Click Here to Begin Your Nomination

Nominees are responsible for ensuring that all information, including that requested from third parties (e.g. nominator statements, verification of eligibility and recommendation letters), is submitted via the online portal by 5pm on Tuesday, November 29. Incomplete nominations, including those missing any information requested from a third party, will not be forwarded to the Selection Committee and will not be considered.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence recognizes one outstanding teacher from a public research university. The Medal winner will receive a $5,000 cash award and a glass sculpture designed specifically for this award. Honorees will be recognized at the Academic Awards Banquet at the Cox Business Convention Center in Tulsa on Saturday, May 20, 2023.

In submitting a nomination, nominees commit themselves (if selected) to be included in any publicity related to the award and to attend the event where the award will be conferred. Previous award winners are not eligible for nomination.

 

Basic Criteria:

The nominee must currently be a full-time faculty member employed by a public research university in Oklahoma (as those terms are defined by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education) and must have demonstrated excellence in education. Each nominee’s performance will be evaluated in terms of his or her own particular teaching environment.

The nominee must have a teaching component in his or her current job description and expect to continue in an active teaching position at his or her college or university throughout the 2022-2023 school year.

 

The following information will be necessary to complete the online nomination process:

Accomplished teachers have a rich understanding of the subject(s) they teach. Because that understanding comes in part from their academic preparation, provide information about the nominee’s:

1. Educational background, including institutions where nominee trained, dates and degree(s) granted.
2. Employment experience that has contributed to the nominee’s expertise as a teacher, including institutions where the nominee has worked, positions held and dates for each. Also, provide the names of courses taught and the number of students in each course for the present and past five semesters, excluding summer school, for a total of six semesters.

Accomplished teachers find opportunities to strengthen their teaching and deepen their knowledge. They are also members of learning communities. Provide information about the nominee’s:

3. Non-teaching professional activities that contribute to the nominee’s effectiveness in teaching. Please include dates.

a) List the most significant scholarly publications, research, projects, presentations, patents, etc., totaling no more than 15 over the course of the nominee’s career. For publications, include Journal Impact factor where available.

b) List no more than 10 of the nominee’s most significant non-teaching awards, grants and/or fellowships.

c) List the nominee’s professional affiliations, including offices held.

d) List no more than five of the most significant service activities to the nominee’s profession.

e) List no more than five of the most significant service activities to the nominee’s university, including approximate number of undergraduate and post-graduate advisees, if applicable.

Accomplished teachers are recognized by their colleagues and students. List the nominee’s:

4. Teaching honors and awards, including dates and identifying the entity conferring each award (e.g., student body, administration, colleagues, regents, alumni, civic group, industry group, etc.).

Verification by college dean that nominee meets the Basic Criteria for nomination as stated above

Statement from the Nominee, limited to 1,500 words

As an accomplished teacher, you base your practice on principles of learning that have proven effective for you. These principles may be based on prevailing theories of cognition, on truths learned from many years in the classroom, or on time-tested philosophies. Along with these principles, you have at your command a range of instructional techniques. You know when each is appropriate and you are able to implement each as needed.

Describe the principles that guide you as a teacher and explain how your instructional techniques reflect these principles. When appropriate, give specific examples from your teaching experience, including education innovations, and show how your teaching has enhanced student learning.

Statement from the Nominator, limited to 1,000 words

The nominator must specify his or her relationship to the nominee and describe the exceptional merits of the nominee. Anyone is eligible to make nominations for this award.

Three Letters of Recommendation, limited to 1,000 words each

Each letter of recommendation must specify the writer’s relationship to the nominee and give specific examples that illustrate the teaching qualifications of the nominee. Two letters must be written by former students of the nominee; the third must be written by a current administrator or colleague of the nominee.