Dear Colleagues,
One of the most rewarding parts of our jobs is recognizing your efforts to advance the University of Nebraska’s missions of teaching, research and engagement. The success of any university depends on the quality of its faculty, and we are fortunate to have some of the best serving on our campuses.
Each year the University of Nebraska presents up to six faculty members and one department or unit with the President’s Faculty Excellence Awards, our most prestigious awards for success in the classroom, laboratory and community. Nominations are being accepted now for these university-wide awards. We hope you will take this opportunity to nominate a colleague whose work has made a significant impact on students, the university and the state and which merits public recognition.
“Please take this opportunity to nominate a colleague whose work has made a significant impact on students, the university and the state and merits public recognition.”
Faculty winners are awarded $10,000 each, a presidential medallion and an engraved plaque. The departmental winner receives $25,000 to support its instructional mission. All winners, who are chosen by panels of their peers, are honored at a luncheon hosted by the president in the spring.
Nomination forms, criteria, instructions and information on past winners is available at www.nebraska.edu/awards.
A brief description of the awards and their nomination deadlines follows:
- Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA): recognizes individual faculty members who have demonstrated meritorious and sustained records of excellence and creativity in teaching. Nominations due Nov. 1, 2016.
- Outstanding Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) Award: recognizes individual faculty members for outstanding research or creative activity of national or international significance. Nominations due Nov. 15, 2016.
- Innovation, Development and Engagement Award (IDEA): recognizes faculty members who have extended their academic expertise beyond the boundaries of the university in ways that have enriched the broader community. Nominations due Nov. 1, 2016.
- University-wide Departmental Teaching Award (UDTA): recognizes a department or unit within the university that has made a unique and significant contribution to the teaching efforts of the university and which has outstanding esprit de corps in its dedication to the education of students at the undergraduate, graduate or professional level. Nominations due Nov. 1, 2016.
Be aware that we are also accepting applications and nominations for our most prestigious awards for entrepreneurship. The Peter Kiewit Student Entrepreneurial Award and Walter Scott Entrepreneurial Business Award recognize university students and businesses with ties to the university that are leveraging technology to expand entrepreneurship in our state. If you know of a student or business that may be interested, or if you have contacts in your network who may be able to help spread the word, please encourage them to explore information about the entrepreneurship awards here.
Thank you for your assistance in recognizing excellence at the University of Nebraska. We are honored to work among such talented colleagues.
Sincerely,
Hank M. Bounds, Ph.D.
President, University of Nebraska
Susan M. Fritz, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Nebraska