PURPOSE: The Penn State Engineering Alumni 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 "PSEAS 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 PSEAS Executive Board members, and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies.

FREQUENCY: Past recipients are not eligible for a period of three years.

‹‹ Back