Teaching at Queen’s University is supported by the work of dedicated educators across disciplines, who affect in significant and meaningful ways the learning experiences and success of students at our institution. Teaching awards offer recognition to individuals or groups who have gone above and beyond their normal duties to help our institution cultivate teaching excellence and educational leadership that pushes the boundaries of knowledge through teaching—in service to an inclusive, diverse, and sustainable society.
Teaching awards are a great way to recognize outstanding and impactful teaching within Queen’s teaching community. Whether you are a student, a fellow educator, or a departmental leader, your voice matters in honouring and celebrating a nominee, and helping advance their career.
Teaching Award Information
ֱ Teaching Awards Overview
April 2025
This report provides the findings from a comprehensive review of Faculty and institutional-level teaching awards at Queen’s University. The review aimed to identify awards that are no longer relevant, require updating or where new awards should be established to create clear pathways for Queen’s faculty to receive provincial and national recognition in teaching excellence, aligning with a Queen’s Key Performance Indicator (KPI).
Award Pathways
Awards Nomination Tips
Nominating someone for a teaching award is important for several reasons, including:
- Recognition of impact and excellence: Teaching awards are a great way to acknowledge and celebrate exceptional teaching practices, dedication to and impact on student learning. It is also a great way to acknowledge and demonstrate appreciation for the nominee’s hard work and commitment to pedagogy.
- Promote and encourage innovation: Getting recognition for creative and innovative teaching can not only benefit the recipient, but also serve as inspiration for colleagues. It helps set a standard for teaching excellence and encourage others to strive for similar achievements, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the educational community at Queen’s!
- Remember the joy of teaching: Fostering a culture of enthusiasm and innovation in teaching is incredibly important; and little brings more joy to an educator than reading about the impact they had on a student’s experience, learning, and trajectory.
- Enhance unit reputation: A nomination reflects positively on the nominee’s unit and showcases its commitment to educational excellence.
- Promote student engagement: Acknowledging exemplary educators reinforces the importance of teaching and encourages former students’ reflection on their learning experiences.
Remember: According to research, researchers and educators from equity-deserving groups (including but not limited to): women, visible/racialized minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+) may be less likely to engage in self-promotion, including seeking or accepting award nominations (Lincoln et al., 2012). Departmental leaders, colleagues, and mentors should strongly consider championing and providing visibility for educators from equity-deserving groups, and work with them to build a proactive plan to pursue increasingly prestigious awards (from internal departmental awards to external/nationwide awards) as their careers progress.
- Begin with a brainstorm: Pick the right award for your nomination by referring to the award criteria. Think about some of the reasons why you want to nominate this educator, and why you are inspired by their teaching. Start thinking of specific memories, anecdotes from colleagues or students, and think of others who might want to support this nomination.
- Construct a narrative: Provide context about who you are in relation to the nominee.
- Organize your sections: The strongest testimonials refer directly to award criteria and explain, with detail and examples, how the nominee not only meets, but also exceeds the criteria. Many strong nomination testimonials use the criteria as headers to divide the sections of their testimonial.
- Be specific and provide details: Writing an impactful teaching award nomination involves effectively conveying the nominee's qualities, achievements, and the positive impact they have had on students. concrete examples of the nominee's exceptional teaching practices. Include specific instances where the teacher went above and beyond, demonstrating dedication, innovation, or a positive influence on students. Share anecdotes, testimonials, or stories that illustrate the teacher's ability to inspire, motivate, and create a conducive learning environment.
Remember: Use accessible language
Adjudication committees can be composed of faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral scholars who might not be from the same department as you. Successful nomination letters and letters of support work best when they avoid jargon, and ensure that the contexts and evidence presented about the nominee’s work are accessible to a broad audience outside the discipline. If a discipline-specific term must be used, remember to define it for the reader within. If you include acronyms, clearly spell them out. If the nomination references courses, include the course title for better clarity.
The best letters are clear, concise, and direct in their language and context.
All of us may hold biases we are unaware of, and unfortunately, they can sometimes enter our writing. When letters of recommendation or support increasingly play a significant role in career progression and recognizing exceptional individuals’ contributions – particularly equity-deserving or underrepresented groups – there is evidence to suggest that letters of recommendation contain language that expresses implicit biases, that these biases occur for all recommenders regardless of one’s positionality. It is important to recognize bias in letter writing to more accurately speak to candidates’ skills and contributions for which they are being recognized.
