by Paul Esau (Staff Writer)
Email: cascade.news at ufv dot ca
Do you know of an instructor at UFV that you respect or admire? Did this instructor make you sit up and take notice of the world around you, perhaps making you a wiser, more responsible person? Does this instructor deserve more recognition, perhaps even financial recognition? Do you find yourself quoting this instructor at parties in an effort to appear more cultured, or begging him/her to found a religion so you can convert to it?
If the last two apply to you then a trip to visit the school counselors may be advised, but for everyone else, the UFV Teaching Excellence Award is a chance to “give back” to an instructor who has been instrumental in your education. Teaching, like all jobs, can be a thankless task at times, so it’s important to recognize those instructors who have truly made a difference to the UFV community. If you have someone in mind, a professor among professors, then keep reading so you understand how this works.
The Teaching Excellence Award is given out annually to a UFV faculty member or lab instructor, who must be nominated by another faculty member, a student, a UFV alumnus, or a staff member. Permanent faculty can be nominated during or after their third year of instruction at UFV, while sessional instructors are eligible after they’ve taught the equivalent of two years. Understand that it’s impossible to nominate someone secretly; the nominator (you) and nominee (your instructor) must work together to compile the information package needed with the nomination form.
Both the nomination form and the policy which gives criteria for the information package can be found on the UFV website through the UFV senate – www.ufv.ca/senate. The nomination forms are also available at UFV Faculty Services and Student Services.
The award includes a framed certificate and a $2,500 deposit towards the winner’s further professional development. It will be presented during the convocation ceremonies in June, but don’t think that gives you time to procrastinate. The nomination packages must be submitted to Lisa Tassone (whose contact information is also available on the UFV website) by Friday, January 14, which means that you have to begin compiling your package now if you want your favorite instructor to have a chance at the award.
Past winners of the Teaching Excellence Award include Glen Baier, Sven VandeWetering, Adrienne Chan, Darryl Plecas, Wendy Burton, George McGuire, Elvira Warner, George Melzer, Greg Anderson, and Katherine Watson. Bear in mind that all past recipients of the award are ineligible for nomination, so nobody can win the award twice.
According to the UFV website, this institution is “a teaching university” which uses “small class sizes and a focus on teaching to allow [students] to get to know their instructors.” By nominating a professor for the Teaching Excellence Award, you could show your appreciation not only for that professor, but also for the philosophy behind UFV itself. And if that’s not a noble cause, then you’ve obviously never sat in a three hundred-seat lecture hall at UBC.
