Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards
Purposes, Procedures and Criteria
Maintained by:
Created:
Last Updated:
Mike Bell, Secretary to Staff Awards Committee
April 2010
July 2012
PURPOSES
The purposes of Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards are to recognise the contributions of staff to teaching excellence, to
select local teaching excellence award recipients, and to provide a consistent process to determine suitable nominees for
University of Waikato Staff Teaching Excellence Awards which will in turn feed into the national Tertiary Teaching
Excellence Awards process.
For the purposes of this document “Faculty” will denote the six Faculties and the School of Māori and Pacific
Development/ Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao.
NATURE OF AWARDS
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards will comprise a $2000 grant to be paid into the recipients’ research accounts (or an
appropriate account from which the recipient is entitled to spend) to support work related activity. Up to two awards
may be made by each Faculty every year. In exceptional circumstances, such as resignation or retirement by the staff
member before the money can be spent in work related purposes, then the monetary component may be uplifted as a
taxable bonus payment.
An allowance of $4000 for each Faculty will be made from a central budget each year. Faculties should contact the
Secretary of the Staff Awards Committee for details and further information about payment into recipients’ research
accounts.
ELIGIBILITY
All teaching staff are eligible for nomination but there is a stand down period of six years for University teaching
excellence award recipients (apart for Emergent Teaching Excellence Award recipients who become eligible for
reconsideration for a Teaching Excellence Award once they have at least six years teaching experience).
PROCESS FOR SEEKING NOMINATIONS AND SELECTING RECIPIENTS
The process for seeking nominations for teaching awards at a School/Faculty level will be as follows:
1.
Communications and External Relations should be advised in early June to allow them to produce a
communication plan for promotion of the nomination process
2.
On the first Monday in August each year staff and students will be advised that they can make
recommendations for teaching awards using an online form. This will be located in a secure area of the
University website which requires staff and students to login to gain access (thus ensuring they are current staff
or currently enrolled students). The deadline for recommendations will be the first Friday in September.
An online nomination form has been developed to capture nominations from staff and students at
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/pod/nomination/.
Note that any WMS students accessing the form will be redirected to the WMS nomination form when they
select “Waikato Management School” from the drop down list of School/Faculty. The same function could be
used to redirect to other Faculties who develop their own online forms. The form is also able to automatically
capture the username of the nominator.
This form will also be used to identify suitable nominees for Research Postgraduate Supervision and Nola
Campbell Memorial eLearning Excellence Awards.
3.
The data gathered from the online form will be held in an Excel spreadsheet which will be processed by
Teaching Development Unit (TDU) staff. The spreadsheet will be sorted by teachers’ names to identify
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards
Purposes, Procedures and Criteria
individuals suitable for nomination for a teaching award – i.e. those teachers who have received at least five
recommendations from individual staff and students.
The Professional & Organisational Development Unit (POD) and Waikato Centre for eLearning (WCeL) will at the
same time identify suitable nominees for Research Postgraduate Supervision and Nola Campbell Memorial
eLearning Excellence Awards – i.e. those staff who have received at least two (in the case of Research
Postgraduate Supervision) or three (in the case of Nola Campbell Memorial eLearning) recommendations from
individual staff and students.
Note that teams may also be nominated in any of the categories of Teaching, Research Postgraduate
Supervision, and eLearning.
4.
The spreadsheet data for each eligible teaching excellence nomination will be sent to the relevant
Faculty/School staff contact and Dean with the expectation the Faculty will inform the nominees as soon as
practicable following the deadline. Eligible nominations for the Research Postgraduate Supervision Award will
be sent to the Pro Vice-Chancellor Postgraduate (or nominee) and eligible nominations for a Nola Campbell
Memorial eLearning Award will be sent to the Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning (or nominee).
5.
Faculty selection processes will be used to identify up to two nominees per Faculty for University of Waikato
Teaching Excellence Awards, based on the criteria outlined below. These nominations will be forwarded to the
Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning no later than 31 October. Nominations may be for either a Teaching
Excellence Award (which includes both experienced and emergent teachers) or a Teaching Excellence in a
Kaupapa Māori Context Award and evidence and reflection portfolios of no more than 8,000 words (including
attachments) should be accompanied by relevant nomination forms (available online at
www.waikato.ac.nz/pod/staffawards). The Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning will, where appropriate,
forward nominations suitable for a Teaching Excellence in a Kaupapa Māori Context to the Pro Vice-Chancellor
Māori for selection. The selection processes will involve a selection panel of no fewer than three members, one
of whom will be a TDU representative.
The process can be designed to suit local needs. However before selection nominees from each area will be:
a.
Asked if they wish their nomination to proceed;
b.
