Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award (GSETMA)

To be eligible, students must be in a graduate program under the auspices of the Graduate College. Ineligible programs include: DMD, DPT, DrPH, DNP, LLM, JD, MBA, MD, MEng, MPH, and PharmD  (unless in a joint-degree in an eligible program).

In conjunction with the applicant, the nominator is responsible for the submission of the following materials to the Graduate College:

1. Nomination form (see link below)
2. A letter of support from the nominating department head/chair (noting any departmental honors awarded to the master’s / doctoral student for excellence in teaching)
3. Student nominee’s Curriculum Vitae (no length restriction)
4. Student nominee’s teaching portfolio (Please use the following headings for the sections of the portfolio.)
   1. Statement of teaching philosophy. (Share your teaching philosophy by describing your understanding of how people learn, and how that understanding, in turn, informs what you value most as an instructor and the way you approach teaching. This explanation could include your fundamental understanding of the purpose of education, the nature of learning, and/or your role as a teacher in facilitating that learning. Please describe the instructional strategies and evidence-based practices that you utilize to support your teaching philosophy.)
   2. Course design. (Connecting course design to your teaching philosophy and practices, describe how you have approached instructional design in one of your courses. Focus on the main elements of instructional design (e.g. objectives, course organization, content and format, learning activities, interaction, assessments) and provide examples from your course along with your rationale for adopting them.)
   3. Teaching in Action. (Provide a link to a 10-minute (maximum) video clip from a collegiate-level course that demonstrates your teaching in action along with a one-paragraph description explaining how this video is representative of your teaching philosophy and practices. A variety of teaching settings may be used for the video including but not limited to lecture, facilitated discussion, lab, etc. as appropriate to the course. The focus should be on activities that demonstrate exceptional or innovative instruction or student learning, such as student engagement, personalized learning, project-based learning, etc. For asynchronous online courses, a video presentation by the instructor of key engaged learning activities, or learning environments, would be an example of good evidence. Please note that instructors need to adhere to all campus FERPA policies. Preferred video file: YouTube. Permissible file formats: .mov; .mp4 (.mpeg4); .avi; .wmv; .flv; .3GP.) [New in 2025–if nominated for the regional award, a YouTube link is mandatory. See technical specifications link below.]
   4. Evidence of Effective Student/Colleague Mentoring. (Describe your experience with mentoring students outside of the classroom, whether that be related to the courses you teach or in other settings. Additionally, discuss any experience you have with mentoring your peers or colleagues in the context of teaching.)
   5. Evidence of Professional Development. (Explain how you have used professional development opportunities to grow in your teaching excellence. If appropriate, how have you aligned professional development in the feedback you have received on your teaching?)

** The teaching portfolio is limited to SIX (6) double-spaced pages with one-inch margins and using a 12-point font. Applications which do not adhere to submission requirements, page limits, formatting, and video length, will be ineligible for consideration.**

**A sampling of your teaching evaluations, completed by your students, are not required; however they could be useful for completing the “Effective Mentoring” section.**

• GSEMTA Nomination
• Technical Specifications for Video

Reviewers from the CATE, the Graduate College, and the Honors College will evaluate files according to these rubrics [100 points total]:

• Letter of support from the nominating department head/chair [no assigned point value]
• Current Curriculum Vitae [no assigned point value]
• Teaching Portfolio
  • Statement of Teaching Philosophy [25 points]
  • Course design [25 points]
  • Video clip of “Teaching in Action” (10-minute maximum/electronic link provided [25 points]
  • Evidence of Effective Student/Colleague Mentoring [10 points]
  • Evidence of Professional Development [15 points]

The nominator may be a faculty member, a colleague, an  undergraduate student, or a staff member. Working in conjunction with the applicant, the nominator is responsible for collating the materials, saving them as single PDF, and submitting the nomination using this naming convention:

2024_GSETMA-M/D-Dept_LastFI.pdf using the examples of the nominations for Gwen Brooks, a master’s student in English, and Tony Fauci, a doctoral student in Biological Sciences :

2024_GSETMA-M-ENGL_BrooksG.pdf 

2024_GSETMA-D-BIOS_FauciT.pdf 

Do not leave spaces in the pdf name.

FAQs on Nominating Students and Preparing Applications for the Teaching Excellence Award

Q1: Is there a page limit? Yes. The teaching portfolio cannot exceed SIX  double-spaced pages using one-inch margins and a 12-point font. Do not count the nomination form, departmental letter of support, or CV in the page limit.

Q2: What should the “Teaching in Action” video clip include? The clip from a collegiate-level course should demonstrate your teaching in action along with a one-paragraph description explaining how this video is representative of your teaching philosophy and practices. A variety of teaching settings may be used for the video including but not limited to lecture, facilitated discussion, lab, etc. as appropriate to the course. The focus should be on activities that demonstrate exceptional or innovative instruction or student learning, such as student engagement, personalized learning, project-based learning, etc. For asynchronous online courses, a video presentation by the instructor of key engaged learning activities, or learning environments, would be an example of good evidence. lease note that a variety of teaching settings may be used for the video including but not limited to virtual modalities, lecture, facilitated discussion, lab, etc. as appropriate to the course;  focus is on the quality of teaching and learning, e.g. student engagement, enthusiasm, active student-centered pedagogy, and personalized learning, rather than expertise in creating the video. The focus should be on activities that demonstrate exceptional or innovative instruction or student learning, such as student engagement, personalized learning, project-based learning, etc. For asynchronous online courses, a video presentation by the instructor of key engaged learning activities, or learning environments, would be an example of good evidence.

Q3: Is there a maximum length/duration to the video clip? Yes. Ten minutes.

Q4: Are there obligatory files formats? Yes: .mov; .mp4 (.mpeg4); .avi; .wmv; .flv; .3GP.

Q5: Must I useYouTube? Technically, no; however, the university’s nominees for the regional competition must have their video clip available on YouTube.

Q6: Is there monetary compensation? Yes. Amounts vary by year.

Q7: Who sponsors the competition? I’m glad you asked. The award is now co-sponsored by the Honors College, the Graduate College, and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE).

Revised October 24, 2024 bw

• CATE
• Honors College

When you are ready to upload the PDF file to the Graduate College, click on the Box link provided below and file in the correct division by 4 p.m. (Central) on December 1.

The Graduate College uses the secure University of Illinois Box for all submissions.  Box accounts are free to all UIC students, staff and faculty.