Teaching Award of Excellence

The NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence is presented to one individual who demonstrates excellence in post-secondary instruction in agriculture. To qualify for the award, a NACTA member must have previously received the NACTA Teacher Fellow Award and currently be on a full-time appointment involving at least 25% teaching. A committee of NACTA members reviews applications. Criteria included in the evaluation are the instructor's teaching philosophy; a statement about the nominee's promotion and enhancement of teaching at the university, state, regional and/or national level; evaluations submitted by current students, alumni, administrative officers, and peers; involvement and contributions to NACTA; a self-evaluation including factors such as availability to students, teaching innovations, and departmental/institutional activity. Recipients receive a plaque and $1,500.00.

SELECTION CRITERIA FOR YOUR DOSSIER: 

1. Inclusion of the NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence Check List at the beginning of the nominee's file.
2. Cover letter to the Chair of the Teacher Recognition Committee which addresses items 3, 4, and 5 below.
3. Evidence of an individual NACTA membership for at least five of the past seven years (be sure to address this). Membership will be verified with the NACTA Secretary.
4. Evidence that the nominee has been on a full-time appointment involving at least 25% teaching for at least five of the past seven years is required. (A statement by an academic administrative officer will suffice.)
5. Nominee for the NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence must have received the NACTA Regional Outstanding Teacher Fellow at least three years prior to being nominated for this award. Nominee must clearly state when they received both the Teacher Fellow and Regional awards. Verification will be made with the NACTA Secretary.
6. An essay by the nominee on his or her philosophy of teaching is required. This must not exceed five typewritten (double-spaced) pages.
7. Statement about the nominee's promotion and enhancement of teaching at the university, state, regional and/or national level.
8. Evaluations of the nominee's teaching by recent (last three years) students must be included. Since most institutions have an in-house teacher evaluation system, a summary of recent data on the nominee's performance as assessed by the home institution's system is appropriate. Such an analysis must be accompanied by appropriate interpretive materials and a copy of the evaluation instrument employed. The NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form - Current Student may be used if the nominee's home institution does not collect and analyze student evaluations or to supplement your institution's in-house evaluation system (include no more than ten evaluations).
9. Evaluations of the nominee's teaching by recent (last 5 years) alumni. At least five (preferably up to ten) evaluations by recent graduates should be provided using the NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form - Alumnus/Alumna.
10. An evaluation of the nominee's performance should be provided by at least one, but not more than three academic administrative officers using the NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form -Administrative Officer. 
11. An evaluation of the nominee's performance should be provided by at least one, but not more than three peers using the NACTA Teacher Evaluation Form - Peer. 
12. The nominee should provide a self-evaluation of his or her professional involvement with NACTA. This may be in the form of an essay not to exceed three typewritten (double-spaced) pages.
13. The nominee should provide a self-evaluation of his or her professional activities, included should be evidence of: availability to students, ability to attract and motivate students, use of current, innovative and effective teaching methods, current in subject matter, scholarly activities, active participation in departmental and institutional affairs, mediator of the campus culture and link to the public, and student related activities.
14. Nominee's resume/vita, limited to 4-pages total.

*** Note: Nominees who are not selected for this award may be considered the following year without updating their files, but new copies must be submitted to the Chair of the Teacher Recognition Committee. However, a nominee can and may wish to update the packet if additional supportive material would enhance the nomination.

Special Instructions:

Attendance at annual meeting: Nominees should recognize that NACTA and sponsors expect awardees to be present at the annual conference to receive their awards. A consent of nomination implies that the nominee has an intention and, if selected for an award, will make a reasonable attempt to attend the annual conference. All award recipients are expected to participate/make presentations at future NACTA conferences.

A photograph and short biography of each award recipient will be included in the awards program at the annual conference. Submit a biography not to exceed 250 words in WordPerfect or Word format, along with a good picture in the form of a JPG or GIF file (the larger/better quality, the better your picture will be). The biography and picture should be sent via e-mail to the Chair of the Teacher Recognition Committee.

Deadline for all nomination materials is 11:59 PM on March 1.  

First impressions do count. Attention to neatness of organization, format, and presentation of dossiers makes a difference.

New instructions: Submit all award nominations online at http://nactaawards.expressacademic.org/login.php

For each nominee, upload one single PDF file that includes all nomination materials (all documents, letters of support, teaching evaluations and other relevant documents) at the website by 11:59 PM on March 1st.

We will only accept one PDF file for each nomination, and the website will not combine your materials into one file if you upload multiple files for each nominee. Evaluations of all nominees will be conducted through the website and neither the Teacher Recognition Committee nor the evaluators will be able to put multiple files together for one nominee.  

Visit the website at http://nactaawards.expressacademic.org/login.php for information on how to upload your files. If you haven't used this website before, you will need to create your own id and password. If you have any problem uploading files, contact Rick Parker at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Nick Fuhrman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Deadline: Nomination materials for all awards (except Distinguished Educator and Teaching Award of Merit) must be uploaded at the website by 11:59 PM on March 1.

Updated February 8, 2013.