2024 Outstanding Teaching Awards call for nominations
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 21, 2023) — Each year, the University of Kentucky recognizes faculty and graduate students for outstanding teaching during the Provost's Awards for Outstanding Teaching. Intended to identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are evincing meritorious success in their teaching, the Outstanding Teaching Award emphasizes the university’s commitment to the importance of teaching as its vital core mission in the Commonwealth, the nation and the world.
There are two categories of faculty awards and a teaching assistant award. The following explains the types, number of awards, criteria, nomination procedure and timeline.
Category One Faculty Award
Purpose: To recognize regular and special-title series faculty for outstanding teaching performance
Nature of the award: Cash award, appropriate plaque and other accolades
Number of awards: Up to five awards
Criteria: Evidence of outstanding performance as a teacher, as documented by students and peers. Cannot have received this award in the past eight years.
Category Two Faculty Award
Purpose: To recognize lecturer and clinical title series faculty for outstanding performance in the classroom, laboratory or clinical settings
Nature of the award: Cash award, appropriate plaque and other accolades
Number of awards: Up to five awards
Criteria: Evidence of outstanding performance in the classroom, laboratory or clinical setting as documented by students and peers. Cannot have received this award in the past four years.
Teaching Assistant Award
Purpose: To recognize teaching assistants for outstanding performance in the classroom or laboratory
Eligibility: Teaching assistants with at least two semesters of teaching assistantship experience
Nature of the award: Cash award, appropriate plaque and other accolades
Number of awards: Up to five awards
Criteria: Evidence of outstanding performance in the classroom and/or laboratory, as documented by faculty and students. Recipients may receive this award one time.
All submissions are to be made electronically. The deadline for faculty, staff and students to submit a one-page initial nomination letter (including self-nominations) to the faculty member’s department chair or school director is 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Department chairs and school directors will have until 4 p.m. Friday, March 1, 2024, to submit official two-page nomination letters to the Office for Faculty Advancement.
The Selection Committee will review all nominations and select preliminary finalists in each category. The Office for Faculty Advancement will notify finalists on or before Friday, March 15, 2024, to request a complete teaching award packet. For a complete timeline with additional information, click here.
Award recipients will be notified by the Office for Faculty Advancement by 5 p.m. Friday, April 12, 2024. Recipients will be honored and receive their awards at the Faculty Awards Ceremony scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, April 25, 2024, at the Jacobs Science Building, Room 121.
For questions contact the Office for Faculty Advancement at facultyadv@uky.edu. For a full list of past recipients of the Provost’s Awards for Outstanding Teaching, click here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.