Call for Nominations, 2023-2024

The President of the University of Colorado is soliciting nominations from CU faculty for the 2024 President's Teaching Scholars Program (PTSP). The PTSP consists of a group of tenured faculty, from the four CU campuses and from a wide range of disciplines, whose work reflects excellence in teaching, research, and creative works. Lifetime PTSP membership in an active society of scholars and teachers includes collaboration with faculty colleagues and faculty peers in departments, schools, and colleges. Anyone from the CU community can nominate faculty for this designation and commitment. Self-nominations are not accepted.

All tenured faculty members who have been employed at CU for at least five consecutive years are eligible to be nominated. In addition, faculty members on the Anschutz Medical Campus who hold the rank of professor or associate professor, who have been employed at CU for at least five consecutive years and have an educational research portfolio are eligible.

Becoming a President's Teaching Scholar means extending high priority to the program and being engaged in its activities. The Selection Committee evaluates applications based on past achievements and potential engagement in furthering the goals of the PTSP as outlined in its Mission statement.

The deadline for applications is Friday, September 8, 2023, by midnight.

Members of the PTSP are faculty from all campuses chosen not only for their excellence in teaching, research, and creative works, but also for their promise of advancing the mission of the PTSP. In addition to excellence in teaching, the PTSP recognition requires substantial contributions to scholarly work in one's discipline. New members to the program become part of a participatory and collegial community.

Those designated as President's Teaching Scholars receive an honorarium of $5,000.

Individuals selected will have the following set of attributes, evidence for which should be shown in detail in the dossier:

• Demonstration of superlative class(room) engagement and management techniques that promote active learning.
• Active and effective engagement in advising and mentoring students, and in guiding student research and creative works projects.
• Evidence that course design, redesign, processes, and outputs are creative, clearly aligned and communicated well to learners in effective and engaging ways, with a rigorous assessment of learning that involves intellectual challenge; in short, evidence of sustained commitment to teaching and learning and to continuous improvement of teaching.
• Evidence of responsiveness to and understanding of a diverse student body.
• Evidence of integrating high impact practices into the classroom.
• Evidence of continuous growth and leadership in their field of study.

If any of these attributes cannot be identified in a superlative way in the dossier (beyond the letter of nomination), the candidacy will be rejected.

Once designated, new members are expected to join their PTS peers at the semi-annual meetings (retreats, workshops, and roundtables), serve on PTSP committees, and offer leadership on their campus with and for peer faculty (outside the Teaching and Learning Centers).

The Nominee's Dossier:

Dossiers must be submitted using the form listed below by the deadline of Friday, September 8, 2023, by midnight. All letters of support must be dated 2022 or 2023.

Dossiers must include, in the following order:

1. Name and Table of Contents (1 page)

2. Nomination letter (up to 3 pages) should describe the nominee's research and creative works in their discipline, their importance and contribution to the field, and the nominee's accomplishments in achieving and promoting excellence in teaching and learning. Self-nominations are not permitted.

3. Current CV (not included in the page count).

4. Five letters of support (up to 2 pages each), with at least two from department faculty members and at least one non-department faculty member from the campus, addressing superlative teaching in one's discipline. Letters from outside CU are encouraged, but not required. Letters must be dated and signed.

5. Five letters of support from students about the nominee's teaching (up to 2 pages each). Letters can address all aspects of teaching, including mentoring of graduate students; integration of research, creative works, and teaching; and educational outreach. Letters from students currently enrolled in the nominee’s courses should not be submitted. The ratio of graduate to undergraduate letters should roughly correlate to the nominee’s teaching assignments. Letters must be dated and signed.

6. Evidence of having received a teaching award at CU or a teaching award from a recognized professional organization within the past six years. Teaching awards must be awarded on the basis of the kinds of documentation used for evaluating teaching excellence at CU: including, but not limited to, peer-review, students’ letters, and observation of classroom (or equivalent) teaching. This evidence must be an official letter, a copy of an award certificate, or a published notice (up to 2 pages). Departmental awards do not suffice.

7. Statement (up to 3 pages) describing the nominee’s views of the four core tasks of teaching: course planning and preparation; actual teaching; evaluating student learning and providing feedback; keeping one’s teaching current in pedagogy and course content.

8. Evidence of teaching excellence, such as but not limited to at least three different measures of teaching assessment that may be included in annual review and promotion cases (up to 3 pages).

9. Description of how the nominee’s teaching can be observed and evaluated as part of the selection process (1 page). This can include schedule information for classroom visits or provision for reviewing recorded or online materials from the 2023 Fall semester.

10. Proposal (up to 2 pages). Nominees are expected to review the PTSP website and  describe how they plan to contribute to furthering the mission of the PTSP through active involvement and/or new endeavors. This should not be a discussion of how the PTSP can extend what the nominee is already doing.

Note that the dossier should not exceed 35 pages (excluding CV); all letters, including nomination letter, should be addressed to the PTSP Selection Committee.

Any nomination package that does not adhere to any of these instructions will be declined without review. A nominee who is not selected can reapply using the same dossier, provided that the letters are not more than two years old. Dossiers must be re-submitted; they do not automatically roll into the next review cycle.

If any candidate or their nominee would like to ask any questions prior to applying, they are welcome to contact the Council Chair, Raphael Sassower at rsassowe@uccs.edu.

After submission, the teaching of candidates considered for membership will be observed by the Selection Committee, and they will be also interviewed in person or remotely. Being observed and interviewed does not guarantee final selection.