Who can be nominated?
Any full-time faculty member who has taught at Western Carolina University for
at least one year may be nominated by a faculty member, department head,
dean or by self-nomination. A minimum of four liberal studies courses need to
have been taught at Western in the two years prior to the spring 2006 semester.
Nomination form

How much is the award?
One award of $1500

How does one accept nomination?
By submitting to the Faculty Center the required materials as listed on the
award guidelines.

What's the Deadline?
Nominations submitted by March 1, 2007
Materials submitted by March 16, 2007

What are the award guidelines?
Nominees accept nomination by submitting the following items in a ½” binder:

• A list of liberal studies courses one has taught in the previous two year period (max. 1 p)
• A written statement of one's goals in teaching liberal studies courses
  (max. 1 p)
• A summary and assessment of student learning in each of the liberal studies courses one taught in the previous two year period (max. 6 pp)
• Explanation of one's best practices for teaching liberal studies courses (max. 3 pp)
• Additional relevant information or materials may be included at the
  discretion of the nominee

Review of Nominees
The selection committee shall conduct a thorough review of all the portfolios provided by the nominees and choose three finalists. At that stage, additional
types of materials or data may be requested from all the finalists. All materials
shall be reviewed by all committee members.

The committee will then arrange to interview the finalists .

Selecting the ETLS Recipient
After all materials by all the finalists have been reviewed by all committee
members, and after the interviews have been completed, the committee shall
meet and vote to determine the recipient. There shall be one campus-wide
recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Liberal Studies Award.

Voting should be conducted according to the following procedures:

• The committee chair should schedule a meeting, prior to the initial
  review of materials submitted by nominees, to discuss criteria for
  selecting the recipient of this award. The committee should develop a
  rubric based on their understanding of the nature and goals of liberal
  studies courses as found in the professional literature on the topic and
  in the goals of the liberal studies program at Western Carolina University.
• Once all portfolios have been reviewed by all committee members, the
  chair will call a meeting to select the three finalists.
• The chair will arrange for the full committee to interview each of the
  finalists.
• After the interviews are completed, the committee will meet to select
  the recipient based upon its review of the portfolios, its selection rubric
  and the interviews.

After the recipient of the ETLS Award has been determined, the committee
chair will provide a written statement about the recipient that can be used to
honor and announce this person at the annual awards convocation. The chair should also remind all members that the results of this election are to be kept completely confidential until it is announced at the convocation.

The Provost reserves the right to accept or reject the committee’s
recommendation, and therefore it would be premature to divulge the
committee's choice before the Provost has publicly confirmed it.