School of Education Awarding Excellence
The School of Education Awards recognize faculty, administrative professionals, and students who exhibit exemplary performance. Nominations may come from an SOE program, a faculty member(s), a staff member(s), and/or a student(s).
The deadline for award nominations will be announced each Fall semester.
Award Recommendations to SOE Director
The School of Education Awards Committee will review all nominations and present the SOE Director with recommendations.
At the Committee’s discretion, SOE award winners may be forwarded as nominees for the College of Health and Human Sciences All-College Awards.
Nomination Process
For each nomination, please submit the following materials electronically, as an email attachment to Albert Bimper (albert.bimper@colostate.edu).
- A statement from the program/nominator describing the nominee’s qualifications for the award.
The statement should be a maximum of two pages. In essence, the statement should answer the question, “How has this person’s work been important to promoting the mission of Colorado State University in teaching, advising, scholarship, leadership, engagement, or service (depending on the award)?” - A personal statement of no more than 350 words from the nominee indicating their philosophy of teaching and learning, advising, scholarly activity, leadership, engagement, or service (based on the particular award).
- Up to three letters of support from students, alumni, professors/teachers, and/or colleagues (depending on the type of award) telling of the nominee’s accomplishments, abilities, etc.
- An updated copy of the nominee’s resume/curriculum vitae
Award Criteria and Eligibility
Outstanding Teacher
The Outstanding Teacher Award honors an excellent teacher who exhibits superior and sustained performance in teaching that impacts student learning.
Faculty (tenure track or non-tenure track) with five or more years of experience in the University, with undergraduate, graduate, and/or off-campus teaching, are eligible for this award.
The criteria for selection for this award are:
- Evidence of the successful use of creative instructional approaches
- Innovative use of technology in the classroom
- Creation of service-learning opportunities
- Positive student feedback regarding the quality and effectiveness of the faculty member’s teaching
The nomination statement might include teaching evaluation data obtained from annual faculty reviews, evaluation by peers based on classroom visits, or citation of other teaching awards or external recognition. The nomination statement should include a summary of student course evaluations and any other materials relative to teaching. (Please do not include multiple pages of printed out evaluations and student comments.)
Outstanding Adviser
The Outstanding Adviser Award recognizes a faculty member (tenure track or non-tenure track) or administrative professional staff member with five or more years experience at the University, who excels in undergraduate or graduate student advising and mentoring, based on the quality of student advising evaluations.
Advising is defined as the process of facilitating student academic and/or professional development.
The advising award nomination statement and/or letters should contain:
- Student advising evaluation data
- Comments from current and former advisees regarding the adviser’s effectiveness
- Any other materials relative to advising
Scholarly Excellence
The Scholarly Excellence Award is intended for School of Education faculty with rank of professor and five or more years of experience at the University, whose scholarly work has positively impacted their discipline during that person’s career.
Scholarship is interpreted broadly and includes activities such as:
- Original and theoretical research
- Creative works
- Model development
- Research synthesis
- Policy research
- Other forms of scholarly endeavor
To be considered for this award, the faculty member must demonstrate a substantial record of publication in high quality scholarly journals, successful contract or grant activity, and/or demonstration of recognition as a scholar at the national or international levels.
The nomination could include assessments of this impact from some knowledgeable person external to the unit.
For this award, the nomination statement and letters might include:
- Reviews of the nominee’s published materials
- Support from recognized scholars in the person’s field of expertise
- Institute of Scientific Information indicators (impact factor, immediacy index, and cited half-life)
- Indications of national and international recognition of the nominee’s scholarly work
- Any other supportive evidence regarding the quality of research contributions
Outstanding Engagement
The Outstanding Engagement Award is given to a faculty member (tenure track or non-tenure track), administrative professional member, or faculty/admin pro-based program team, with five or more years of experience at the University, who exemplifies the land-grant mission of developing and promoting partnerships and collaborations between campus and external partners for the benefit of the community, state, nation, and/or world.
