The University of Texas System, Office of Health Affairs
Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards
2012-2013 Award Cycle
In August 2011, the Board of Regents authorized $6 million to expand the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards program to faculty at the six health-related institutions. The program is funded at $1 million per year for fiscal years 2012 to 2017. Each year the University of Texas System will make approximately 40 awards of $25,000 to outstanding faculty members at the health-related institutions.
There are a wide variety of academic programs and settings (classroom, hospital and clinic, community and research lab) in which faculty educate, train and mentor students, residents and fellows. The nominations will be determined by the institution and can come from any program and any faculty level at the institution. Presidents are encouraged to seek faculty nominations from the various programs and schools within the institution. Faculty at any stage of his/her career should be considered for nomination.
Nominees must have clearly demonstrated their commitment to teaching, and a sustained capability to deliver excellence to the learning experience in a variety of settings, through the following principal criteria. Note that these criteria are not directed toward accomplishments in clinical care, administration, or research, unless accomplishments in those endeavors are specifically related to advancing health science education.
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Sustained high performance in learner evaluations (student, resident, fellow, peers). Evidence of such includes high evaluation scores and trends, absence of grade inflation patterns, and positive written comments.
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of favorable learner evaluations of the candidate through numerical ratings or narratives.
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Peer review evaluation of curriculum quality, classroom expertise, clinical teaching and demonstrated focus on learning outcomes and assessment of those outcomes;
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of peer review (by faculty/experts, not students) through direct observation of the candidate’s teaching sessions, feedback to the candidate on the quality of education work, or external review of a candidate’s performance in education.
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Faculty scholarship in relation to innovative course or program development, content, and intellectual challenges that together inspire curiosity and creativity, and promote engagement in the learning process;
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of dissemination/adoption of the candidate’s work in education beyond the local course, program, or institution, or through enduring materials, manuscripts, posters, and workshop presentations in education.
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Additional extraordinary commitment to teaching demonstrated in a variety of ways including mentoring, service learning, engagement, advising, and clinical experience;
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of impact on learners beyond a single course, program, or level of student, or substantial commitment toward involvement with learners outside the classroom in career assistance, student advocacy, or community involvement.
The review committee will also consider the following attributes:
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Continuous improvement and innovation in the preparation of course or program materials or educational experiences.
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of new course/program/teaching module development or substantial revision of existing work, or leadership of educational programs.
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Continuing participation in teacher training and/or academic teaching conferences as evidence of commitment to high quality education.
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of continuing study through participation in workshops/courses on education strategies/techniques, or formal degree or non-degree-granting courses, programs, or added certifications, where the focus is on development as a health science educator.
- Appropriate use of technology in the classroom (integrated into the curriculum).
Annotation: Examples can include evidence of use of technology enhancements in the classroom, effective use of distance-education techniques, and use of technology to improve learner outcomes
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Teaching awards previously earned at department, school or institution level(s) or elsewhere (e.g. professional discipline associations).
Annotation: Examples can include recognitions from learners, peers, or supervisors, both locally and from external groups.
- Education-related leadership, service, or recognition from external peer groups.
Annotation: Examples can include recognitions from state, regional, national, or international professional organizations related to education or leadership roles related to education
The president of each institution will submit nominations electronically (in the form of a single pdf file for each nominee) to the Office of Health Affairs by mid-March (see specific dates below). Nominations* will be reviewed by a peer review committee drawn from the University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education (The Academy). The Academy will make final recommendations to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and the institutions and candidates will be notified in June. The awards will be presented at the July or August meeting of the Board of Regents.
* Nominations for faculty may remain active for two years with appropriate updates. An award winner would be eligible to be nominated four years after their most recent award.
Application Timeline for 2012-2013
August 15 Award announcement sent to Presidents and designees
Friday, March 15 Nominee packets due at UT System
On / before June 1 Notification of award recipients
July TBD Awards Dinner/Presentation by the UT Board of Regents
Materials to be Submitted for Each Nominee
While each institution may determine its own process and documentation for use locally in evaluating candidates, the following materials constitute the packet that should be submitted electronically to the Office of Health Affairs for each nominee (a single pdf file for each nominee) :
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Nomination Letter (required)
A letter of nomination must be included either from a department chair, dean, president, or the designee summarizing the attributes which constitute the basis for consideration. -
Personal Statement (required)
The personal statement should be written by the nominee him/herself and may be up to five pages in length. It must specifically address qualifications in each of the nine categories of evaluation, illustrating this through details of relevant accomplishments whenever applicable. As the primary application document, it is critical that the personal statement reflect accomplishments directly and specifically applicable to health science education. The focus should not be on clinical care, administration, or research, unless accomplishments in those endeavors are specifically related to advancing health science education. -
Curriculum Vitae (required)
The nominee’s curriculum vitae will be used as supporting documentation for the nominee’s accomplishments. As such, the nominee may choose to make references to the curriculum vitae in his/her personal statement. For ease of review, nominees are encouraged to use the “bookmark” feature when creating a PDF document of the curriculum vitae using Adobe Acrobat. -
Letters of Support (required)
A minimum of two and a maximum of five letters of support must be included in the application. These letters may come from supervisors (typically emphasizing achievement), peers (typically emphasizing collaboration or contributions), and/or learners (typically emphasizing mentoring or personal impact) that specifically address one or more of the nine categories of evaluation.
