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2021 UT SYSTEM REGENTS’ OUTSTANDING TEACHING AWARDS (ROTA)

On behalf of UTEP, the Center for Faculty Leadership and Development is pleased to notify you of the Call for Nominations for the 2021 UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards (ROTA).

In 2020, the UT System awarded 27 awards to tenured/tenure-track faculty and contingent faculty from UT’s 14 academic and health institutions. UTEP received one tenured/tenure-track and one non-tenure-track faculty award.

In 2021, at the request of the UT System Board of Regents, the Executive Vice Chancellors for Academic Affairs and Health Affairs have revised the ROTA program. Certain features of the ROTA program remain the same as in previous years, specifically the focus on recognizing outstanding faculty from both academic and health institutions and a monetary award for each recipient of $25,000.

To view the full details of the 2021 UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards (ROTA), click here.

February 15 - April 01, 2021 – Faculty compile draft nomination packages

April 01, 2021 – Nomination packages due to college Deans. Note that faculty can self-nominate through their chairs or program directors

April 01, 2021 - April 12, 2021 – Review and selection by each College of their nominees

April 12, 2021 - Deadline for Deans to submit nomination packets with their letters of support in each of the two ROTA categories to the CFLD via OneDrive (the CFLD will prepare a unique OneDrive folder for each College).

April 14, 2021 - May 05, 2021 – Review and screening by UTEP ROTA Selection Committee

May 10, 2021 – Two finalists informed

May 10, 2021 - June 08, 2021 – Final package refinement

June 10, 2021 – Submission of recommended nominations for Presidential review

June 30, 2021 – The final deadline for applications to be submitted to UT System

 

Also note that:

September – Notification of recipients and non-recipients by the UT System

November – Presentation of the awards during the Board of Regents meeting

  • UTEP can submit one tenured/tenure-track and one non-tenure-track application.
  • Up to 15 awards will be given across both academic and health institutions in the UT System.
  • No individual UT System institution is guaranteed an award.
  • As in the past, both tenured/tenure-track and non-tenure-track (contingent) candidates are eligible.
  • Educators not only at the undergraduate level but also graduate level including faculty supporting professional degree programs (i.e., J.D., M.D., M.Arch, etc.), are now eligible. Previously, only undergraduate teaching was awarded.
  • Faculty must not previously have received a ROTA award.

Candidate nomination will be a rigorous institution-based process and recommendation from the
institution president is required for each of individual institution’s two applicants.

The nomination materials have been reduced to 50 pages in terms of the written document.

Of these 50 pages, 20 pages are devoted to mandatory materials while the remaining 30 are at the
discretion of the applicant.

In addition to the written portfolio, nominees are welcome, but not required, to include a
supplemental section with videos, multimedia and/or digital content. The supplemental section
does not count toward the 50-page limit, but nominees are asked to limit the length of video(s)
submitted to 5-10 minutes in total.

Beginning in mid-February 2021, tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, and non-tenure-track
faculty may self-nominate through their chair or program directors to their college or school in
response to this announcement, and in accordance with the timeline established below.

From the pool of nominees, each college and school will subsequently recommend a maximum
of one tenured/tenure-track and one non-tenure-track nomination for consideration. These will be
reviewed by a University Selection Committee, which includes recent UT ROTA winners and
representatives of the University Administration. The committee will recommend to the Provost
two total UTEP nominations: one under each of the two categories. These final two nominations
will continue to be refined for submission to UT System, which occurs in June 2021.


Note: This information is subject to be updated as new information becomes available. Updates
are not anticipated to affect the essential structure, criteria, and requirements for awards.

2021 Cycle UTEP Nomination Process

Tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, and non-tenure-track faculty may self-nominate in
response to this announcement. To do so, the faculty member must draft a packet sent to their
Dean through their department chair or program director.

Nomination Materials Required
The materials for each nominee must be no longer than 50 pages and compiled as a single PDF
document bearing the nominee’s last name and campus (e.g., Smith-UTARL.pdf). Note that
nomination materials will not be returned.

As mentioned above, of these 50 pages, 20 pages are devoted to mandatory materials while the
remaining 30 are at the discretion of the applicant. In addition to the written portfolio, nominees
are welcome, but not required, to include a supplemental section with videos, multimedia and/or
digital content. The supplemental section does not count toward the 50-page limit, but nominees
should limit the length of video(s) submitted to 5-10 minutes in total.

