Trustees' Teaching Award

All tenured and tenure-track faculty, as well as full-time lecturer and clinical faculty whose primary duty is teaching and who have taught at Indiana University South Bend for a minimum of two years are eligible. Faculty members may receive a TTA only once in a three-year period (IU Handbook). Faculty members are not eligible to apply for the TTA while they are serving on the campus-level selection committee (Senate resolution, March 26, 2010). Candidates do not need to be nominated for this award; self-nominations are acceptable. Please note as part of the IU Indianapolis School of Social Work, faculty in that program are eligible for this award through IUI processes.

It is the candidate's responsibility to compile and submit their application. The entire application should be prefaced by the TTA Cover Sheet and contain no more than 10 pages (excluding the Cover Sheet and Appendix) in 10-point font or larger.

To present a convincing case of excellent teaching, the applicant is required to submit evidence in the order described below in a single PDF file. All pages of the main application should be clearly numbered, and the beginning of the appendix should be clearly specified. All materials within the dossier should focus on the past three years. However, on the cover page, please include all teaching awards received.

1. Teaching Statement:  A reflective teaching statement that describes the applicant's teaching philosophy, teaching context, and highlights recent teaching accomplishments, such as course and curriculum design and innovative pedagogies. The applicant should use this statement to make the case for sustained and consistent excellence in teaching. (Similar to the teaching statement for promotion dossiers.)  This statement is limited to 3 pages.
2. Summary of Teaching Accomplishments from the past 3 years: 
   • Courses taught with enrollments
   • Teaching-related publications and/or presentations
   • Teaching awards
   • Teaching grants (briefly describe purpose of grant)
   • Course development
   • Teaching innovations/curriculum design
   • Teaching-related service (briefly describe role)
3. Peer Review:  A letter from a peer who has had direct classroom observation or reviewed course materials. The reviewer should include in their letter the date of classroom observation or time period in which they reviewed course materials. This letter is limited to 2 pages.
4. [Optional] Additional Documentation the applicant might include: This section is limited to 3 pages.
   • Unsolicited student comments
   • Information on student learning outcomes
   • Evidence of teaching rigor
   • Information about course development or curriculum initiatives
   • Attendance at workshops, seminars, or conferences related to teaching
   • Additional letters from peers who have had direct classroom observation or reviewed course materials of the candidate
   • Student work samples
   • Quality of advising and/or mentoring of students outside of classes taught
   • Any additional information related to teaching
5. Appendix: may only include the following components in this order.
   • Summary of Teaching Evaluations: provide a summary of student evaluations and comments (no more than 2 pages).
     • The summary table of evaluations could be organized by semester, organized by course, organized by level of course (introductory level, upper level, graduate level). Example of a TABLE. 
   • Short Reflection: include brief commentary on trends that you see as important in your evaluations and how student feedback has informed your teaching.
   • Complete Student Evaluations:  all IU South Bend student evaluations and comments from courses taught during the past three years.
     • If you are applying in the spring of your third year, submit all IU South Bend student evaluations and comments from courses taught since you have been at IU South Bend.

First Monday in March:         

Applications should be submitted as a single PDF file to theappropriate contact.

• College of Arts and Sciences – Linda Schultz Heidrich
• College of Professional Studies – Bastian Peña Torres
• Libraries – Susan Thomas

Fourth Monday in March:     

The Chair of each College’s TTA committee will forward all reviewed applications and a summary of the committee’s ranking of the applications to the Chair of the Academic Senate Teaching Committee.

Third Monday in April:         

The Academic Senate Teaching Committee will forward their recommendations to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Early May:  Award announcements will be made.  The Office of Academic Affairs will ensure that the TTA awards are made before the end of the fiscal year.

• A faculty committee in each college and in the library (consisting of a minimum of three and a maximum of six members, from full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, lecturers, and clinical faculty) will screen the faculty applicants for the TTA. Any unit with fewer than six full-time faculty members may invite full-time faculty from another unit to serve on its committee.
• The College committee will recommend applications as "high distinction," "good," "acceptable," and "not acceptable." The College committee will then forward all applications reviewed with a summary including a list of applicant names and the committee recommendation to the Chair of the campus-wide committee, the Academic Senate Teaching Committee.
• The Academic Senate Teaching Committee will serve as the final selection committee. The committee will utilize the rubric to finalize their decisions about award recipients.
  • A majority of the members of the campus-level TTA selection committee must have received a school, college, campus, or university teaching award (Senate resolution, March 26, 2010).