Faculty, students and alumni may make nominations, individually or collectively. However, graduate students may not nominate their supervisor. Furthermore, self-nominations are not accepted.

Nominees must have taught at Glendon for at least three years.

Recipients of these awards, or any other teaching awards, may not be re-nominated for five years following their selection.

(from the Senate Awards Committee; identical to the criteria for the President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards)

Defining teaching excellence is a challenging endeavor because it requires consideration of how teaching varies by discipline, context, technique, class size and other factors, such as cultural or gender approaches and the enhancement of the learning environment for students with disabilities.

The criteria below represent some, but not necessarily all, of the characteristics associated with excellent teaching. The criteria are organized by the areas where excellent teaching has its greatest impact: i) on student learning, ii) on mentoring and the scholarship of teaching and learning and iii) on programs of study and curriculum development. The criteria are not ranked in order of importance, and the examples are intended to be illustrative but not exhaustive. It is expected that all nominations will demonstrate an impact on student learning. In addition, it is expected that nominations will demonstrate continuing excellence over a period of years and some impact in the other two areas. However, it is not expected that all criteria will be fulfilled.

Student Learning

The candidate…

• fosters the development of intellectual growth of students by encouraging and supporting learners to develop critical thinking, achieve a deep understanding of a discipline or interdisciplinary field, challenge assumptions and develop new insights;
• inspires passion for the subject matter and an appreciation of its relevance;
• articulates clear learning outcomes and helps students achieve them, ensuring that outcomes relate to mastery of content, development of skills and academic and civic responsibilities;
• states clearly the expectations made of students and supports the development of learners’ resourcefulness through guidance on strategies and on resources available to them;
• models the learning process and fosters the development of learner confidence through fair assessments and prompt and useful feedback;
• seeks opportunities for undergraduate students to be involved in research projects;
• models a variety of different teaching approaches (lectures, discussions, technology-enhanced, group work, experiential education) to support a variety of learning approaches;
• creates an inclusive classroom environment that acknowledges and respects diverse student backgrounds, experiences and values;
• demonstrates innovation and flexibility in accommodating students with special needs in ways that maintain academic integrity and demonstrate sound pedagogy;
• mentors students in developing effective learning behaviours.

Teaching Development and Contributions to Mentoring and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The candidate…

• stays abreast of current and emerging research into teaching to support students with different needs and learning styles, especially those that support the Glendon and York student demographic;
• supports and mentors TAs and colleagues to develop effective teaching practices;
• collaborates with faculty (e.g. team-teaching) and other educational colleagues, units and centres to promote effective teaching and learning practices;
• participates in discussions, consultations, task forces and conferences that address pedagogical issues;
• conducts classroom-based research and prepare presentations and publications on teaching and learning.

Programs and Curricular Development, Institutional Priorities

The candidate…

• demonstrates an understanding of pedagogical theory as it informs teaching in the discipline, the program of study and Degree Learning Expectations;
• evaluates innovative practices and institutional priorities to identify how they can best contribute to the enhancement of student learning and overall support of the program (e.g. technology for learning, experiential education, accommodation of learners; General Education courses);
• develops new courses for the program and/or interdisciplinary courses;
• prepares presentations and publications relating to curriculum development in the discipline.

(same as for the President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards)

A complete nomination includes:

• a statement of teaching/learning philosophy and practice (maximum 2000 words) that demonstrates that the nominee has fulfilled the required criteria;
• a summary of teaching evaluations (regular in-course assessment instruments or information collected expressly for the nomination);
• and three letters of support, two from current students and alumni in all areas of the nominee’s teaching, and one from a colleague familiar with the individual’s teaching activities.

Letters will be solicited by the nominator; the nominee must not request letters from students. Nominations will normally be supported only by information from current and former members of the York community.

Nominators, nominees and those writing letters of reference should be aware that material in nomination files will not be treated as private or confidential and may be quoted and/or summarized in the following forms: citations delivered at a ceremony; Principal’s reports; newspaper articles; and other publications (e.g. Glendonannonce; Glendon website; Y-File, etc). Nominators are asked to make all people related to the file aware of this policy on privacy and confidentiality.

DEADLINE: Nominations must be submitted online by April 19, 2022.

Nomination files will be assessed by the Principal’s Teaching Excellence Awards Committee which will be comprised of 3 faculty members (usually former recipients of the awards) and 2 students. Faculty members on the Awards Committee are not eligible for nomination. Student members cannot be related to any nomination.