2025 Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence

Touro University President, Dr. Alan Kadish is pleased to invite nominations for the 2025 Touro University System Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence. These awards are bestowed annually in categories of teaching, scholarship/research and service at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional school levels.

Eligibility

To be eligible for an award, a candidate must have served as a faculty member in any Touro University System undergraduate, graduate, or professional school for at least three consecutive years immediately prior to nomination. Adjunct faculty are eligible to be nominated for the Excellence in Teaching Award, and must also meet the three consecutive years of teaching minimum for consideration. Faculty members who receive an award will not be eligible for the same award for five years following receipt. However, that faculty member will be eligible for an award in another category during that five-year period, provided the other eligibility criteria are met.

Guidelines for Nominations

Following are the guidelines including the nomination criteria and suggested supporting documentation for the Presidential Faculty Awards for: Excellence in Teaching, Excellence in Scholarship/Research, and Excellence in Service.

Excellence in Teaching

Nominees for the Excellence in Teaching Award will have a demonstrated record of excellence in teaching that inspires others. The nomination and supporting letters should offer examples of excellence that may include the following:

1. The faculty member promotes active learning and successfully encourages students to think imaginatively, critically, and independently.
2. The faculty member helps students appreciate the relationship between the subject and its place in its broadest context.
3. The faculty member uses innovative and varied pedagogical techniques.
4. The faculty member interacts enthusiastically and effectively with students beyond the classroom, using office hours, special projects, and research activities to promote learning and address individual student needs.
5. The faculty member mentors students through special projects, research activities, publishing of student work, and outside learning opportunities.

Supporting documentation to be submitted must include:

• Letter(s)of support from a dean and/or department chair regarding the faculty member’s teaching abilities

Other supporting documentation that may be included:

• Material demonstrating the faculty member’s major and/or unique addition to the field of pedagogy
• Letter(s) of support from a peer
• Letter(s) of support from former students and/or college alumni

Excellence in Scholarship/Research

Nominees for the Excellence in Scholarship/Research Award will possess a demonstrated record of quality, original scholarship that advances knowledge.

Supporting documentation to be submitted should include, where applicable:

• Listing of journals, books, or venues in which the scholarship or research has been published and/or presented
• Listing of creative works produced or presented
• Details regarding scholarly productivity, grant funding, awards received
• Peer review/reaction to the work(s)
• Letters from authorities in the field attesting to the significance and/or uniqueness of the scholarship. Consideration will be given for significant citation of the nominee’s scholarship within the field.

Excellence in Service

Nominees for the Excellence in Service Award should have a demonstrated record of exceptional service to the department, school, university, and/or the profession. Examples of extraordinary service may include but are not limited to:

1. Leadership service on a committee, task force, institutional governance body or commission that required a significant commitment of time and intellect to advance a program or policy of Touro University as a whole.
2. Departmental leadership leading to improvements, innovation and/or curricular developments significantly affecting Touro University and its students.
3. A record of distinguished volunteer engagement with one or more professional organizations that includes a leadership role on a project or initiative, or a leadership role in the management of the entity, which enhances the professional standing of Touro University.
4. Service to and support of students above and beyond the classroom (e.g; co-curricular activities)
5. Service to community that includes a leadership role on a project or initiative, or a leadership role in the management of the project or initiative and where the project or initiative clearly involves student engagement with the community and enhances the standing of the Touro University in the community.

Supporting documentation:

In addition to a listing of accomplishments, applications should be accompanied by a letter of support from a person or persons most knowledgeable about the faculty member’s contribution or an outside authority evaluating the faculty member’s leadership role in the professional/ communal organization.

How to Nominate

Any member of the Touro University community may nominate an individual for a Presidential Faculty Award. Self-nominations are not accepted. All nominations must be complete in terms of required material. It is the nominator’s responsibility to assure the completeness of the submission. Individuals may only be nominated for one award category per year.

Nominations will be open through January 9, 2025.

To nominate a faculty member, please submit the following:

1. Completed nomination form.
2. One-to-two-page summary description of why the nominee is deserving of the Presidential Faculty Award for excellence in the selected category (please be sure to provide specific examples of how nominee meets the criteria for excellence).
3. Faculty CV
4. Up to 20 additional pages of supporting documentation may be attached including letters of support/recommendation from present and former students (in this case, may include evidence of subsequent success and achievement), colleagues, supervisors, chairs, deans and other academic staff. For excellence in research/scholarship, links to relevant publications should be included.
5. For Teaching Awards only: Subcommittee may review student course evaluations. Faculty nominee signature must be obtained on nomination form, giving permission for release of evaluations.

Reviewers/ Selection Committee

Nominations will be reviewed by the system-wide Presidential Faculty Awards Committee. Committee members are ineligible for these awards while serving on the Committee and can neither nominate nor write in support of a candidate. If a committee member is nominated, he/ she must recuse himself/ herself from consideration for that year. The Committee will recommend finalists to the President, who will determine the final awardees.

Awards

Recipients receive a Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence medal and $1,000. Awards will be presented at a special ceremony with the President.

Deadline

Nominations along with supporting material must be submitted as a complete academic package addressed to The Chair, Presidential Faculty Awards Committee by January 9, 2025 via email to presidentialawards@touro.edu.