Purpose

The UMass Lowell Award for Excellence in Teaching by Adjunct Faculty is designed to honor individual adjunct faculty members who exemplify a deep commitment to excellence in teaching. UMass Lowell (UML) prides itself on outstanding teaching and recognizes the efforts made by faculty to make their classes engaging and to enhance learning outcomes. This involves impactful experiences teaching the next generation to reach higher levels of skill, knowledge, understanding, appreciation, and expression. Exemplary faculty performance varies from program to program across our campus.


Eligibility

  • The nominee must be an adjunct faculty member at UMass Lowell teaching at least 3 credit hours during the current academic year.
  • Previous nominees are eligible, and it is hoped that they will be nominated again.
  • Previous winners are not eligible for a period of six years.

Criteria for Award

Applicants will be evaluated according to how the applicant:

  • engages students in the subject matter to ensure active involvement in the learning process
  • provides timely, critical and productive feedback
  • promotes critical thinking
  • promotes writing and communication skills as part of the instruction
  • incorporates research in the discipline into teaching
  • engages students where appropriate in research activities

Application Process

Any faculty member (full or part-time) may nominate an adjunct instructor for this award. Adjunct faculty members may also self-nominate. The submission package must include in a single PDF document:

  • the applicant’s current curriculum vitae;
  • a short statement (500-1,000 words) describing the applicant’s philosophy of teaching, the impact of those activities, and how the applicant meets the award criteria;
  • three letters of support that contain specific examples of the applicant’s activities that are aligned with the review criteria:
    • a letter from the nominator or, in the case of a self-nomination, a letter from a colleague familiar with the nominee’s teaching contributions
    • two letters from students – the letters can be from current student(s) or former student(s) who have graduated from UML within the past five years
    • Note: A single individual may write no more than one support letter for each award category.

The Faculty Honors Committee will meet to review the nominations and make a recommendation to the Provost or designee.

Award Winner

The winner of this award will be announced in April 2023. The winner will be invited to present a lightning talk on their teaching methods at the Fall 2023 Faculty Symposium. The winner also will receive a $1,000 award.

For questions, please email: FacultyHonors@uml.edu.