Faculty of the Year Award

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Purpose:  

The Faculty of the Year (FOTY) award recognizes extraordinary contributions and quality service by faculty who support the mission of South Texas College (STC). The award honors excellence based on the Essential Qualities of South Texas College Faculty:

  • Commitment to Teaching Excellence and Student Success
  • Commitment to Student Engagement and Support
  • Commitment to Leadership in Education and Community Engagement
  • Commitment to 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.
  • 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 South Texas College full-time faculty and lecturers who teach online, hybrid, or face-to-face courses 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 FOTY award within the last five years are ineligible.
  • Self-nominations will not be accepted.
  • Administrators are ineligible for nominations.

Selection Criteria:

Teaching Excellence and Student Success - Evidence supporting excellence in teaching and student success, such as:

  • Instructional quality and contributions to curricular development;
  • Effectiveness in student development and learning;
  • Meaningful connections between the nominee’s participation in the discipline and teaching;
  • Methods such as active learning strategies that foster student motivation, engagement;
  • Innovative practices that integrate educational technology and/or AI as learning tools;
  • High-impact practices such as capstone courses and projects, collaborative assignments and projects, common intellectual experiences, global learning, e-Portfolios, first-year seminars and experiences, internships, learning communities, service learning, community-based learning, undergraduate research, and writing-intensive courses.

Student Engagement and Support - Evidence supporting outstanding commitment to student engagement and support, such as:

  • Fostering a positive and supportive classroom environment;
  • Student advising, mentoring, and holistic support for the program;
  • Methods developed to help students understand their majors and professional opportunities;
  • Contributions as a teacher outside the classroom leading to academic success;
  • Practices that integrate support services for academic success.

Leadership in Education and Community Engagement  - Evidence supporting leadership in education and community engagement, such as:

  • Faculty involvement and leadership roles in departmental or institutional committee work at the college, regional, or national level;
  • Participation in the revision or development of a new program in the faculty’s discipline;
  • Participation in outreach activities with the community including visits with area school districts, colleges, or universities;
  • Volunteering to support community initiatives.

Lifelong Learning and Professional Growth - Evidence supporting professional growth, such as :

  • Activities taken to stay current in the discipline;
  • Faculty development activities engaged during the last year;
  • Opportunities to observe a peer’s teaching other than through the official classroom observation process;
  • Scholarly pursuits including publications, journals, books, performances, or exhibits.

Award Committee:

  • Committee Formation:The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will invite each division to nominate one faculty representative to serve on the FOTY Committee.
  • Committee Chair:A member from the TLC will lead the recognition efforts as a non-voting member.
  • Committee Membership:The FOTY Committee membership may include faculty and students.
  • Committee Responsibilities:The FOTY 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 FOTY Committee may not nominate or support candidates for the FOTY 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 FOTY. 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, each nominee will be asked to submit the following documentation to support their nomination:
    • Current CV;
    • Syllabus (from the most recent academic year);
    • Activity reports for the past 3 years for college service hours;
    • A statement from the nominee addressing at least 2 of the 4 criteria (addressing all criteria is encouraged) highlighting how the nominee’s teaching practices and service at South Texas College provide examples of these criteria. (Responses to each criteria will be limited to 500 words per criterion.)
  5. TLC will gather the following information for each nominee to share with the Committee:
    • Full cycle of latest faculty evaluations (one complete and two partials);
    • Transcript of all professional development from the PD System;
    • A statement from the program chair outlining the nominee’s contributions to the college based on the Essential Qualities of South Texas College Faculty. 
  6. TLC encourages nominees to provide additional information for the Committee’s consideration. The information below is not required but will serve to support the nomination, and may include one or more of the following:

    Teaching Excellence and Student Success:
    • Evidence of innovation, including:
      • Screenshots or descriptions of technology integration
      • AI literacy activities
      • Authentic assessments
      • Active learning strategies
    • Evidence of high-impact practices such as capstone courses and projects, collaborative assignments and projects, common intellectual experiences, global learning, e-Portfolios, first-year seminars and experiences, internships, learning communities, service learning, community-based learning, undergraduate research, and writing-intensive courses.
    Student Engagement and Support:
    • Student testimonials, evaluations or other evidence highlighting motivation, engagement, and sense of belonging;
    • Evidence of contributions outside the classroom, such as:
      • Logs of tutoring or review sessions;
      • Learning community participation;
      • Student club involvement.
    • Advising/mentorship logs (e.g. meeting notes, student feedback emails)
    Leadership in Education and Community Engagement:
    • Evidence of leadership in faculty or staff development (e.g. facilitating workshops, leading communities of practice);
    • List of committee memberships and role in each committee;
    • List of involvement in grant applications and awards;
    • List of faculty mentored and frequency of mentoring interactions (e.g. monthly check-ins, classroom observations, instructional planning sessions);
    • List of outreach activities in the community, including visits to other educational institutions;
    • List of volunteer activities to support community initiatives.
    Lifelong Learning and Professional Growth:
    • Certificates not captured in PD System from workshops, institutes, or conferences;
    • Evidence of scholarly activity (e.g. publications, presentations at conferences, scholarly collaborations with other institutions).
  7. Nominated faculty will submit their materials electronically to the TLC by mid-March. Faculty who do not submit the required documentation by the deadline will not be eligible to receive the award.
  8. After reviewing and evaluating each finalist’s material, each committee member will submit their recommendation(s) to the TLC by the end of March.
  9. 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.
  10. 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 Sharon O’Leary Music
2024 Dr. Celina Casas Occupational Therapy Assistant
2023 Alex Sarabia Psychological Science
2022 Date adjusted to reflect calendar year *
2021 Dr. Rosemond Moore Business Administration
2020 Dr. Jennifer Guerra Culinary Arts
2019 Dr. Esmeralda Adame Advanced Manufacturing Technology
2018 Jenny Chamberlain Sociology
2017 Reynaldo Sanchez III Design and Building Technology
2016 Delia Magdaleno World Languages
2015 Rachael Brown Art
2014 Rene Zuniga Education
2013 *
2012 *
2011 Victor Gomez, Jr. History
2010 Dr. Mehrzad Mahmoudian Geller Biology
2009 Paul Wendland Culinary Arts
2008 Adalia Reyna Developmental Reading
2007 Charles M. Robinson History
2006 Ludivina Avila Chemistry
2005 Mohammad Kazerani Mathematics
2004 Jayaprakash Ramanujam Economics
2003 Dr. Morteza Abbassi Biology
2002 Dr. Michael Bagley Engineering
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