Faculty Spotlight

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Purpose:

The purpose of this award is to recognize the exceptional contributions and quality service of faculty members supporting the mission of South Texas College in four areas:

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

Benefits:

  • The Academic Affairs web page will highlight the award recipient.
  • Faculty Spotlight award recipients will be highlighted in the South Texas College Faculty Spotlight.
  • Faculty Spotlight recipients may become part of an instructional resource group.

Eligibility:

  • Current South Texas College full-time and/or part-time faculty who teach online, hybrid or face-to-face classes and have not received the award within the last five years are eligible for nomination.
  • Self-nominations will not be accepted.
  • Administrators and staff are ineligible for nominations.

Selection Criteria:

  • Teaching Effectiveness - A record of superior accomplishment in the area of excellence in teaching and learning should contain clear and compelling evidence related to
    • Instructional quality and contributions to curricular development;
    • Strategies implemented to guide students to become more active learners;
    • Success and effectiveness in student development and learning;
    • Meaningful connections between the nominee’s participation in the discipline and teaching;
    • Methods implemented that have motivated students to learn.
  • College Service – A record of superior accomplishment in the area of excellence in college service should contain clear and compelling evidence related to
    • Faculty involvement and role in committee work and student clubs at the College, regional, or national level;
    • Participation in the revision or development of a new program;
    • Demonstrated commitment to student advising and mentoring;
    • Contributions as a teacher outside the classroom leading to student success;
  • Professional Activities and/or Scholarly Pursuits - A record of superior accomplishment in the area of professional activities and scholarly pursuits should contain clear and compelling evidence related to
    • Activities taken to stay current in the discipline;
    • Involvement in professional organizations outside the College;
    • Faculty development activities engaged in during the last year;
    • Opportunities to observe a peer’s teaching other than through the official classroom observation process;
    • Research that contributes to the body of knowledge in the discipline;
    • Research on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL);
    • Scholarly pursuits including publications, journals, books, performances, or exhibits.
  • Community Service - A record of superior accomplishment in the area of excellence in community service contain clear and compelling evidence related to
    • Participation in activities that support students and colleagues to engage in community service;
    • Creation or development of new community service initiatives that address a specific need and/or problem in the community;
    • Ongoing commitment to the needs of community partners;
    • Partnership with community partners to develop a service-learning project.

Procedure:

  • Committee formation: Each division will nominate one faculty representative for the Faculty Spotlight Committee.
  • Committee Chair: The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will lead the recognition efforts with the Associate Dean acting as the Committee Chair but non-voting member.
  • Committee membership: The Faculty Spotlight Committee membership may include faculty and students.
  • Committee responsibilities: The Faculty Spotlight Committee will have the chance to review and evaluate the nominations. After reviewing all nominations, the committee will submit their final recommendation in writing to the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs.
  • Timeline: The committee will finalize their recommendation by the end of April and forward the names of the faculty nominee along with the one-page nomination form to the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and the TLC.

Nomination Process:

  1. The TLC will open the nomination period at the beginning of the spring semester. 
  2. After collecting nominations, the TLC may reach out to the nominated faculty members and collect additional information.
  3. Nominated faculty will submit their materials electronically to the TLC by April. The TLC will forward materials to the Committee. Faculty who fail to submit the required documentation will no longer be eligible to receive the award. 
  4. The Faculty Spotlight Committee will meet, review nominations, and finalize the recommendation process by beginning of May.
  5. Members of the 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.
  6. The Faculty Spotlight Chair will complete the one-page nomination form, based on the input from the Committee, and submit it to the Vice President for Academic Affairs during the first week of May.
  7. 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.
  8. The award recipient as well as nominees who were not selected for Faculty Spotlight will be notified by email of the final decision by the end of June.  
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