Faculty Spotlight

Nominate Now

Purpose:

The purpose of Faculty Spotlight is to recognize the exceptional contributions and quality service of faculty members supporting the mission of South Texas College through a best practice or initiative in one of the following areas:

  • Teaching Effectiveness
  • College Service
  • Community Service
  • Professional Activities and Scholarly Pursuits

Recognition and Benefits:

  • 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, lecturers, and adjuncts 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 Faculty Spotlight within the last five years are ineligible.
  • Self-nominations will not be accepted. 
  • Administrators are ineligible for nominations. 

Selection Criteria:

The following contributions are examples of the types of best practices or initiatives for which a faculty member could be nominated for the Faculty Spotlight award. The contribution may represent one or more of the areas below.

Teaching Effectiveness  
Demonstrates exemplary instructional quality through innovative curriculum contributions and the intentional integration of active-learning strategies that deepen student engagement. Effectively connects disciplinary expertise to inclusive teaching practices that promote student learning, confidence, and academic success. 

College Service
Demonstrates outstanding service to the college through sustained involvement in committees, program development, and initiatives that advance institutional goals and student success.  Provides consistent advising and mentoring or collaborates in other activities outside the classroom to create pathways for student belonging, persistence, achievement, and/or timely completion. 

Community Service
Exhibits exceptional commitment to community engagement by developing and supporting initiatives that address identified community needs. Fosters collaborative partnerships and service-learning opportunities that create meaningful, reciprocal benefits for students, the institution, and community partners.

Professional Activities and/or Scholarly Pursuits
Engages in delivering professional and scholarly work through presentations, research, and scholarly contributions that advance the disciplinary knowledge or the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Actively disseminates knowledge and best practices to strengthen teaching, learning, and professional communities.

Award Committee:

  • Committee Formation: The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will invite each division to nominate one faculty representative to serve on the Faculty Spotlight Committee.
  • Committee Chair: A member of the TLC will lead the recognition efforts as a non-voting member.
  • Committee Membership: The Faculty Spotlight Committee may include faculty and students.
  • Committee Responsibilities: The Faculty Spotlight 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 Faculty Spotlight Committee may not nominate or support candidates for any 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 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 nominations for Faculty Spotlight. 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. After reviewing and evaluating each finalist’s material, each committee member will submit their recommendation(s) to the TLC by the end of March.
  5. 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.
  6. The Office of the AAED Vice President and Provost will email award winners to notify them of their recognition by late April.
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