Gilian Sherwin Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching

The Gilian Sherwin Alumni Award is the highest honour for teaching excellence at the University of Victoria for Sessional Lecturers, Lab Instructors, and Senior Lab Instructors.

The Gilian Sherwin Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching bears the name of a former Senior Lab Instructor in the Geography department who, for 21 years, was a strong supporter of better teaching at the university, an active member of the advisory committee of the Division of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation (LTSI), and a regular participant in the training of teaching assistants. This award is a tribute to Gilian Sherwin’s commitment to the art of teaching and the influence she had on many students and colleagues

Since 1989, the UVic Alumni Association has been pleased to honour the outstanding level of teaching offered by the university’s faculty and instructors. We are proud of our role in recognizing UVic teaching of the highest calibre. The Office of the Vice-President Academic and Provost administers the award on behalf of the Alumni Association.

Eligibility

This award is open to:

• All Sessional Lecturers, Lab Instructors, and Senior Lab Instructors (continuing and term). These eligibility criteria reflect the fact that this is the highest award for teaching excellence at the University of Victoria at this level.

Nominees must:

• • Have held a minimum of 0.5 FTE position, for the past three years;
  • Have taught and currently teach credit-based courses;
  • Be the only nomination from their academic unit (i.e., only one new nomination per academic unit will be considered).

Award criteria

Nominations will be assessed based on evidence of outstanding contributions in both teaching and educational leadership:

• Promotes student-centred learning in practices that actively engage students in the learning process and are focused on learning and mentoring beyond the classroom
• Creatively enhances teaching by including innovative teaching methods and learning strategies, effective assignment development, incorporation of educational technologies and providing formative assessment
• Provides innovative course design/redesign and engagement in curriculum development and is actively engaged in scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research, collaborating with peers, students, and TAs
• Is an educational leader within and beyond the university, involved in activities such as: participating in learning and teaching related committees or presentations, serving as a consultant on government policy bodies, writing media reviews or articles, publishing in academic journals, or obtaining grants for teaching and learning research

Nomination components

Submit your nomination through the online form. Submit all the nomination components in one combined PDF.

Nominee bio

Include a summary of the nominee's distinctive contributions, including their teaching practices and philosophy. This will be used to brief the adjudicators and for promotional purposes if the nominee is the successful candidate. (100 words maximum.)

Nomination letter

A signed written statement (500 words maximum) including:

• teaching practices
• teaching philosophy
• impact of teaching on student learning specific to award criteria

One letter of support

• The letter of support must be written primarily by a faculty member and can include additional authors (students or faculty members). (500 words maximum) 
• The letter of support should address nominees' effective teaching practices (e.g., student engagement, student learning, value of the courses to their overall program, effective teaching strategies, creativity in course design, teaching inspired by research, student mentoring, and innovative or effective assignments)

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Must include:

• Education and other relevant experience
• Employment history
• Relevant teaching awards
• Courses taught

Additional supporting materials

You can upload up to 3 optional files, such as a teaching dossier, CES, course syllabi, additional letters of support, websites, media clips, or articles. Supporting evidence should be referenced in the nomination letter and depending on the length of materials may not be thoroughly reviewed (e.g., books or manuscripts).