The Michael Mezey Excellence in Teaching Award Department of Philosophy Annual Graduate Fellow Teaching Award The institution of this award is intended to encourage excellence in teaching. It will be administered at the end of the teaching year. All graduate fellows who have completed one full academic year of teaching are eligible to apply. Applications materials should consist of the following: A one page statement by the candidate about their teaching A complete set of teaching evaluations for the year. If the spring evaluations are not available by the deadline, they will be added by department personnel, once they become available A complete set of syllabi for the year A letter from a faculty member who has observed at least one class Any other relevant supporting materials All supporting materials should be filed in with the Director of the Teaching Practicum by the deadline. Deadline: 30th June, 5pm The award will be presented at the orientation meeting at the beginning of the year. It will consist of a token monetary award, and a plaque. It will be administered by the Graduate Affairs Committee. Rationale The purpose of initiating this award is as follows: DePaul University is an institution that takes teaching seriously. The aim of this teaching award is to encourage, excellence in teaching. The department is committed to instilling in graduate teaching fellows the importance of excellence in teaching, and doing whatever it can to support their efforts to maintain high standards in their teaching. Many of our graduate fellows achieve a very high standard of teaching. Such achievement should be recognized, and rewarded. The award is intended to encourage graduate fellows to reflect productively on all aspects of their teaching. This includes appropriate choice of course materials, informative, clear and well-presented syllabi, effective classroom presentation, evidence of good classroom management, awareness of the diversity of student needs and ways of learning, effective and timely written assignments that reflect the goals of the course, accessibility to students, and commitment to taking seriously the needs of a diverse student body. It is hoped that this teaching award will be valuable in helping graduate teaching fellows to be articulate and reflective about their teaching. The receipt of this award should serve as a form of public recognition of teaching excellence, and should enhance the professional profile of recipients graduating from the program.