Nominating one’s professor or colleague for a UVA teaching or public service award is not only a noble act, but one that redounds to the benefit of the department, as well as the individual. Anyone—faculty, staff, or former students—may make a nomination. The nominee must be a salaried member of the faculty; faculty wage employees are not eligible. If you are unsure, please contact vpfa@virginia.edu to inquire about an instructor’s eligibility before beginning the nomination process.
To help the nominator create the strongest possible nomination dossier, the selection committee offers these recommendations: 

1. Think ahead.
   Begin the process by reading through the Evaluation Rubric used by the Teaching Awards Committee. Communicate with your nominee about their role in the process and preparing the dossier early. This gives the nominee time to pull together various pieces of the packet and the letter writers time to reflect on or properly observe the nominee’s teaching and provide strong evidence of teaching excellence.
2. Organize.
   Because some schools and departments have nomination processes in place, it’s important to communicate your intentions early on to the dean, department chair, or direct supervisor, as appropriate, since they will need to endorse the nomination and sign the nomination cover page.
3. Divide work.
   The nominator (or nominating team) is responsible for the following:
   • writing the nomination letter.
   • soliciting letters from students, who can write concretely and persuasively about how the nominee supported their learning, creatively engaged them in and out of the classroom, and otherwise helped them thrive in their learning.
   • soliciting letters from colleagues who have directly observed the nominee’s teaching and who are able to write concretely and persuasively about the nominee’s skill, passion, dedication, and creativity in teaching.
   • compiling all components of the nomination packet; overseeing the process, ensuring all nomination requirements are followed; collecting the nominee’s abbreviated CV, course syllabi, reflective teaching statement, and student evaluations; completing the cover page, including attaining the appropriate signatures; submitting the nomination packet online.

The nominee should only be asked to provide their reflective teaching statement, abbreviated teaching-focused CV, course syllabi, and names of students and colleagues best qualified to write letters of support. The student evaluation data may be assembled by the nominee or the nominator with the help of the nominee.

4. Set the stage.
   The nomination letter should address each criterion listed in the Evaluation Rubric. It sets the stage for the rest of the dossier. In addition to summarizing the nominee’s teaching strengths and talents, the most compelling letters make a clear, persuasive case for why the nominee is deserving of a university-level teaching award based on personal knowledge of the nominee’s teaching. The letter might highlight and emphasize the nominee’s creative approaches to teaching, how students thrive in the nominee’s courses, their exceptional efforts to improve on their craft, or how the nominee’s teaching is distinguished from other colleagues.
5. Make the case.
   The reflective teaching statement, abbreviated teaching-focused CV, and course syllabi allow the nominee to highlight evidence of teaching excellence. Since the selection committee looks critically at these documents when applying the Evaluation Rubric, the nominee should use as concrete examples as possible to emphasize their strengths and demonstrate their teaching is beyond the expectations for effective teaching. Special attention should be paid to the following questions:
   • What specific activities and creative approaches support students’ learning or encourage their engagement?
   • What pedagogical practices or approach support inclusivity and educational equity?
   • What specific activities support a commitment to teaching improvement?
6. Adhere to requirements.
   The dossier requirements help the Teaching Awards Committee conduct an equitable selection process. Dossiers that deviate from the requirements—e.g., exceeding page limits, supplying extra letters, providing additional student evaluation data, ignoring font and margin requirements, and so on—will not be accepted. Questions about the awards process or dossier materials should be addressed to Sherri Barker.