“The Teacher Who Changed My Life”
Every year, Tulane University bestows two faculty with one of our most prestigious awards – the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
As a member of the Tulane Community, you are uniquely positioned to tell us who should win these awards.
- Who has changed your life?
- Who has gone the extra mile for you?
- Who has supported and mentored you in a meaningful way?
Faculty nominated for the awards must be permanent full-time faculty. Nominees should have achieved success in:
- Making distinctive contributions to teaching such as challenging and well-organized presentations of the subject, adaptability to the learning needs of students, creating inclusive and equitable classroom environments, innovative approaches to course materials, creation of scholarly materials for student use, and availability to students outside of class.
- Influencing students beyond the formal role as a teaching such as advising or mentoring individual students, advising student organizations or groups, serving on teaching and curriculum committees, interacting informally with students.
- Helping students such as aiding in case of illness or other emergencies, advising students confronted with personal problems.
All nominations should be submitted electronically via the online form by February 10th, 2025.
For questions, please contact CELT.
NOTE: A precondition for any award nominee/recipient is that the faculty member MUST be present at Commencement.
Selection Process
Nominations will be reviewed by the selection committee, which will select a group of finalists in each category. Finalists will be contacted to submit teaching portfolios/dossiers via Interfolio. Please see Suggestions for Creating a Teaching Portfolio for a more detailed description. Detailed instructions on using Interfolio for this process will be sent to each finalist. The committee will select the award winners in early April.
About President's Awards for Excellence in Professional and Graduate Teaching, 2000-present
The President's Awards for Excellence in Professional and Graduate Teaching were established in the year 2000. Through 2005, one recipient was named each year. No award was given in 2006. Since 2007, two awards have been given to faculty members who have a sustained and compelling record of excellence in teaching and learning and an ongoing commitment to educational excellence. Graduate Teaching awardees each receive a one-time $5,000 cash award and a medallion designed by Professor Emeritus Franklin Adams.
The recipient wears the medal on formal academic occasions such as commencement ceremonies or whenever academic costumes are worn. The medal bears a stylized rendering of the shield that is an integral part of the university coat of arms. The grouping of three towers represents the arms of the city of Tours in France that was the home of the Tulane family for years. The crescents with flanking stars are from the arms of Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, who founded the city of New Orleans. The quartering of these two arms on the shield signify the identification of the university with the city. The Latin motto, Non Sibi Sed Suis, is translated as "not for one's self, but for one's own."
