The University of New Mexico

Awards Information and Guidelines

Arts & Sciences Teaching Award for Excellence

The Arts & Sciences Award for Teaching Excellence honors A&S faculty and graduate teaching assistants who have made outstanding contributions to the College’s instructional mission. Typically, one faculty member is awarded a $1,000 increase to their base salary, and one teaching assistant is awarded a stipend of $1,000.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this Arts & Sciences Award, an individual must be:

  • A full-time, tenure-track faculty member within an A&S department, or
  • A graduate teaching assistant in an A&S department or graduate-degree granting interdisciplinary program with sole responsibility for teaching one or more courses within that department or program.

Evaluation

The evaluation criteria for faculty and graduate assistants will differ according to their different instructional responsibilities.

Faculty will be evaluated on the basis of the breadth, as well as the quality, of their instructional contributions.  Preference will be given to those who have demonstrated instructional excellence at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, through both classroom instruction and supervision of student research, and who have integrated their research and scholarship into their teaching.
 
Faculty may have made their contributions through:

  • Undergraduate and graduate teaching
  • Undergraduate and graduate student mentorship and training
  • Departmental or interdisciplinary curricular developments
  • Other avenues

Graduate assistants will be evaluated primarily on the quality of their undergraduate teaching and the strength of their contributions to their department’s instructional mission.
 
A college-level evaluation committee will select the faculty member and graduate teaching assistant who will receive the awards.

Nomination Procedures

Each department may nominate one faculty and one graduate student for this award. Faculty members, as well as the Chair, should be involved in evaluating and selecting applications to be forwarded. Nominations submitted to the College should include the following materials:

  • A curriculum vitae
  • A teaching portfolio prepared according to the Teaching Portfolio Guidelines.
  • Letters of support from students of faculty nominees, or peer evaluations from students of teaching assistant nominees.
  • A letter of support from the department Chair.

Nomination Deadlines

Nominations are typically due in November of each year. Department Chairs and Program Directors will be notified of specific nomination deadlines by the Associate Dean for Instruction and Curriculum.
 
For more information, please contact Karen Gardner at krgard11@unm.edu or 277-4363.

Online Teacher of the Year Award

NOMINATIONS DUE MARCH 15 | MATERIALS DUE APRIL 15

The College of Arts and Sciences Online Teacher of the Year Award will be given out in the amount of $1,000 to an individual who created and taught courses that support the learner academically, socially and personally, are engaging for the online learner, and which are particularly critical for the diverse UNM online student. This award is open to A&S faculty, teaching assistants, research assistants, and temporary part time faculty.

Download the full details

University Outstanding Teacher Awards

The University also offers a series of teaching awards.

Regents’ Professor Appointments

Current Deadline: 2015

Regents’ Professor is a special title bestowed on selected senior faculty members who, in the judgment of the Dean and on the advice of a faculty selection committee, merit recognition of their accomplishments as teachers, scholars and leaders both in University affairs and in their national/international professional communities. These appointments will be made to full professors for terms of three years. In addition to the titleRegents’ Professor, the appointment also carries a stipend.

A complete nomination consists of the candidate’s curriculum vitae and a letter of nomination from the candidate’s Department Chair indicating the candidate’s qualifications and the extent of departmental faculty support for the nomination. An advisory committee on selection will be formed and will review applications received in order to recommend appointees to the Dean.

Once bestowed, the title Regents’ Professor may be retained during the balance of an appointee’s affiliation with the University of New Mexico.

Department Chairs will be notified of submission deadlines for Regents’ Professor nominations by the Associate Dean For Faculty.

Regents’ Lecturer Appointments

Current Deadline: March 4, 2013

Regents’ Lecturer is a special title bestowed on selected tenured junior faculty members who, in the judgment of the Dean on the advice of a faculty selection committee, merit recognition of their accomplishments as teacher, scholars and leaders both in university affairs and in their national/international professional communities. These appointments will be made to associate professors for terms of three years. In addition to the title Regents’ Lecturer, the appointment also carries a stipend.

A complete nomination consists of the candidate’s curriculum vitae and a letter of nomination from the candidate’s Department Chair indicating the candidate’s qualifications and the extent of departmental faculty support for the nomination.  An advisory committee on selection will be formed and will review applications received in order to recommend appointees to the Dean.

Once bestowed, the title Regents’ Lecturer may be retained during the balance of an appointee’s affiliation with the University of New Mexico.

Department Chairs will be notified of submission deadlines for Regents’ Professor nominations by the Associate Dean For Faculty.