First Year English Instructor Awards

The First Year English (FYE) Instructor Awards recognize the excellent teaching that Graduate Students (TAs) and Part-Time Instructors (PTIs) perform in our program. The awards offer a cash prize and recognition certificates that will be presented at an award ceremony in the final week of the Spring term. All FYE instructors are eligible; however, TAs may receive a particular award only once during their graduate study at UNM . There are four awards:

Best 101 or 102 Sequence $200

Most Innovative Instructor/Teaching Effectiveness $200

Best TA Mentor $200

Outstanding Instructor $300

See the criteria associated with each award below.

To nominate a fellow teacher for the Best TA Mentor or Outstanding Instructor Award, submit the nominee name via email or note to Erin Lebacqz no later than March 26.

Nominees will be notified by March 28 th and invited to submit application materials.

Please submit application materials to Erin Lebacqz by April 4 th.

Best 101 or 102 Sequence

Honors an FYE instructor’s creation and use of an original sequence in their 101 or 102 class. Instructors should submit an outline of their sequence including texts used and lesson plans along with a detailed rationale for the sequence design and implementation. The award selection committee considers originality, choice and use of text(s), outcomes addressed, scheduling, and overall value of the sequence.

Most Innovative/Teaching Effectiveness

Recognizes an instructor’s identification of and innovative response to a problem that they have faced in their own classes. FYE instructors are invited to submit an essay of no more than 2000 words that describes a problem they have identified in teaching and learning, the teaching method, strategy, or idea they implemented to address the problem, and the means by which they addressed the effectiveness of the solution. The selection committee considers the nature of the problem identified, the appropriateness of the teaching solution, and the quality of evidence the instructor has gathered to determine the effectiveness of the solution.

Outstanding Instructor

Honors the outstanding FYE instructor for the year. The instructor may be self-nominated, but nominations from former students, fellow instructors, or faculty members are preferred. Once notified of their nomination, the instructor submits an application package with the following:

• evaluations submitted by students (ICES)
• letters of nomination by faculty, fellow instructors, or students
• classroom observations by faculty or fellow instructors
• documentation of teaching excellence submitted by instructor (e.g., course materials, a statement of teaching philosophy, a teaching portfolio)

The selection committee considers a wide range of indicators of teaching excellence, including the following:

• overall effectiveness as an instructor
• capacity to promote critical thinking
• skills in presenting course material
• utilizing pedagogically effective approaches, for example, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, and community-based learning
• skills in developing course materials that promote learning, for example, course syllabi, website, essay or exam questions, paper topics
• command of the subject area
• ability to motivate students
• engagement in departmental and campus-wide activities that enhance teaching and learning

Best TA Mentor

This award recognizes a TA who consistently works with his or her colleagues as a mentor, offering help in all aspects (not just classroom instruction) of one’s participation in the FYE program. The award is not open to those TAs who are officially designated mentors; this award is for the unofficial mentors who have helped you since you’ve been at UNM. Nominations for this award must come from a fellow TA. Nominees write a two-page statement about their mentoring philosophy, outlining mentoring activities, narrating examples of mentorship, and explaining how their mentoring philosophy corresponds with their studies. Letters of support from other TAs are welcome – not all mentors know they are mentors until someone brings it to their attention! The selection committee will consider the quality and extent of the nominee’s mentoring guidance and support given to fellow instructors, their willingness to assist in the development of teaching materials, their ability to involve TAs in "networking" activities with other professionals and faculty.

Criteria for evaluating nominations/applications

In general, for all awards the selection committee considers each nominee/applicant according to the following criteria:

• overall effectiveness as an instructor
• capacity to promote critical thinking
• skills in presenting course material
• utilizing pedagogically effective approaches; for example, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, and community-based learning
• skills in developing course materials that promote learning; for example, course syllabi, website, essay or exam questions, paper topics
• command of the subject area
• ability to motivate students
• engagement in departmental and campus-wide activities that enhance teaching and learning

Materials that might be submitted to support a nomination

• letters submitted by former students
• letters of recommendation from faculty, fellow instructors, former students [do not solicit or submit letters from current students]
• classroom observations by faculty or fellow instructors
• self-documentation of teaching excellence (course materials, a statement of teaching philosophy, a teaching portfolio)