Advised that they need to prepare a portfolio in the prescribed format (based on the most recent requirements
for the national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards published on the Ako Aotearoa website –
www.akoaotearoa.ac.nz – but does not need to conform to the 8,000 word expectation as long as it addresses
the published criteria) to inform the Faculty selection process, and that TDU assistance is available to help staff
to prepare a sound portfolio; and
c.
Provided, where appropriate, with the option of formatting their portfolio for an award to recognise the
contribution of tertiary teachers in a kaupapa Māori context. A support group to assist the successful nominee
for this award will be organised should the nominee request such collegial support.
By accepting nomination for a University Teaching Excellence Award, candidates acknowledge that they will represent
the University to the best of their ability at national level should they receive a University Teaching Excellence Award. If
successful they will also undertake to support colleagues who are subsequently nominated for Teaching Excellence
Awards.
Note that nominees may seek advice in compiling their portfolios and understanding the requirements of each heading
from the TDU.
CRITERIA
Selection criteria will be based on the teaching portfolio headings published on the Ako Aotearoa website
(http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/) for national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards. Faculty awards may be awarded to
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards – July 2012
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards
Purposes, Procedures and Criteria
teachers with less than six years teaching experience and will be eligible for a University Emergent Teacher Excellence
Award. Nominations should be systematically evaluated on each criterion.
Currently for teaching excellence awards these are:
• Design for learning
• Facilitating learning
• Assessing student learning
• Evaluating learning and teaching
• Professional development and leadership
Currently for teaching excellence in a kaupapa Māori context awards these are:
• Mana - Leadership and Professional Development
o Rangatiratanga - leadership
o Kaupapa Māori – Māori concepts
o Mātauranga Māori – Māori knowledge
o Ūkaipōtanga - Loyalty
o Whanaungatanga – Relationships
o Kaitiakitanga – Guardianship/sustainability
• Whakaakoranga – Teaching Excellence - Design for Learning, Facilitating Learning
o Kairangi - Excellence
o Pūkengatanga - Skills
o Manaakitanga – Concern for colleagues and learners
o Kotahitanga – Collaboration.
• Mātaki – Assessing Student Learning, Evaluation of Learning and Teaching
o Ākonga - Learners
o Kaiako - Teaching
o Taunaki – Evidence
PROCEDURES FOLLOWING NOMINATION
The timeframe for developing evidence and reflection portfolios and the selection of Faculty award recipients will be
from the Monday following the first Friday in September until 31 October (seven to eight weeks) when nominations
must be submitted for consideration for University Teaching Excellence Awards. Nominations should be made on the
appropriate university nomination form (found at www.waikato.ac.nz/pod/staffawards) attached to evidence and
reflection portfolios which address the criteria listed above. Teaching excellence and emergent teaching excellence
(where the staff member has less than six years’ teaching experience) nominations should be made on the Teaching
Excellence Awards Nomination Form; kaupapa Māori context nominations should be made on the Teaching Excellence in
a Kaupapa Māori Context Award Nomination Form.
The Staff Awards Committee convenes in early November to recommend recipients for University staff excellence
awards to the Vice-Chancellor. Awards are presented at a special ceremony usually held in early December.
Communications and External Relations will be provided with a list of award recipients so that they can assist with
promotion of this event, publication of recipients’ details, and plan for nominations to national Teaching Excellence
Awards in the following year.
Faculty Teaching Excellence Award recipients are, wherever possible, to be recognised at the first suitable graduation
ceremony for the Faculty to which they belong.
Recipients of up to three University Teaching Excellence Awards and one Teaching Excellence in a Kaupapa Māori
Context Award will be considered as University nominees for national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards. The Teaching
Development Unit (TDU) will ensure that evidence and reflection portfolios comply with requirements for the national
award (details of which are published on the Ako Aotearoa website by the beginning of the year in which nominations
are called and may change from time to time), that other documentation required for the national award (currently a
cover sheet signed by the Vice-Chancellor for each nomination and a teaching history form completed by each nominee)
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards – July 2012
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards
Purposes, Procedures and Criteria
is prepared, and that arrangements are made with Communications and External Relations to prepare nominations for
duplication and binding in time to send to Ako Aotearoa to meet their deadline (usually 31 March).
Recipients of Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards are usually announced in July. It is expected that recipients of these
1
awards will “share, present and promote good practice within their own and other institutions” . It is therefore
incumbent upon recipients to support others in the preparation of evidence and reflection portfolios, including
publication of their own successful portfolios to serve as exemplars for future nominees. The TDU will discuss
opportunities for previous recipients to assist with the promotion of teaching excellence.
1
Ako Aotearoa Criteria and Guidelines for Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards. http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/download/ng/file/group4/n3363-criteria-and-guidelines-for-tertiary-teaching-excellence-awards.pdf
Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards – July 2012