Excellence in Visionary Teaching

Overview

The Dr. Kathleen Unrath and Robert Unrath Excellence in Visionary Teaching Award is designed to honor educators at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) who demonstrate outstanding dedication, innovation, and effectiveness in their teaching, with a special emphasis on creative and visual connections within their disciplines.

This award aims to celebrate and recognize faculty members who bring creativity and innovative perspectives to their teaching, significantly enhancing students’ academic and personal development. The award hopes to celebrate and inspire the following at CCS:

  1. Recognition: Educators will receive well-deserved recognition for their efforts, boosting their morale and motivation.
  2. Inspiration: The annual award recipient will serve as role models, inspiring their colleagues to strive for excellence in their teaching practices and to utilize visual innovation in support of creative documentation of ways of knowing.
  3. Enhanced Learning Environment: The award will encourage educators to innovate and implement effective and innovative teaching methods, thereby enhancing the overall quality of education.

Community Awareness: An award presentation will foster a sense of community among students, faculty, and the wider educational community as well as showcasing CCS’s commitment to excellence in excellent pedagogy.

Award 

Award Components include:

  • A commemorative award of recognition that celebrates the recipient’s achievements, designed by a campus or community artist commissioned each year to create the award.
  • A monetary prize will go to the department specifically designated for use by the award winner to support the educator’s professional development or classroom enhancements.
  • An opportunity for the recipient to deliver a special lecture or workshop, inspiring other educators, and students. This lecture could be delivered to students, faculty, or community groups as well as to colleagues to broaden the influence and expertise of teachers of excellence.

Eligibility and Criteria

All full and part time teaching faculty & staff teaching in the academic year of the nomination will be eligible to receive the award. Nomination letters and letters of support should speak to the following;

The nominated educator should demonstrate many or all of the following:

  • Innovative teaching methods, transforming traditional lectures into dynamic, interactive experiences that captivate students and demonstrate a strong creative and visual connection to the disciplines that are taught.
  • Seamlessly connect academic concepts to real world applications, providing students with practical insights and preparing them for future challenges as global citizens who are visually literate in a technological world.
  • Cultivate inclusive and collaborative learning environments, communication, and the exchange of ideas among students.
  • Demonstrate a genuine passion and expertise for the subject matter which inspires students’ curiosity and development of a lifelong learner
  • Demonstrate a deep personal interest in building caring relationships with students, mentoring, and building student success

Nomination and Submission Deadline

Any CCS employee or student may nominate a current instructor. The nominations should be submitted through this form by January 15 of the academic year and should reflect the criteria above.  Once an instructor has been nominated, they will be notified via email by the Dean of Undergraduate studies and will have until February 28th to collect and submit materials for consideration. They will upload those materials through this form.

Materials for Submission

The nominated faculty member will present a portfolio that demonstrates evidence of teaching excellence that meets the above criteria and thereby creates a legacy of professionalism along with caring, personal attention to students.

The portfolio materials may be presented in formats that are creative and non-traditional and inclusive of the following materials:

  • A nomination letter (already received) and a minimum of 2 supporting letters from at least one student, and a colleague and/or administrator
  • Nominee Visionary Teaching Philosophy (300-word limit)
  • Nominee CV
  • Portfolio of 3-5 artifacts that provide evidence of innovative and visionary teaching as listed in the criteria. This might include student artifacts, innovative assessments, teaching, and learning strategies, course delivery etc.

Selection Committee

Under the direction of the leadership of the Office of Academic Affairs as defined by the provost, a diverse committee including a member of the Art Education faculty will be formed to review the nominations and select the award recipients based on the criteria. The award winner will be announced in late April.