Below are some sources that are helpful in learning how to recognize, avoid, and rectify bias in letters of recommendation:
- Lehigh University provides a gender bias calculator, and examples:
- Some key points that can be adapted can be found here:
- A one pager from the University of California on avoiding racial bias:
- A one-pager from LeHigh University with examples of language and phrases that are gendered and/or racially biased:
- A guidebook from Reinert Center:
Table from the Reinert Center: Superlatives Commonly Used in Recommendation Letters
| Intellect | Work Ethic | Temperament | Vigor |
|---|---|---|---|
| imaginative insightful intelligent discerning knowledgeable original analytical far-sighted logical skilled astute adaptable resourceful self-reliant thoughtful judicious perceptive inquisitive bright |
precise persistent resolute serious committed orderly prompt efficient responsible persevering sure alert businesslike thorough confident tenacious hard-working methodical determined |
good-natured likable considerate affable patient tolerant composed restrained earnest bold gregarious polished adventurous team-oriented spirited sociable open frank assured |
active energetic self-starting enthusiastic vigorous pace-setting eager diligent zealous fast productive enterprising certain speedy self-driving independent ambitious on-the-ball industrious |
Guidelines for Creating a New Teaching Award
Queen’s University is proud of its history of recognizing excellence in teaching by individual faculty members through the presentation of teaching awards. In most cases, it is up to individual Faculties, Schools, Associations, or Departments to determine the processes for nominating and choosing the recipient of a teaching award. The following information is a compilation of the requirements and processes that are currently in place at Queen’s University. Readers are invited to use and/or adapt the following information in their teaching award processes.
The Centre for Teaching and Learning maintains a comprehensive directory of teaching awards at Queen’s. It is recommended that university teaching award information be submitted to the Centre for Teaching and Learning to appear on the Centre’s webpage for easy access by students, staff, and faculty. The online directory is the primary source for campus‐wide teaching awards.
The invitation to nominate a candidate for a teaching award typically appears as a formal document that conveys information regarding:
- Nomination Criteria
- Eligibility
- Nomination Process
- Selection Process
- Presentation of the Award
- Publication of the Award
- Requirements of Award Winner
A call for teaching award nominations typically lists some or all the following desired qualities of the award recipient:
- Motivates students to learn and facilitates in‐depth learning
- Develops meaningful and innovative curricula
- Uses novel or innovative teaching methods
- Uses meaningful methods for evaluating student learning
- Demonstrates depth of knowledge in and commitment to their field
- Displays outstanding commitment to Department/Faculty/School and to the university, inside and outside the classroom
- Demonstrates the realization that teachers and students are partners in the learning environment
- Demonstrates a receptivity to students’ questions
- Displays commitment to students over and above the norm Is available outside of class time for consultations with students
- Displays a genuine interest in students’ personal development and well‐being
- Displays personal qualities such as friendliness and approachability
- Is capable of conveying information clearly and in an organized fashion
Individual Departments, Schools, Associations, or Faculties decide who will be eligible for their teaching awards. The following are some of the criteria that have been used at Queen’s:
- Candidate must teach at least a half course
- Candidate may hold an adjunct position
- Candidate must be a full‐time faculty member
- Candidate must have taught a graduating class in any of three/four years
The processes of nomination for a teaching award vary greatly across Queen’s. Nominations are typically made by one or a combination of the following:
- A stipulated number of students
- Any individual student
- A peer faculty member
- A selected year of students
- A selected class of students
- Upper year students
- All years of students
- An awards committee composed of representative students and teaching faculty
Several means of gathering nominations may be used, including:
- Filling out a nomination form in hard‐copy or on‐line
- Collecting a designated number of signatures
- Holding a class vote
- Subֱ of a formal letter of nomination by an individual or group
- Committee recommendation
Supporting materials are often required from nominees. The following are examples:
- A teaching dossier from short‐listed applicants
- A list of courses taught
- A list of course created
- Examples of positive student statements indicating teaching success
Nominations are typically reviewed and the award recipient chosen by one of the following:
- Existing Awards Committee of department/school/faculty
- Panel of judges struck with the specific purpose of choosing the award recipient
- Panel may be composed entirely of students or faculty members, or by a combination of the two
- Student Society of the department/school/faculty
On occasion, a short list of award candidates is created and circulated among students to vote. Nominees are excluded from the selection committee.
Where and when a teaching award is presented is determined by the department or school. Some venues currently used are as follow:
- Convocation ceremony
- Society/School/Department/Faculty banquet or dinner
- Annual general meeting
- Awards meeting
- Year‐end Formal
Faculties, Schools, and Departments at Queen’s have used the following mechanisms to acknowledge a teaching ward:
- Name of the award recipient is placed on a plaque in the school/department/faculty library
- Name of the award recipient is engraved on a plaque or a framed certificate that is presented to the individual
- Individual is acknowledged as the award recipient in a newsletter and/or university newspapers
- An email message is sent to all students and faculty in the school/department/faculty/university indicating that the individual has received the award
- Award recipient receives a monetary award or gift certificate
- A donation is made to the recipient’s charity of choice in the name of the recipient
The recipients of teaching awards are often asked to present a talk on a topic of their choice or on a stipulated subject. These presentations may take place in a variety of venues and may be open to the public or to select audiences as determined. There are several venues currently used at Queen’s:
- A meeting at the Department, School, Association, or Faculty where the award originated
- At the Centre for Teaching and Learning
- In other auditoriums, lecture halls, stages, classrooms, foyers, etc. that may be reserved throughout the university
If you have questions about any of the above guidelines, please contact the Centre for Teaching and Learning at ctl@queensu.ca.