Purpose

The UMass Lowell (UML) Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching is designed to honor contributions faculty make to graduate-level instruction. The university recognizes the distinctive qualities that guide excellence when working with master's and doctoral students. Graduate education involves teaching the next generation of researchers, practitioners, and professionals to reach advanced levels of skill, knowledge, understanding, appreciation, and expression. Exemplary faculty performance in graduate education varies from program to program including, but not limited to, practical, theoretical, and professional fields that exist across our campus.


Eligibility

  • The nominee must be a full-time faculty member at UMass Lowell and currently in a tenure, teaching, or clinical-track position. Self-nominations are welcome.
  • 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 Awards

To recognize teaching excellence at the graduate level, the Faculty Excellence Awards Committee seeks nominations and applications from faculty who have made demonstrable contributions to graduate students and programs. Applications should include concrete examples and outcomes of the applicant's contributions to graduate-level education at UMass Lowell. Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria.

How the applicant:

  • Engages students: uses effective methods to challenge and engage graduate-level student learners in complex materials.
  • Integrates research: incorporates advanced research topics and methodologies into the learning experience.
  • Provides feedback: offers timely and constructive feedback that helps graduate students refine their skills and research capabilities
  • Mentors graduate success: guides graduate students in applying their learning to research, professional development, or career aspirations.

Application Process

Deadline for applications is April 3, 2026. All submissions must be made online through The Faculty Excellence Awards Portal. The submission must:

  • a short statement (500-1,000 words) describing the applicant’s mentoring philosophy, the impact on students, 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 graduate teaching contributions
    • two letters from students – the letters can be from current student(s) or former student(s) who graduated from UMass Lowell (UML) within the past five years
    • Note: A single individual may write no more than one support letter for each award category.

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


Award Winners

The winner of this award will be announced in April 2026. The winner will be invited to present a lightning talk on graduate teaching methods at the Fall 2026 Faculty Symposium. The winner will also receive a $1,000 award.

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

The Faculty Excellence Committee embraces and celebrates diversity in all its forms and encourages individuals from underrepresented populations to apply or to nominate others for these awards.