Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching

The Award for Graduate Student Teaching recognizes excellence in teaching by graduate teaching assistants who serve as instructors of record and have independent classroom responsibilities. The focus of this award is on the quality of the student’s teaching and the academic contributions of those activities. Excellence in teaching may be demonstrated by evidence such as (but not limited to): awards or honors received in recognition of teaching excellence, outstanding evaluations of teaching, presentations or publications related to teaching, comments and/or evaluations from students or faculty regarding the outstanding nature of the student’s teaching.

Eligibility

• Currently enrolled in a UCF master’s or doctoral program or graduated from a UCF master’s or doctoral program in 2024
• Served as a GTA instructor of record for at least one class at UCF within the past year (i.e., spring 2024, summer 2024, or fall 2024)
• Selected as the 2024-2025 winner of the college-level award

Students can only win the university award once.

Application Requirements

• An electronic one-page nomination letter from the chair of the department or a faculty member that discusses the teaching of the nominee, with particular attention paid to the nominee’s contribution to the teaching of the department. This letter should address the strengths of the student, stressing how the nominee stands out within the departmental context.
• An electronic copy of the student’s complete curriculum vita, highlighting the student’s teaching accomplishments and contributions to the development of academic programs, courses, and teaching materials.
• A brief electronic (no more than one page) statement of the student’s teaching philosophy.
• Electronic copies of syllabi for all courses taught.
• Electronic copies of summaries of all teaching evaluations.
• Electronic copies of noteworthy teaching-related papers authored or co-authored by the student or other appropriate documentation of the student’s teaching.
• Applications must be submitted electronically to your Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in your academic college. 

Nomination Process

Nominations must be submitted electronically to your College’s Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for consideration for the college award. The college associate dean will charge a committee to evaluate the documentation submitted by the nominees and select the person to receive the college award. The selected award winner for each college will then be forwarded to the Interim Dean of the College of Graduate Studies by email at gradawards@ucf.edu for consideration for the university award. Forwarded files must contain a letter of support from the college Dean/School Director or his/her designee.

Award

Each winner of the university awards will receive a certificate and a cash award of $1,500. For each university award, as many as two honorable mentions can be awarded and each will receive a certificate. Awards will distributed during the Student Research Week Awards of Excellence.

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Past Winners