11/15/2022
By Joseph Hartman

The Manning Prize Award Committee will convene in March 2023 to select a candidate for the 2023 Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Members of the UMass Lowell community are invited to nominate individuals whom they believe to be worthy of such recognition. Recommendations from students are strongly encouraged. Nominations must be submitted by Dec. 23, 2022.

The Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching was established in 2015 by alumni Robert ’84 and Donna Manning ’85, ’91, and honors outstanding faculty members from each of the five campuses of the University of Massachusetts. This competitive prize is presented to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching along with exemplary dedication to students and the campus community.

This $10,000 award will be presented to one faculty member from each of the five campuses. As is tradition, President Meehan will host a celebration honoring the 2022 recipients at the end of the academic year. The celebration will take place on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at the UMass Club.

Criteria

The nominee must:

Be a current full-time faculty member at UMass Lowell who has achieved at least the rank of associate professor, associate teaching professor, or associate clinical professor.

Demonstrate excellence in all three of the following areas:

  • Teaching
  • Dedication to students
  • Dedication to the university community

Nomination Process

Nominators must send an email to Manning_Award@uml.edu outlining in 100 – 200 words why the individual faculty member is worthy of the award. Faculty may self-nominate.

The deadline for nominations to be received is Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.

Nominees will be notified on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, of their nomination.

Nominees will have until Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, to accept the nomination by sending an email to Manning_Award@uml.edu.

Selection Process

Complete candidate application materials must be emailed to Manning_Award@uml.edu by Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

If a nominee wishes to submit an application for the Manning Award, they will be asked to submit a package with the following materials:

  • Cover letter that outlines their teaching philosophy, instructional approaches and active learning techniques and presents evidence of accomplishments in all of the following areas:
    • Excellence in teaching
    • Exemplary dedication to students
    • Exemplary dedication to the UML campus community
  • At least two but no more than five letters of support, no longer than one-page each, from colleagues or students/alumni who are not currently enrolled in their class, to include:
    • At least one student letter
    • At least one letter from a departmental colleague
  • Letters should provide detailed evidence of the nominees’:
    • Excellence in teaching
    • Exemplary dedication to students
    • Exemplary dedication to the UML campus community
  • At least one but not more than three examples of the teaching materials used in a course; please submit only one example from any given category. These examples may include, for example:
    • Course syllabus
    • Course/project assignment information
    • Slides from an in-class presentation

Complete candidate application materials must be emailed to Manning_Award@uml.edu by Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

The committee will meet to review the application materials and make a recommendation to the Chancellor by March 20, 2023, for selection to be forwarded to the UMass President’s Office for approval.

For more information, visit the Manning Prize webpage.