PURPOSE: The Penn State Engineering Society Outstanding
Teaching Award recognizes and rewards outstanding Engineering educators for excellence in teaching
and for contributions to the art of teaching. These teaching awards are established to confer honor
on individuals whose inspiration and contributions to learning are truly memorable.
AWARD: The name of the award is "PSES Outstanding Teaching
Award." Each recipient receives $500 and a memento. Funding is made possible through annual gifts
from Engineering alumni and friends. The award is presented annually. A maximum of three faculty
from University Park and two faculty from non-University Park locations may be selected at the
discretion of the selection committee.
ELIGIBILITY: All full-time Penn State faculty whose
teaching assignments primarily consist of College of Engineering degree courses are eligible.
QUALIFICATIONS: All candidates must have:
- completed at least three years of teaching experience while on a full-time
appointment at Penn State prior to nomination;
- taught at least two different classroom or laboratory courses per year
during two out of the past three years;
- demonstrated success as a teacher by combining competence of subject matter
with an ability to inspire students to higher levels of scholarship;
- improved the tools of and/or conditions for teaching, including the revising
or writing of new textbooks, and the development of courses, curricula and/or laboratory or
other teaching equipment; and
- demonstrated teaching effectiveness in a manner that substantially exceeds
the normal expectation for a faculty member.
NOMINATIONS: Nominations may be initiated by Engineering
students, faculty or department heads. Each nomination must, however, be submitted to the head of
the candidate's academic unit for review and approval prior to submission to the Dean's Office.
Each nomination should consist of:
a completed nomination
form;
a letter of nomination from the initiator;
a letter of support from the department head, if other than initiator;
a maximum of three letters of support from former students and/or Engineering
faculty colleagues;
each support letter will be a maximum of two pages in length and will have one signature.
SELECTION: Selection will be made by a committee appointed
by the Dean of Engineering. The committee will consist of three previous award recipients, two PSES
Executive Board members, and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies.
FREQUENCY: Past recipients
are not eligible for a period of three years.