Nominations
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching are now accepting nominations for the 2015 U.S. Professors of the Year awards, which honor the nation's best undergraduate teachers. The deadline for entries has been extended through April 27, 2015.
The Carnegie Foundation and CASE will name national-level winners in four categories based on the Carnegie classification system:
- Outstanding Baccalaureate Colleges Professor
- Outstanding Community Colleges Professor
- Outstanding Doctoral and Research Universities Professor
- Outstanding Master's Universities and Colleges Professor
State-level winners will also be selected. Please note that not every eligible state and jurisdiction will have a winner each year as meeting the award program's demanding criteria is not easy. In 2014, for example, there were winners in 31 states, including the District of Columbia.
Criteria
The primary characteristic the judges consider is an extraordinary dedication to undergraduate teaching, which should be demonstrated by excellence in the following areas:
- Impact on and involvement with undergraduate students (25 percent)
- A scholarly approach to teaching and learning (25 percent)
- Contributions to undergraduate education in the institution, community and profession (25 percent)
- Support from colleagues and former undergraduate students (25 percent)
The Selection Process
Judging takes place in several stages under the purview of three separate panels. The first panel, assembled by CASE, is comprised of deans and professors, education reporters, and government and foundation representatives. They select about 100 preliminary winners out of the entire candidate pool. A second similar panel winnows this number down to 24 finalists.
The third panel is convened by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This grand jury, which usually includes a former U.S. Professor of the Year, a student, an education association representative, and other campus representatives, selects the outstanding U.S. professors in the four categories and completes the selection of state winners from entries that meet the program's demanding criteria.
Notification
CASE will notify all nominators of the status of their nominees by the end of September. Nominators are asked to inform their nominees of their status. To see a complete list of winners, visit www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org at the time of the November awards ceremony.
For more information, contact .
