Teaching Awards

Outstanding Early Career Teacher: Faculty with less than six years of teaching experience at the college level (combined at MU or elsewhere).

Outstanding Senior Teacher: Faculty with six or more years of teaching experience at the college level (combined at MU or elsewhere).

Awards are based on three criteria:

  1. Classroom/Laboratory Teaching
    Recipients must demonstrate clarity of presentations and assignments, variability of instructional materials and teaching methodology, enthusiasm for their subject matter and for teaching, and a teaching style that provides a variety of opportunities for students to learn. The subject matter must also be viewed by students as relevant, meaningful and well organized, and taught in a manner that demonstrates how to apply the course content.
  2. Teaching Outside the Classroom
    Recipients must demonstrate excellence in advising and mentoring as well as show evidence of ensuring student success outside the classroom.
  3. Other Teaching-Related Activities
    Recipients must contribute to the scholarship of teaching (e.g., through teaching publications and/or presentations), be a continual scholar of the teaching and learning process and learning environment, and participate in teaching improvement workshops, seminars or conferences.

Nominations & Submissions

Annual Deadline: March 1

Submit nominations in a single PDF attachment via email to Lena Johnson at JohnsonLM@missouri.edu. Name the file as: Year_Teaching_LastFirstName (e.g., 2022_Teaching_TigerTruman). In the email subject line indicate Early Career Teacher Nomination or Senior Teacher Nomination.

  • Individuals who previously received the award or a distinguished campus award (e.g., Provost Junior Faculty Teaching Award, Kemper) are not eligible.
  • Unsuccessful nominations may be updated and resubmitted in successive years.
  • Use 12 pt. font, 1” margins, and single space within paragraphs.

Nomination packets must include:

  1. Nomination/Cover Letter (limited to one page).
  2. Supporting letters (limited to three) from students (current and former) and/or colleagues (each letter is limited to one page).
  3. Nominees’ personal philosophy of teaching statement, explicitly outlining instructional goals, instructional strategies, and methods of bringing current research into the instructional process (limited to two pages).
  4. List of courses taught and the number of students in each, as well as other instructional and advising activities during the preceding three years.
  5. Data from two or more sources that evaluate instructional activity. For example, student evaluations of teaching, peer observations of teaching, results of assessment of student learning, or other relevant methods of evaluation. Do not include copies of individual student or course forms/sheets. If including student evaluations of teaching, please summarize the most recent three to five years in a table, similar to the “Course Evaluation Table” provided on the Office of the Provost website under promotion and tenure forms and documents.

Please contact CAFNR’s Office of Academic Programs at 573-882-8301 with any questions.

Recipients of the Teaching Awards