Excellence in Teaching Award nominations are open

Do you know an outstanding SFU instructor?

Students, instructors and staff are invited to submit nominations to SFU’s most prestigious teaching award, the SFU Excellence in Teaching Award, by October 16. In addition to the longstanding Award for Excellence in Teaching, specialized awards will be given out this year for early career faculty.

Why nominate?

For geography lecturer Leanne Roderick, being selected as one of 2022 Early Career Excellence in Teaching Award winner was both gratifying and an opportunity to support the SFU teaching community. 

“It has been really motivating. I’m the only one that sees the hundreds of hours that goes into completely redesigning a course to provide a better experience for students. To have this recognition is a reassurance to me that it was worth it, that it matters … The award has had an impact on the broader teaching community as well. Many of my colleagues reached out to ask me about one of the practices I was recognized for, labour-based grading, and so that has generated cross-disciplinary conversations that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

For 2022 Excellence in Teaching award winner and computing science lecturer Brian Fraser, the award has helped him participate in his disciplinary teaching community.

“I think what it’s done is help dispel the imposter syndrome. Sometimes I think, I’m just pretending, but getting this recognition helped remind that I am doing good teaching. I’ve recently gotten more involved in computing science educational conferences … I can’t say if the award propelled me into that space or not but it’s definitely helped me feel like I belong there.”

Take a lead in your own nomination

Physics professor Nancy Forde and 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award winner encourages instructors to take an active role by reaching out to potential nominators.

“If you're doing something that you feel like could be recognized with an award like this, especially if you think that recognition would help the rest of the university community, don't be afraid to bring that forward to someone who could nominate you, like your departmental chair. Remember that they might not know what's happening in your classroom. I think this is especially important for groups that may be traditionally marginalized from formal recognition processes."

For more information on the awards and the nomination process visit the Provost’s Excellence in Teaching Award page.