Purpose

The UMass Lowell (UML) Award for Excellence in Online Teaching is designed to honor contributions faculty make to online instruction. The university recognizes the distinctive qualities that guide excellence when teaching online and working with online students. Online 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 online 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.
  • The nominee must teach at least one online class per 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

  • Engages students: uses strategies to ensure active student involvement in the online learning process.
  • Promotes interaction: implements technology and/or creative ways to promote regular interaction amongst online students.
  • Use of technology: uses technology effectively or creatively to deliver course content in an asynchronous format, enhancing the learning experience.
  • Provides useful timely, and productive feedback to support online student success and well-being.

Please visit the detailed evaluation rubric on the Faculty Excellence Awards landing page.

Application Process

Any full-time faculty member may nominate a colleague or themselves for this award. The deadline for applications is April 3, 2026. All submissions must be made online through the Faculty Excellence Awards Portal. The submission must include:

  • a short statement (500-1,000 words) describing the applicant’s approach to online teaching, 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 online teaching contributions
    • two letters from online 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 their online 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.