The following application composition is provided to assist faculty as they put together the
nomination packet. Additional evidence may be included at the nominee’s discretion:

  • Application packets will be no longer than 50 pages in length and must include the ROTA
    Application Form (that does not count toward the 50-page limit), which asks for the
    following:
    • Nominee’s name and job title (ex: John Doe, Ph.D., Associate Professor and
      University Distinguished Teacher Professor)
    • Department 
    • Institution
    • Contact information, including mailing address, phone number, and email address.
    • Demographic information
      • Gender
      • Race/Ethnicity
  • Table of Contents
    • Including section and subsection headings with linked bookmarks
    • The Table of Contents must be paginated for ready reference.
  • Written Portfolio (Maximum 50 pages)
    Mandatory: The mandatory section of the written portfolio should not exceed 20 pages, and
    should include:
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • Teaching Philosophy
    • Letter of Support from the President of the institution (Only final selected
      institutional nominees will obtain the President’s letter of support)
    • Plan for disseminating methodologies/innovations (i.e., publications, presentations,
      teacher training and other professional development events, etc.)
    • Letters of Support from College Dean, Peer Faculty, and Former Students (Only
      College-level selected nominees will obtain their Dean’s letter of support)

Discretionary (Optional but strongly recommended): The remaining pages of the written
portfolio are available at the nominee’s discretion and could include student evaluations
(written comments and/or numerical section), evidence of the effectiveness of
methodologies/innovations developed (prior to or during the pandemic), and other materials.

  • Supplemental (Optional but strongly recommended; this supplemental section does not
    count toward the 50-page limit): The supplemental section is in addition to the written
    portion. While it is not required, the supplemental section may be used by the selection
    committee to make decisions. In the supplement section, applicants are welcome to include:
    • Video(s) – Limit of 5-10 minutes in total
    • Multimedia
    • Digital – personal website, LinkedIn profile, etc.
    • Other forms of content
  • Applications must demonstrate with quantitative and/or qualitative evidence (e.g., student
    recommendations, peer faculty recommendations, etc.) faculty’s effectiveness in terms of
    student success and learning.
  • Applications must include a plan for disseminating methodologies and innovations to other
    faculty within their university and across UT System institutions (i.e., shows leadership and
    commitment).
  • Please number all pages.

 

Selection Criteria
In preparing a nomination packet, keep in mind and pay careful attention to the ROTA selection
criteria:
Award nominees must clearly demonstrate their commitment to teaching and a sustained
capability to deliver excellence to the undergraduate learning experience. The review of
portfolios is expected to evaluate teaching excellence using the following criteria:

  • Focus on a commitment to teaching and delivering excellence to the learning experience
    through outstanding teaching including effectiveness, innovation, and creativity.
  • Potential indicators of excellence in teaching include, but are not limited to, the demonstrated
    enhancement of student learning through:
    • Pursuing effectiveness, innovation, and creativity in the classroom.
    • Demonstrating the use of strategies that actively engage the learner.
    • Creating opportunities for experiential learning.
    • Using technology effectively.
    • Adapting teaching methods to improve teaching and learning.
    • Striving to learn and improve one’s own teaching.
    • Being a thought leader in the area of teaching and learning.
  •  For this 2021 ROTA year, UT System has expressed particularly interested in nominations of
    faculty who, in addition to the criteria above, developed innovations that were responsive to
    the needs of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Examples to Proposed ROTA Selection Criteria

Compelling curriculum vitae that speaks highly of nominees’ outstanding teaching, curriculum
quality and classroom expertise.
Clearly articulated teaching philosophy includes focus on student learning outcomes and course
implementation clearly and compellingly aligned with those outcomes.
Provides clear and compelling evidence of incorporating faculty scholarship in course materials
and content that together inspire students’ curiosity and creativity
Provides clear and compelling commitment to and evidence of continuous improvement and
innovation in the preparation of course materials, including use of technology.
Demonstrable plans and dissemination of methodologies and innovations to other faculty at
UTEP and / or across UT System institutions (i.e., shows leadership and commitment).
Compelling recommendations from students, peer faculty and Dean that speak highly of
nominees’ curriculum quality and classroom expertise.
Sustained high performance in student exit (end-of-course) evaluations for multiple
undergraduate and/or graduate courses, at any undergraduate or graduate level; evidence to
include high evaluation scores and trends.
Clear and compelling commitment to high quality undergraduate and/or graduate education,
from participation in teacher training and/or academic teaching conferences
Demonstrates a clear and compelling focus on undergraduate and/or graduate student
engagement in the learning process through innovative and inclusive teaching techniques.
Employs a variety of teaching tools and mediums in order to accommodate different learning
styles.
(Optional) evidence of teaching awards received at department, college or university levels or
elsewhere (professional discipline associations).
Clear and compelling discipline-related interaction with undergraduate and/or graduate students
beyond the classroom, such as sponsorship of student organizations or scholastic fraternities,
field experiences, and undergraduate research.
Additional extraordinary commitment to teaching including mentoring undergraduate and/or
graduate students, service learning, engagement, advising, and high-quality investigative
experiences.
Evidence of innovations developed and implemented that were responsive to the needs of
students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Demonstrable plans and dissemination of methodologies and innovations to other faculty at
UTEP and/or across UT System institutions (i.e., shows leadership and commitment).

