Faculty & Staff

Distinguished Teacher Committee

Purpose

The committee will annually recognize and reward exceptional teaching and/or innovation in teaching methods, course and curriculum design and instructional tools.  A principal criterion for award is documentation that recipients are considered among the very best teachers, at any rank, in the School of Medicine (SOM). 

Membership

  • The Dean may select SOM faculty, at any rank, with active academic appointments for membership. Typically, committee members serve a term of 3 years, but may be reappointed at the discretion of the Dean. Previous award winners are automatically appointed for membership in the subsequent year for at least one cycle.
  • There shall be at least one faculty member from each degree program within the School of Medicine including but not limited to graduate programs (PhD), medical doctor (MD), physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), medical technology (MT), exercise physiology (EP). Faculty members may self-nominate through their chair.
  • At least one faculty member from both Charleston and Eastern will be included within the committee membership.
  • An Assistant / Associate Dean will be assigned to assist the committee as a non-voting ex-officio member.
  • The Dean shall annually appoint a Chair from the voting membership.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • To establish, review and distribute criteria and guidelines for award selection.
  • To solicit and review nominations for the award.
  • To recommend to the Dean the faculty recipients of the annual SOM Distinguished Teacher Award.
  • To forward the names of the recipients on to the West Virginia University Foundation Outstanding Teachers competition.

Meetings

There shall be meetings during the academic year as determined by the Chair.

  • There shall be a meeting to welcome new committee members and establish, review and distribute criteria and guidelines for award selection.
  • There shall be meetings that function as workshops reviewing established criteria and guidelines with nominees.
  • The committee membership selects the Distinguished Teacher Award recipients from the list of eligible nominees who have completed the required application process. This recommendation is forwarded to the Dean for final approval.
  • The final meeting discusses with membership both the problems and progress of the process for the past academic year and solicits suggestions for revision of award guidelines and selection criteria.