The nomination statement and supporting letters should document the person’s (program team’s) contributions in advancing their program area through outreach efforts and/or partnerships. This might include:
- Impact evaluation data
- Testimony from program recipients
- Community partners
- Coworkers or alumni
- Any other supportive evidence regarding the quality and impact of the engagement/outreach efforts
Superior Faculty Service
The Superior Faculty Service Award is given to a faculty member (tenure track or non-tenure track), with five or more years of experience at the University, who has made significant service contributions to the School of Education, College of Health and Human Sciences, University, professional, or other off-campus organizations.
The nomination statement and supporting letters should document the person’s contributions in advancing the work of the School of Education, the College of Health and Human Sciences, Colorado State University, and/or the person’s profession.
The nomination statement and supporting letters might include identification of awards received and/or testimony from colleagues or alumni in the service activities being recognized, or from those benefiting from the service provided.
Superior Staff Service
The Superior Staff Service Award is given to a staff member with five or more years of experience in the University, who demonstrates outstanding achievement in performing their responsibilities.
The nomination statement and supporting letters should document evidence of excellence in:
- Productivity
- Efficiency
- Initiative
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Leadership
- Effective communication
- Service (School, College, University, or community)
- Mentoring ability
The nomination should include testimony from co-workers, supervisors, and/or students.
Tenure Track Faculty Teaching Excellence
The Tenure Track Faculty Teaching Excellence Award recognizes a tenure track faculty member (not yet tenured) for outstanding contributions in teaching during their period of appointment at Colorado State University.
The intent of the award is to recognize a newer member of the faculty who demonstrates excellence in teaching.
The criteria for selection for this award are evidence of the successful use of creative instructional approaches, innovative use of technology in the classroom, and/or creation of service-learning opportunities, as well as positive student feedback regarding the effectiveness of the faculty member’s teaching.
The nomination statement might include:
- Teaching evaluation data obtained from annual faculty reviews
- Evaluation by peers based on classroom visits
- Citation of other teaching awards or external recognition
The nomination statement should include a summary of student course evaluations and any other materials relative to teaching. (Please do not include multiple pages of printed out evaluations and student comments.)
Individual should not be nominated in the year they are going up for tenure.
Tenure Track Faculty Scholarly Excellence
The Tenure Track Faculty Scholarly Excellence Award recognizes a tenure track faculty member (not yet tenured) for outstanding contributions in activities such as original and theoretical research, creative works, model development, research synthesis, policy research, and other forms of scholarly endeavor during his or her period of appointment at Colorado State University.
To be considered for this award, the faculty member must demonstrate a record of publication in high quality scholarly journals, successful contract or grant activity, and/or demonstration of emerging recognition as a scholar at the national or international levels through selection to present papers at significant conferences of relevant professional organizations.
The nomination could include assessments of this impact from some knowledgeable person external to the unit.
For this award, the nomination statement and letters might include:
- Reviews of the person’s published materials
- Support from recognized scholars in the person’s field of expertise
- Institute of Scientific Information indicators (impact factor, immediacy index, and cited half-life)
- Indications of emerging national and international recognition of the nominee’s scholarly work
- Any other supportive evidence regarding the quality of research contributions
Individual should not be nominated in the year they are going up for tenure.
Outstanding Senior
The Outstanding Senior Award recognizes a School of Education graduating senior for outstanding performance, including academic achievement, leadership, research, service, and/or creative endeavors.
Nominees must have a grade point average of 3.2 or better and have completed at least three semesters in the School of Education. Must have extensive involvement in leadership activities, student activities and/or organizations, community service activities, and serve as a positive role model for others.
Outstanding Graduate Student
The Outstanding Graduate Student Award recognizes a School of Education graduate student for outstanding performance in research, outreach/engagement, and/or creative endeavors.
Student must be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program, have completed at least two semesters in the School of Education, and be in good standing in their program.
Nominations must emphasize the student’s unique role in the particular research/creative work or program, how the work fits in with the student’s career goals and trajectory, and impact of the work.