eFaculty of the Year

In Recognition of Exemplary Teaching Practices

Purpose:

The purpose of the eFaculty of the Year Award is to provide a framework for recognizing full-time or adjunct faculty who have a well-designed and structured course that engages students and implements tools and best practices to support learning in the online environment.

Benefits:

  • During Academic Affairs Assembly at the beginning of each fall semester, the eFaculty award recipient will be recognized and receive a plaque to honor his or her achievement.
  • The eFaculty award recipient will be featured in the South Texas College Faculty Spotlight.
  • The eFaculty award recipient will be honored at the Digital Learning Symposium.

Eligibility:

  • Current South Texas College faculty, lecturers, and adjunct instructors who currently teach at least one fully online class.
  • eFaculty recipients are ineligible to receive this award for three academic years from the time of their award.
  • Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Selection Criteria:

The eFaculty Committee will select teaching practices for recognition based on the following criteria:

  • Faculty Presence – Instructor regularly engages in activities that help students get to know the instructor and build rapport with students.
  • Innovation – Instructor incorporates creative activities, strategies and/or supplementary technologies to support student engagement and learning.
  • Achievement of learning outcomes – Course outcomes demonstrate a high level of achievement for student learning outcomes.
  • Student collaboration – Course design fosters student-to-student interactions and collaboration.

Procedure:

  • Committee Formation:The Teaching and Learning Center will invite 2 members of the Digital Learning Department and 2 to 3 other online faculty, including past recipients of the eFaculty Award to serve on the eFaculty Committee.
  • Committee Chair:A member of the Digital Learning Department will lead the recognition efforts and serve as the Committee Chair.
  • Committee Membership:The eFaculty Committee may include the Division Dean, faculty, and staff.
  • Committee responsibilities:The eFaculty Committee will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating the nominations.
  • Timeline:The Committee will finalize and forward their recommendation by the end of the spring semester along with the one-page Nomination Form to the Office of the Vice President and Provost for Academic Affairs.

Nomination Process:

  1. The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will open the nomination period from the beginning of the spring semester until the end of March.
  2. The TLC will send an invitation for the eFaculty award nominations to each dean and all faculty.
  3. Any individual member of the South Texas College, i.e., students, staff, faculty, administrators, may nominate faculty.  Faculty are not permitted to self-nominate.
  4. The Deans and Program Chairs will encourage their faculty members to submit nominations and available supporting documentation for their nominee by the end of March.

Committee Process

  1. The eFaculty Committee will collect and review nominations.
  2. Members of the eFaculty Committee may not nominate or support candidates for any teaching award. If nominated for an award, any committee member must recuse him or herself from the Committee.
  3. The Chair of the eFaculty Committee will finalize the selection process and submit the recommendation for the award recipient to the Vice President of Academic Affairs by the end of the spring semester.
  4. During the first week of May, the Chair of the Award Committee will submit the final nomination name(s) to the Human Resources Department to ensure the nominee(s) is in good standing and to the nominee(s)' immediate supervisor for final approval.
  5. Award recipients as well as nominees who were not selected for eFaculty of the Year will be notified by email of the committee’s decision by the end of June.

Previous Awardees

YEAR NAME DISCIPLINE
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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