The Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching recognize excellence in undergraduate instruction by faculty members in their early academic careers. The awards were first presented in 1992 by the Richard B. Russell Foundation to honor Richard B. Russell, a distinguished Georgian and university alumnus who had a love for new knowledge and appreciation of our nation’s youth.
2023-2024 Recipients
Jill Anderson
Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and the Odum School of Ecology
Richard Hall
Associate Professor in the Odum School of Ecology and the Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine
Laura Zimmermann
Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, Terry College of Business, and the Department of International Affairs, School of Public and International Affairs
The Award
Three Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching are presented each year. Awardees receive a $10,000 cash award from the Richard B. Russell Foundation.
Eligibility
Eligibility for the award will be limited to tenure-track faculty engaged in undergraduate instruction who have been at the university a minimum of three years at the time of the actual award and who have been in a tenure track position for no more than 10 years. That is, nominees must be in no later than their 10th tenure-track year totaled across all academic institutions served. Past awardees are not eligible for nomination.
Selection Committee
A committee composed of seven senior faculty members (serving two-year staggered terms) and two undergraduate students will review the nominations and send its recommendations to the provost for final approval. The committee members will be chosen by the provost from nominations solicited from the deans.
Process
Each college or school may submit to the Office of the Provost one nomination per year with the exceptions that the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences may forward six nominations per year and the colleges of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Business and Education may each forward two nominations per year. No more than one award will be made in a single year to faculty nominated from a single department.
The mechanism by which nominees are selected within colleges will be determined by the respective deans, but the process must include a review by a designated faculty committee. In addition, any department wishing to make a nomination for consideration by the college should have its own internally designated committee to advise the department head in the selection of the faculty member to be nominated.
At the completion of the college / school selection process, the dean will submit nominations to the Office of the Provost. The nomination packed must not exceed 25 pages in its total length with one-inch margins and 12-point typeface. Nomination packets exceeding this length will not be considered. All pages, including the cover page, must be numbered. A nomination packet should include the following in a single PDF file:
- Cover letter containing nominee’s name, college / school and department (1 page)
- A written statement prepared by the nominee’s dean (or department head and co-signed by the dean) addressing the nominee’s teaching excellence (maximum 5 pages)
- Nominee’s condensed curriculum vitae (maximum 5 pages)
- Supporting documentation that typically will include a summary of student classroom evaluations, supporting letters from colleagues and students and other pertinent information
- A teaching philosophy statement written by the nominee (maximum 3 pages)
When reviewing dossiers, the selection committee has found it helpful to have the following information presented within the items listed above:
- Context about disciplinary / department norms, benchmarks and/or standards — particularly within the nominating letter submitted by the candidate’s unit
- A clear articulation of the candidate’s unique contribution to the undergraduate teaching mission of the department / college / university
- Evidence of effectiveness inside the classroom and, if applicable, outside the classroom
Submission of Nominations
Deans’ offices should submit nomination packets as single PDFs (one PDF per nominee) via the school / college “course” site in eLC. The deadline is Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
Questions regarding Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching should be directed to:
Sherri Bennett
Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
[email protected]
(706) 542-0383
