The Academy of Distinguished Teaching (ADT) at UCR, in partnership with the Division of Undergraduate Education, is soliciting nominations for the 2025 Innovative Teaching Award. All ladder-rank Senate faculty members at any level (including pre-tenure faculty) are eligible. Two or more faculty members teaching as a unit may be nominated as a single team. Previous winners have been selected for their creation and implementation of high-impact teaching methods as well as by demonstrating exceptional passion in finding new and effective ways to help students learn.

Awardee(s) will receive a one-time research stipend in the amount of $1,000 and will be honored at a campus-wide Symposium on Teaching Excellence and Innovation, followed by a Celebration of Teaching reception on a Wednesday near the end of May 2025 (exact date TBD). The Innovative Teaching awardee(s) will be featured as presenter(s) at a future event jointly organized by ADT and XCITE, where they will speak on their teaching methods.

Criteria for Review: There is a clear distinction between the ADT Innovative Teaching Award and UCR Academic Senate’s Distinguished Teaching Award. The latter recognizes long-term excellence in the classroom as evaluated by students and faculty peers and is administered by an Academic Senate committee. By contrast, the ADT Innovative Teaching Award focuses more on innovation in teaching. This is broadly defined as the transformation of classroom pedagogy and/or course curricula with original, inventive, and impactful approaches to instruction.

Awardee(s) will be selected by members of the Academy of Distinguished Teaching. The deadline for receipt of application materials is March 21, 2025, and awardees will be announced in Spring Quarter.

Instructions for assembly and submission of the nomination file:

1. One faculty member, serving as the lead nominator, should assemble all documents into a single PDF file. Requests for letters of support must be made by the person assembling the file, although these requests may be made in consultation with the nominee. The nomination file should be sent to the UCR Academy of Distinguished Teaching, c/o Jack Eichler (jeichler@ucr.edu) by March 21, 2025.
2. The subject line of an electronic submission should read, for example: "Nomination of Dr. (name) for the 2025 Innovative Teaching Award."
3. Nominations should include the following in a single PDF file in this specific order:
   1. A nomination letter from a faculty member who is taking the lead in assembling the nomination package. Self-nominations will also be considered and should be used as the nomination letter itself.
   2. The nominee's self-statement, not to exceed two pages, which details their teaching philosophy/approach, the innovative and transformational aspects of their teaching strategies, and data-driven evidence of impact of these approaches on student success. If the nominee's classroom instructional innovations or broader teaching-related activities address issues related to equity and/or inclusivity they are encouraged to highlight these in the statement as well.
   3. Up to five letters of support from faculty, students, or individuals who can provide additional evidence of innovative teaching.
   4. Representative student numerical and narrative evaluations for courses taught at UCR that provide evidence of innovative teaching.

For any questions about the award and/or nominations, please contact Jack Eichler, Chair of the ADT Awards Committee.