COLSA Community of Teaching and Research Scholars Award

This award was initiated by a gift from Chuck and Wilise Walker.

Purpose

The COLSA Community of Teaching and Research Scholars Award acknowledges a tenured or tenure-track COLSA assistant, associate or full professor who has demonstrated excellence as a classroom, field or laboratory teacher in one or more of the following areas: molecular and cellular life sciences, marine biology or biomedical sciences. The awardee is someone who demonstrates a commitment to peer mentoring by inspiring undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students to share their knowledge and skills with each other. The intention of this award is to preserve the unique style of teaching and research embodied by Chuck Walker and to honor the incredible impact he had on generations of students in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture.

Criteria for Selection of Awardee

• The awardee must be a tenured or tenure-track COLSA assistant, associate or full professor who has demonstrated excellence in teaching a foundational or upper-level major elective course in one or more of the following disciplines: molecular and cellular life sciences, marine biology, or biomedical sciences. Demonstration of teaching excellence includes student evaluations of teaching effectiveness, peer evaluations by other faculty and letters of support from faculty who have observed and co-taught courses with the awardee.
• The awardee must also have a history of mentoring undergraduate, graduate or post-doctoral students in laboratory research and have a history of creating an environment in which advanced undergraduate students, graduate students or post-doctoral students in the awardee’s laboratory share their knowledge and skills with one another.

Awards Committee

• The COLSA dean will appoint an ad hoc committee of COLSA faculty representing each of the above-mentioned disciplines to review nominations. The final recommendation of the award committee will be communicated to the COLSA dean, who will then make the final decision on the awardee.
• If the criteria for selection of awardee is not met in a particular year, the COLSA dean may elect to not name an awardee in a specific year and then award multiple people in the following year.

Award Details

• Nominations for this award will be solicited annually and may be accepted from faculty, staff or students. Self-nominations will not be accepted for consideration. Faculty members who are prior award recipients are only again eligible after two years have elapsed from a prior award.
• In addition to public recognition, recipients of the award will receive a stipend that may be used for activities, purchases or travel related to professional development and the balance of the award may be used at the discretion of the awardee to advance research, education and mentoring of the awardee’s undergraduate students, graduate students and/or post-doctoral students.

Nomination Form