MinerAlert
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
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
Submission of recommended nominations for Presidential review: June 10, 2021.
Jessica Slade, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Instruction, Teacher Education | |
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