eFaculty of the Year

Nominate Now

In Recognition of Exemplary Teaching Practices

Purpose:

The eFaculty of the Year (eFOTY) award recognizes extraordinary contributions to online teaching at South Texas College (STC). It honors full-time, lecturers, or adjunct faculty who demonstrate excellence in designing and delivering engaging, structured, and innovative online courses that support student success and reflect best practices in digital pedagogy. The nominees are evaluated across the following areas:

  • Faculty Presence
  • Teaching Innovation and Effectiveness
  • Student Collaboration
  • Lifelong Learning and Professional Growth

Recognition and Benefits:

  • Recipients will be recognized and receive a plaque during the Academic Affairs and Economic Development (AAED) Assembly and Digital Learning Symposium.
  • Recipients will be highlighted in the South Texas College Faculty Spotlight and
     the AAED Awards webpage. 
  • Recipients will have opportunities to share best practices with fellow faculty.

Eligibility:

  • Current STC faculty, lecturers, and adjuncts teaching at least one fully online course are eligible.
  • Nominee must have completed at least three years of employment at South Texas College. A minimum of six full-term semesters (fall and spring) or six eight-week semesters.
  • Faculty who have received the eFOTY award within the last five years are ineligible.
  • Self-nominations will not be accepted.
  • Administrators are ineligible for nominations.  

 Selection Criteria:

Faculty Presence
Evidence demonstrating a strong faculty presence through:

  • Proactive efforts to provide additional support and guidance to students requiring assistance;
  • Consistently engaging with students by using communication tools such as discussions, comments or feedback, Pronto, MS Teams, announcements, Padlet, or Blackboard messages;
  • Integration of audio and video throughout the course to foster a strong instructor presence.

Teaching Innovation and Effectiveness
Evidence demonstrating innovation through: 

  • Using novel techniques to promote active learning;
  • Incorporating current technology, tools, and innovations;
  • Creating opportunities for deeper learning through at least three of the following: critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, abstract reasoning, constructing and critiquing arguments, effective communication, applying knowledge to real-world situations, and/or analyzing models;
  • Providing multiple ways for students to engage with content;
  • Including appropriate cognitive demand and scaffolding to support content.

Student Collaboration
Evidence demonstrating student collaboration through:   

  • Learning activities that promote and require collaboration among students;
  • Activities focusing on strengthening and stretching expertise;
  • Assigning meaningful team roles in projects to ensure each team member has clear ownership and accountability in their learning and contributions.

Lifelong Learning and Professional Growth
Evidence demonstrating consistent professional growth through:

  • Earning Quality Matters certifications to ensure excellence in online course design;
  • Utilizing and promoting Open Educational Resources (OER) to enhance accessibility and innovation;
  • Developing course shells that provide structured, high-quality learning environments;
  • Delivering presentations at nationally recognized online teaching conferences to share best practices and emerging trends;
  • Offering mentorship and guidance to faculty in the design and facilitation of effective online courses.

Award Committee:

  • Committee Formation: The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will invite members of the Digital Learning Department staff and online faculty, including past eFOTY recipients to serve on the eFOTY Committee.
  • Committee Chair: A member from the TLC will lead the recognition efforts as a non-voting member.
  • Committee Membership: The eFOTY Committee may include students, faculty, and staff.
  • Committee Responsibilities: The eFOTY Committee will review and evaluate the nominations. After reviewing all nominations, the committee will submit their final recommendation in writing to the AAED Vice President and Provost. Members of the eFOTY Committee may not nominate or support candidates for the eFOTY award. If a committee member is nominated for the award, he or she must recuse him or herself from the committee.  

Nomination Process:

  1. The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will open the nomination period from the beginning of the spring semester until early March.
  2. The TLC will invite deans, program chairs, and all faculty to submit a nomination for DTLA. Any member of the South Texas College community, including students, staff, faculty and administrators may nominate faculty for this award.
  3. After nominations are received, TLC will submit the nominee’s name(s) to the Human Resources Department or to the AAED Vice President and Provost and the nominee’s immediate supervisor to ensure the nominee(s) is in good standing.
  4. Once approved, the TLC will notify the faculty that they have been nominated to be considered for eFOTY. The nominee will share the CRN number for the online course he or she would like the eFOTY committee to evaluate.
  5. The TLC will request the following documentation from the appropriate department to support each nomination:
    • Student evaluations for the past two years;
    • Verification that nominee has met or exceeded requirements for online recertifications and Lifelong Learning Hours;
    • PD transcript including PD regarding online teaching for the past two years;
    • Any QM Certifications acquired by the faculty;
    • Starfish Surveys;
    • Statement from the nominee’s Program Chair addressing how the nominee’s work exemplifies presence online, teaching innovation and effectiveness, student collaboration, and lifelong learning and professional growth.
  6. Nominees who do not indicate the CRN of the course they would like to be evaluated will not be eligible to receive the award. 
  7. After reviewing and evaluating each finalist’s course and supporting documentation, each committee member will submit their recommendation(s) to the TLC by the end of March.
  8. Based on the input from the Committee, TLC will complete the one-page nomination form and submit it to the AAED Vice President and Provost at the beginning of April.
  9. The Office of the AAED Vice President and Provost will email award winners to notify them of their recognition by late April.

Previous Awardees
YEAR NAME DISCIPLINE
2025 Robin Bell English
2024 Iraselia Garcia Olalde Biology
2023 Ronald Schermerhorn Music
2022 Date adjusted to reflect calendar year *
2021 Dr. Lydia L. Bean Education
2020 Phyllis Leverich Art
2019 Nicholas Hinojosa Computer and Information Technology
2018 Dr. Hanan Amro Mathematics
2017 Cynthia G. Sanchez Business Administration
2016 Darci Cather English
2015 Richard Lubben Art
2014 Robert Sean Kennedy History
2013 Tom Matthews Art
2012 Pablo Cortez Dev. Math
2011 Dawn Taylor Speech
2010 Rogelio Escaname Criminal Justice
2009 Max Abbassi Biology
2008 Debra Wyatt Speech
2007 Becky Jones Art
2006 Jessica Schnee English
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