mentor and role model to other faculty."
    
  • Under Criteria, change to: "An individual can receive this award no more than twice during his/her tenure at OSU."
    
• At the request for the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, the permanent annual stipend awarded to Regents Distinguished Teaching and Research honorees, beginning with the 2012 selection processes, will be increased from $1,000 to $2,000.