Cormack Teaching Awards

The Cormack Awards were established by former Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) Dean Lesley Cormack in 2010 to celebrate excellence and innovation in teaching within the faculty. The award recognizes the passion that faculty members bring to the classroom, their quality of pedagogy, and the value they bring to their students’ education and the FASS teaching community.

The FASS Dean presents up to six Cormack Teaching Awards annually, one for each rank in the teaching stream (lecturer, senior lecturer, and university lecturer) and one for each rank of the research stream (assistant, associate, and full professor).

How to nominate

All nominees must be continuing members of FASS. Nominations may come from students, colleagues, or chairs and directors. Self-nomination is not an option.
The nominator is responsible for ensuring the nominee and the nominee's department/program chair or director is aware and approves of the nomination.
Nominations must be submitted electronically via the FASS Cormack Teaching Award nomination form. Upon clicking the link, please log in with your SFU personal computing ID to access the form.
Prepare your supporting documents before clicking on the link to fill out the nomination form as it is a requirement for submission. See 'Supporting Documents' section for more details.

Submit a nomination

For questions regarding the nomination process, please email Associate Dean, Dai Heide, at fassadlt@sfu.ca before the deadline.

Nominations open

The nomination period for the 2026 FASS Cormack Teaching Award opens Monday, March 2^nd.

Deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, May 15^th at 11:59pm.

Responsibilities of recipients

Recipients are expected to:

attend the FASS Fall Reception (Fall semester) to receive the award;
offer a public talk/presentation on some aspect of their teaching to FASS colleagues as part of a FASS-organized Cormack Symposium (Fall semester);
serve at least once in the following two-year period on the awards selection committee;
advise the Associate Dean, Undergraduate on teaching matters as needed from time to time;

Successful Cormack Teaching Award recipients will receive a $500 grant to add to their professional development funds, and public acknowledgement at the FASS Fall Reception during the fall semester.

Timeline

Nomination submission period: March 2 - May 15
FASS Cormack Symposium - award recipients will participate in a public address or workshop to highlight aspects of their teaching: September 24
Awards will be conferred at the FASS Fall Reception: October 22

Criteria

The award focuses on the more recent 2-year (6 term) period. Excellence in teaching is evaluated by peers locally in the Department and by a FASS-wide Cormack Adjudication Committee according to the following criteria, while and not exhaustive:

Overall Commitment to Teaching

Coherent and interesting theory of pedagogy
Experience in course development
Ability to inspire and motivate students and to foster creative and critical thinking
Ethic of care about student leaning and commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity
Ability to present complex information in a clear and engaging manner
Demonstrated enthusiasm for innovation in teaching and experimentation in curriculum delivery (e.g. Blended of Online courses, collaborative teaching, interdisciplinary courses, community-based teaching partnerships, experiential learning, etc)

Contribution to Pedagogical Knowledge and Transition

Dedication to professional teaching development (for example, participation in conferences or workshops related to pedagogy; grants or awards related to teaching development or pedagogy)
Development of courseware, texts, and use of multimedia or other technology in the classroom
Track record in knowledge translation in pedagogy in the discipline or to the wider community
Supervision and mentorship (for example, TAs/TMs, honours students, graduate students)

Quality of Teaching Content/Reflexivity in Mode of Delivery

Quality of course outlines and clarity of course goals
Diversity of courses taught, including course size and level in program
Responsiveness to student criticisms, changing student needs, and strategic enrolment challenges
Service in teaching, or on university committees related to teaching and learning
Quantitative and qualitative evaluations of teaching, including peer observation

Supporting documents

Letters of support from department/program chair or director

One letter in support to be written by the Chair or Director of the department/program. If the Chair or Director is the nominee, the letter will be written by the chair of the undergraduate or graduate program. The letter should contextualize the nominee’s teaching and supervision with the disciplinary context or program structure in order to demonstrate how the nominee’s curricular design functions within the life of the discipline, within the stream of the majors or minors, and within general arts and social sciences learning. Letters should include an assessment of teaching based on departmental criteria from assessing teaching. Normally, such letters include some or most of the following:

Demonstrated support and text from TPC: evaluations of teaching addressing quality, innovation, and importance of teaching
Supportive comments collected by the Chair/Director from other faculty colleagues, staff, and/or students
An aggregate summary of the last 6 semesters of teaching evaluations (if available due to covid restrictions) contextualized and presented as per department practice and as required by the most recent Collective Agreement
A statement of importance of courses taught in degree design and delivery and their contributions to the units teaching program
Qualitative peer observation of teaching
Assessment of the quality of syllabi and course materials
Evidence of professional development and engagement in teaching, including participation in panels or conferences related to teaching and learning, teaching awards or grants, or other appropriate criteria

Course evaluations summary

A summary of the last 6 semesters of teaching evaluations (in aggregate form) contextualized and presented as per department practice and as required by the most recent Collective Agreement. Note: Do not include full reports from individual courses.

List of courses taught by the nominee

A table or list provided by the department/program which outlines the courses taught by the nominee in the previous 24 months, the term in which the courses were taught, and the enrolment numbers in each course.

Nominee's full academic CV and teaching reflections statement

Written by the nominee (max 1,000 words). This pedagogical statement is intended to portray how the nominee’s experiences, insights, and philosophy of teaching may have been challenged or renewed in the previous six semesters (not counting the current semester).

Statement should include the following:

Reflection on teaching practices as related to the three categories of criteria above (Commitment to teaching, quality or teaching, and contribution to pedagogy)
How the nominee has responded to and addressed teaching issues and challenges, and how the nominee has demonstrated excellence and innovation in teaching practice
Commentary on aggregate statistical results of student evaluations. The aim is to allow the nominee to complement and contextualize how students have assessed the courses (Optional: nominees may include student comments if they choose)

Optional documents

Up to 4 additional documents (max 10 pages). They might include:

Selected course outlines or other teaching assignments to demonstrate innovation
Evidence of professional development training in teaching in the previous six terms
Submissions of any writing/conference presentations in the scholarship of teaching venues in the same period or examples of how research is incorporated in teaching, or chapter of selected courseware
Statement about influences, community or practice, or teaching aspirations

Selection committee

The committee will be chaired by the FASS Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, and Student Experience, and consist of a minimum of five members, including two FASS Teaching Fellows, two previous Cormack Teaching Award Recipients and up to three others selected to achieve gender balance, balance between humanities and social sciences, and faculty at the ranks under consideration.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences