We are pleased to open the nomination process for the 2017/2018 Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards. Please find attached (and below) my memorandum in this regard, and specific attention should be given to Appendix III which indicates the number of awards available for each Faculty in this cycle. If your Faculty is eligible this year, we would appreciate your distributing this information widely, particularly to all Heads and Directors.
Call for Nominations – Killam GTA Awards 2017-18
We draw your attention to the following deadline dates:
March 9th — Nominations to be submitted to the Department.
March 16th — Department forwards the nominations to the Dean’s Office for adjudication.
March 30th — Dean’s Office forwards successful name(s) to the Provost Office.
If you have any questions, please contact Selina Fast at 822-5611 or selina.fast@ubc.ca.
Thank you.
Eric Eich
Vice-Provost & Associate Vice-President Academic, Office of the Provost, UBC Vancouver
Distinguished University Scholar & Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC Vancouver
January 9, 2018
To: Deans, UBC Vancouver
From: Professor Eric Eich, Vice-Provost and Associate VP Academic Affairs
Re: Call for Nominations – 2017/18 Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards
In recognition of the valuable role that teaching assistants play in our undergraduate programs, the university annually awards sixteen Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards. The Killam GTA Award includes a Certificate and $1,000.00. The sixteen awards, given annually, seek to demonstrate the importance and value that UBC places on teaching and learning, and to recognize teaching excellence within our institution.
We are seeking your assistance in promoting this award opportunity. We ask that you distribute this Call for Nominations to Heads and Directors, students and faculty members in all your teaching sites and post it in public spaces, as appropriate.
In addition to the Killam awards, Faculties may choose to establish their own GTA teaching award administered internally.
The procedure for submission of Killam GTA Award nominations follows, and includes a set of criteria approved by the Deans’ Committee when the awards were established. The Criteria are described in Appendix I.
PROCEDURES
Eligibility:
The award is open to any Graduate Teaching Assistant who acts or has acted in this position during the current and/or preceding academic year (2016-17 and/or 2015-16).
Nomination Process:
Nominations should be encouraged from faculty supervisors (professors, senior laboratory instructors) of the Graduate Teaching Assistant nominee, from colleagues working closely with the nominee, and from the students who attend/attended the nominee’s class or laboratory. GTAs can also self-nominate for the award.
Each Faculty will determine how nominations will be encouraged and gathered within that Faculty. The Head’s Office collects the nomination packages and submits them to the Dean’s Office for adjudication (see below for deadlines and adjudication process). Following adjudication, the Dean’s Office notifies the Provost Office of the selected winner(s).
Please note that there is no application form. The application takes the form of a teaching dossier and supporting documentation, from either the self-nominee or the student/peer/faculty nominating party. Please see Appendix II for guidelines for compiling the dossier and supporting documentation. Completed nomination materials will be collected by the Department Head or Director, for submission to the Dean’s Office. Any questions about the length and format of the materials should be directed to the relevant Dean’s Office.
If the TA work is performed in a Department other than the TA’s “home” Department (where he/she is registered), the nomination package should be submitted to the Department in which the work is performed, and the home Department should be notified of the nomination. Should the nominee become a winner, both Departments should be mentioned when the Dean’s Office submits the winner’s name to the Provost Office.
Nomination Deadlines:
a) Individual nomination packages must be submitted to the Head’s or Director’s office by: Friday, March 9, 2018.
b) The Department/Unit must send nomination packages to the Dean’s office by:
Friday, March 16, 2018.
c) Following the adjudication process, the Dean’s Office will forward the name of the winner(s) to the Office of the Provost and VP Academic, via email to selina.fast@ubc.ca, by:
Friday, March 30, 2018, along with the following information:
• current home mailing address
• email address
• Social Insurance Number (for Payroll to process the financial award)
• name, title and email address of the TA’s immediate supervisor
• name and email address of the Department/Unit Head
Faculties are asked to refrain from announcing the results until the winners’ list has been posted to the Provost Office website (https://academic.ubc.ca/awards-funding/award-winners/killam-teaching-service-winners. The list will be posted to the website approximately 1-2 weeks following the March 30th deadline above, and following the congratulatory letter that is sent to each winner from the Vice Provost and Associate Vice President Academic Affairs.
Adjudication Process:
As decided by the Committee of Deans in the late 1990s, Faculties are responsible for adjudicating the awards for their units. To that end, a committee should be struck by each Dean’s Office to review the nominations from departments. It is suggested that each committee consist of three Graduate Teaching Assistants who are recognized as effective teachers, three faculty or laboratory Supervisors of teaching assistants, and up to three recent teaching award winners in the faculty. A committee Chair will be chosen by, and from within, the committee. The enclosed criteria should be used by committees to determine nominees’ teaching effectiveness.
The 16 centrally-funded awards have been split among faculties on a per-capita (of teaching assistants) basis, using figures submitted by CUPE 2278. See Appendix III of this letter for faculty breakdowns.
Appendices Attached:
Appendix I: Criteria
Appendix II: Supporting documentation to include in nomination package
Appendix III: Distribution of awards by Faculty
Questions:
If you have any questions, please contact Selina Fast, selina.fast@ubc.ca, Office of the Provost and VP Academic, or visit:
https://academic.ubc.ca/awards-funding/award-opportunities/teaching-awards