I. Purpose

This page details teaching awards administered by the College of Liberal Arts, the criteria and eligibility for each award, and important deadlines for applying. Information is effective for the 2025-2026 academic year.

II. Deadlines and Submission

All COLA Teaching Awards have a shared deadline in the Spring 2026 semester. For AY 25-26, this deadline is Friday, March 13, 2026.

All nomination packets should be uploaded to UT Box: Teaching Awards Submission Folder

III. Liberal Arts Teaching Awards

IV. Required Nomination Materials

All Liberal Arts Teaching Awards have the following required nomination materials:

Nomination packets are limited to 10 pages total (not including the cover page detailed in Section A)
Nominations should be submitted as a single PDF; label document as: “LName, FName_AwardName_2025-26.pdf”
Each award must include the following sections:
1. Section A: Cover page and confirmation of minimal eligibility requirements met (1 page)
  1. Nominee’s name, job title, and EID
    1. Department
    2. Contact Information
    3. Confirmation of minimal eligibility requirements met
    4. Permission for the award packet to be published on COLA websites should the nominee be selected for the award
2. Section B: Candidate teaching philosophy (2 pages)
  1. A statement of teaching philosophy that demonstrate a commitment to teaching. Candidates must include insights and examples of how they have had broader impacts on the campus and their communities (e.g. in their discipline, course content, administrative and/or committee work). The statement should also include insights and examples pertaining to:
    1. How the nominee has evolved in their pedagogical approach to increase student engagement.
    2. How feedback from students, peers, and/or faculty have contributed to the nominee’s ongoing pedagogical improvement.
    3. Evidence or examples of innovation in course design, instructional delivery, and/or approach.
3. Section C: Supporting Materials (up to 8 pages)
  1. Materials included must demonstrate with data and supporting evidence the faculty’s effectiveness in terms of student learning/development. In this section applicants are welcome to include:
    1. Course Instructor Surveys (up to 3 pages)
    2. Candidates will include in the template chart relevant information from the three most recent years.
    3. Candidates may include up to two pages of representative student comments from courses in the two most recent years.
    4. Brief/condensed CV that includes the following sections (up to 2 pages):
      1. Teaching-related service and research
      2. Advising
      3. Teaching awards/honors
    5. Two letters of support (up to 3 pages)
      1. Letters may be written by any of the following faculty colleagues (no more than one colleague external to UT), department chair, university administrator or student (no more than one student letter).
    6. Optional: Candidates may include up to 10 minutes of multimedia, digital, and other forms of content.

V. References

A. The College of Liberal Arts recommends reviewing this Teaching Awards Best Practices document for tips on selecting candidates and compiling nomination files.

B. Previous winners of Liberal Arts Teaching Awards can be found here.

VII. Contact Information

Questions: Kacie Vanecek