President’s Award for Teaching Excellence

Any TFS faculty member who has taught at least one TFS/O course in the past 12 months, and is not currently a Program Director is eligible for the award.

If you are unsure whether the excellent TFS teacher you have in mind meets these criteria, please reach out to us at [email protected] and we can help!

Yes! Any member of the TFS communities, including students (and recent grads who have taken a TFS course in the past 12 months) may submit a nomination for a TFS faculty member.

Yes! As a faculty member, you may apply directly for the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence if you meet the eligibility criteria.

Yes! Any member of the TFS communities, including peers and colleagues of excellent TFS faculty, may submit a nomination for the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Each year, the adjudication committee will identify a small group of honourees from among whom a single recipient of the President’s Award of Excellence will be selected. All honourees and the recipient will be celebrated at TFS convocation.

Recipients of the award receive: a citation of excellence; a trophy presented at Convocation; travel, with up to 2-nights’ accommodation, and meal expenses to attend Convocation as well as a celebratory meal; and up to $3500 for registration, travel, and/or accommodation expenses for a conference or event that will meaningfully contribute to/enhance their teaching practice.

Honourees of the award receive: a citation of excellence; 1-night’s accommodation and invitation to a celebratory meal; and up to $500 registration for a conference or event that will meaningfully contribute to/enhance their teaching practice.

Yes, recipients will be expected to: address graduating class(es) at an upcoming Convocation ceremony; deliver a presentation at a school-wide event, such as the annual teaching conference; as well as serve as a member of a future President’s Award for Teaching Excellence Adjudication Committee.

Honourees will be expected to: deliver a presentation at a school-wide event, such as the annual teaching conference.

For nominations, there are two key components: 1. Your Statement of Support for the faculty member you are nominating; and 2. Your contact information.

For applications, there are three key components: 1. Your Personal Statement, 2. Your resume/CV, 3. Your contact information.

That’s it! See full details and link to the online nomination/application forms below – or click here to nominate or click here to apply!

This year’s deadline is Friday, June 28th at midnight (local time).

Once the nominations/applications close, they will move into adjudication across July and August with the Recipient and Honourees selected by early Fall. The Recipient and Honourees will be announced in November and receive their citations at TFS Convocation.

We imagine no more than 60 minutes/1 hour – of course, it could take a bit longer or a bit shorter depending on your style and approach with your Statement of Support/Personal Statement. The more specific details and examples you can give in your c. 700 words about your TFS professor, the more powerful your nomination will be; likewise, for applications, the more specific details and examples you can give about yourself in your c. 700 words, the more powerful your application will be.

…and you do not have to write a polished, formal letter on fancy letterhead, no! Be you, be true, tell us quick and meaningful stories about them and their excellent teaching, and your voice will go far.

If you’d like to brainstorm some thoughts and/or have someone read your draft Statement with you before you submit, please check out our Nominations Drop-in and Info Sessions (coming soon) and/or e-mail us at [email protected].

For nominations – Yes! You certainly can nominate more than one TFS faculty member who is an excellent teacher. Be sure to submit these as separate nomination packages with individual Statements of Support and with individual nomination form completions.

For applications – As a TFS faculty member, you can apply only once per year. Regardless of how many courses you teach and how many TFS/O programs you teach in and are connected to, if you are eligible for the Award, one complete application per year will ensure you are considered each cycle. (Remember, if you have won the Award in the past five (5) years, you will unfortunately be ineligible until the end of that five-year period.)

The Award is adjudicated by a Committee of TFS community representatives (students, faculty, and staff) who will review complete nomination and application packages long-listed by TFS Program Directors and then arrive at a short-list of candidates to have a live interview conversation with about their teaching. After these Candidate Interviews, the Adjudication Committee will make recommendations to the President for the Recipient and the Honourees.

That’s it! Check out the full details and links below for wider information, and if you have any questions/concerns, please reach out to us at [email protected]

We can’t wait to read about and learn more intimately about all the excellent teaching happening at and across TFS!