The ASU Parents Association (ASUPA) Professor of the Year is an annual award that spotlights the contributions of excellent ASU professors. This endowed professorship, presented by the ASUPA, honors those who best exemplify a passion for teaching and who excel in both undergraduate teaching and in their area of research and/or creative activity. The award promotes a culture that values and rewards members of the academic community who also contribute substantially to scholarship and undergraduate education.

Only full-time tenured faculty may be eligible for this award.

• Nominations must be received online by the ASU Parents Association by Friday, Feb.17, 2012.
• Supporting materials are due to the ASU Parents Association by Friday, March 16, 2012.
• Use a standard type size (12 point font) on all materials, with one-inch margins.

Personal information provided to the ASU Parents Association during the application process will be treated as confidential. Narratives of teaching excellence and student success may be used by ASU and the ASU Parents Association for promotional use. 

For more information, please call 480-965-0830.

eligibility

• Candidates must have taught for the last three consecutive years (if a sabbatical was taken in the past three years, then please provide three of the past four years).
• Candidates must teach at the undergraduate level, demonstrating a consistent pattern of undergraduate instruction within the three-year instructional period (for example, an average of two undergraduate classes in each academic year). Submission materials should reflect work primarily with undergraduate students.
• Candidates must be full-time tenured faculty.

selection criteria

The selection committee will consider extraordinary dedication to undergraduate education, as a teacher scholar, with demonstrated scholarship within the last five years, which might be demonstrated by excellence in the following areas:

• A professor who is regarded by students and peers as one who inspires academic excellence, one who stimulates students to become active participants in their own learning, and who takes pride in motivating them to do their best work; a professor whose love of knowledge is self-evident and contagious; one who shows enthusiasm for the subject matter of the classes he/she teaches and for the development of students in those classes.
• A professor with a distinguished record of contributing to advancement in their field to scholarship and/or creative activity.
• A professor with a distinguished record of teaching leadership as a teacher scholar, demonstrated by the ability to integrate scholarship with the undergraduate learning experience and a demonstrated record of bringing scholarship into the classroom.
• A professor who is an advocate for teaching excellence.
• A professor noted for seeking and nurturing mentoring relationships with students.
• A professor who engages in teaching-related activities at the department, college or university level, as well as the city, state, national or international levels.
• A professor who is sensitive to diverse ways of learning and makes a serious effort to include diverse voices in the teaching and learning experience.

A selection committee of faculty, parents and students review all applications and determine the recipient of this award. The award provides the recipient a cash award of $10,000 and lifelong designation as a Parents Association Professor. The ASUPA further provides $10,000, ($5,000 per academic year), to fund an undergraduate student research assistant for the professor. In addition, the recipient becomes a fellow in the ASU Distinguished Teaching Academy.

The 2012 ASUPA Professor of the Year will be announced at the Faculty Excellence Awards celebration on April 17, 2012.

Why does this award require tenure?

Tenure is awarded to faculty members who have excelled at knowledge creation through their research and demonstrated the ability to effectively communicate that information in the classroom. While there are excellent instructors who are not tenured, this particular award focuses exclusively on tenured faculty. Please check with your college to identify other teaching awards that may be applicable.

How do I check if a professor is tenured?

You may ask the professor if he or she is tenured. If you do not want to ask the professor, please e-mail the Parents Association (parentsassociation@asu.edu) and we will check for you.

Will a non-tenured nomination go forward?

No.

What is tenure? 

The selection committee considers only the following submitted material:

from the nominator:

• Confirmation that the professor is tenured.
• A letter of nomination, no more than 1,000 words, due by 2/17/12.
• Completed nominator information form due by 2/17/12.
• The names of two primary faculty members and one alternate who will provide letters of support for the candidate.
  • Names are due by 2/17/12.
  • Letters of support are due by 3/16/12.
• The names of two primary students and one alternate who will provide letters of support for the candidate. The students must be either a current undergraduate students enrolled in ASU who have had direct and recent experience with the nominee or, if a graduate student, must have direct experience with nominee's teaching at the undergraduate level.
  • Names are due by 2/17/12.
  • Letters of support are due by 3/16/12.
• The ASU Parents Association will contact and follow up on references for faculty and student letters.

from the nominee:

Please note: Maximum word and page limits for CV, teaching log and personal statement are listed. Please do not exceed the limit for each submission portion. Candidate must use the teaching log in the online example.

• Curriculum Vitae — no more than 1,000 words.
• A complete teaching log (from fall 2009 to spring 2012) — no more than three pages, please use the online example as a template. Include a summary of student evaluations using a number scale from each course and a clear statement of the scale used.

Include a section highlighting the work you have done, if you have mentored students, served as chair or second reader for honors theses, supervised students using footnote 18's (honors contract), etc.

• A personal statement — no more than 1,000 words. You should address your key contributions as an undergraduate teacher.

Your personal statement should give a clear picture of your work with students, in terms of the stated criteria for Professor of the Year. (see criteria listed above)

• Candidates will be asked to commit to a photo and video shoot.
• Candidates may submit photos illustrating their work with students or research for promotional use.

from the department chair, dean or immediate supervisor (to be obtained by the ASU Parents Association):

• Letter from nominee's department chair, dean or immediate supervisor addressing nominee's service, scholarship, and teaching and learning success. Feel free to use quotes from teaching evaluations. (No more than 1,000 words.)

Please note: The evaluation process is confidential and a PTY nomination, while a significant honor in and of itself, does not guarantee candidacy to move forward. Candidates who move forward will be notified.