 

The nomination package must contain all parts (including support letters, with the exception of
the letter from the President) and follow all known guidelines required by the UT-Regents (see
the UT ROTA 2021 website).
Deadline for the submission of the nomination packet as a single PDF file to the Dean through
department chair or head is April 1, 2021.

Each College will review the drafted nomination packets, choose representatives in each of the
two categories (one tenured/tenure-track and one non-tenure-track), and provide their
nominations to the Center for Faculty Leadership and Development (CFLD). This will help
UTEP create a strong and academically diverse pool of drafted nominations.

  • Letter of Support from the Dean will be added to the selected College nominees at this stage.

Deadline for Deans to submit the nomination packets in each of the two ROTA categories to the
Center for Faculty Leadership and Development (CFLD) via OneDrive: April 12, 2021.

The Deans will submit nominations to a secure online server. Access to a unique OneDrive
folder for each college will be established by the Center for Faculty Leadership and
Development (CLFD). If you have any questions or issues with accessing or uploading a file,
please contact CFLD’s Program Coordinator, Ms. Karla Ramirez (ext. 8793
or kgramirez@utep.edu). Please note that once uploaded, you cannot make changes to the
submitted files after the April 12 deadline as the packets will be forwarded for internal review.

The Center for Faculty Leadership and Development will convene and facilitate the University
Selection Committee, a committee that includes recent UT ROTA winners and representatives of
the University Administration. The Committee will recommend to the Provost’s Office the top
two nominees (one tenured/tenure-track, and one non-tenure-track faculty). The review process
will run from April 14, 2021 – May 05, 2021. The Provost will make the final recommendation
and inform the UTEP nominees of their selection by May 10, 2021.
The two selected UTEP nominees will engage in a critical refinement process using peer review
with administrators, fellow nominees, and previous UTEP UT ROTA winners. This refinement
process will run from May 10, 2021 – June 08, 2021.

Submission of recommended nominations for Presidential review: June 10, 2021.

  • Letter of Support from the President will be added to the final nomination packets.
The Provost Office submits the nominations to the UT System prior to the UT System’s
specified date (June 30, 2021).
  • Up to 15 awards will be given across both academic and health institutions. The number of awards will be determined by the number applications, recommendations from the review committee, and other factors. No institution is guaranteed an award.
  •  After institutions submit nominees to UT System in late June 2021, the Offices of Academic Affairs and Health Affairs will appoint separate review committees. The committee appointed by Academic Affairs will read, review, and make recommendations on the nominees from UT academic institutions, and the Health Affairs’ selection committee will read, review, and make recommendations on the nominees from UT health institutions. The recommendations of both committees will go forward to the Executive Vice Chancellors of Academic Affairs and Health Affairs, who will make the final selection. The EVCs for Academic Affairs and Health Affairs will also bring in the student voice to the selection process.
  • UT System Timeline:
    • Call for Nominations: February
    • Institutional Applications Submitted to UT System: Wednesday, June 30, 2021
    • Notification to Recipients: September
    • Presentation: November BOR Meeting
The deadline for applications to be submitted to UT System is Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Please go to https://www.utsystem.edu/offices/academic-affairs/regents-outstanding-teaching-awards for more detailed information.

UTEP’s 2020 UT Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA) recipients:

Slade_Jessica.jpg Jessica Slade, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Instruction, Teacher Education
                
ChuanXiao.jpg Chuan Xiao, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

To see a list of our past winners, CLICK HERE and select UT El Paso