Paul Weber Awards | Paul Weber Biography | Previous Winners

History/Background | About the Awards | Eligibility | Selection Criteria | Dissemination
Submission Process | Timeline & Selection Process | Instructions | Application Cover Sheet | Acknowledgement Email | Application Statement | Relevant Evidence

History/Background

Established by Provost Shirley Willihnganz in October 2005, two annual university-wide teaching awards recognize departmental excellence in teaching or curriculum design at the University of Louisville. The awards are named in memory of Dr. Paul Weber, a distinguished teacher, scholar, and mentor at the University of Louisville, and are intended to foster and sustain a university-wide culture of teaching excellence.

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About the Awards

The Paul Weber Awards for Departmental Excellence in Teaching support exemplary curricular achievement by departments or small schools. These awards were developed to accomplish the following:

• Recognize departments who are engaged in sustained efforts to promote teaching excellence through implementing best practices in teaching and learning;
• Reward departmental faculty teams who collaborate in exemplary ways to enhance student learning;
• Encourage and reward those who implement research-based initiatives to document student learning at the departmental and unit level;
• Supplement departmental efforts to launch and sustain meaningful innovations in teaching and learning.

Up to $50,000 is given annually. This award is intended to help sustain excellence in learning through ongoing curricular development and innovative teaching in the unit. Successful departments may utilize these funds at their own discretion.

In Fall 2009, the selection criteria and guidelines for the Paul Weber Awards were revised in response to feedback and recommendations from the 2009 Weber Selection Committee. Prior to that time, winning applications represented both prospective and retrospective projects. In this earlier format, the Paul Weber Award for Departmental Excellence was given as both a reward for ongoing excellence and as a grant for proposed teaching and learning enhancements. Beginning with the Spring 2010 awards cycle, the award was given solely to recognize the established and ongoing excellence of departments and small units. This remains the primary objective of the award.

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Eligibility

Teams of faculty members are eligible to apply on behalf of their department or academic unit. The dean who oversees or shares oversight for the unit must endorse the application.

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Selection Criteria

In order to be considered for the Paul Weber Awards for Departmental Excellence in Teaching, units must demonstrate a sustained record of excellence in undergraduate or graduate education that meets the following four criteria:

• Commitment to Exemplary Teaching: Demonstrates commitment to excellence in teaching and learning, as evidenced by the use of best practices and curricular innovation within the primary discipline(s) of the unit.
• Evidence of Exemplary Collaboration: Demonstrates exemplary collaborative work that engages faculty members across the program or unit. Such evidence may also include involvement of relevant staff and students.
• Relevant and Significant Assessment Data: Uses relevant assessment data and recognized methods of assessing student learning to demonstrate the impact of the teaching and learning project and offers evidence of a comprehensive assessment and evaluation plan.
• Evidence of Sustainability: Offers evidence of commitment and preparation for long-term viability of innovative student-centered frameworks, methodologies, and teaching strategies.

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Dissemination

As a means of fostering a vibrant teaching and learning culture at the University of Louisville, each year the recipients of the Paul Weber Awards for Departmental Excellence in Teaching organize and lead a “Dine and Discover” presentation at the Delphi Center. The presentation is designed as an opportunity to share the winning units’ outstanding achievements with the university community. Additionally, successful applications are posted on the Delphi Center website. One year after receipt of the award, recipients are required to submit a brief update to the original proposal. This update is placed on the website as a means of further promoting the exemplary work that the Paul Weber Awards celebrate. Submission of an application indicates the department's willingness to abide by these requirements.

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Submission Process

All applications and supporting materials must be submitted via email no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, January 30, 2012 to Delphi Center program coordinator John Whitney. You will receive an email confirmation once your application is received.

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Timeline & Selection Process

A three-phase selection process is used to determine the winning applications. All applications are reviewed and evaluated by an external review committee composed of higher education scholars. The external review committee submits their review to an internal review committee composed of members of Dr. Weber’s family, the board of trustees, academic unit representatives, and a UofL student. The internal review committee offers its recommendations for the award winners to the provost. The final decision of award winners is made by Provost Shirley Willihnganz. The Paul Weber Awards winners are formally recognized at an awards reception during Fall semester.

View the Paul Weber Awards application rubric.

2011 Winning Applications

• Department of Pediatrics/School of Medicine: Aaron Calhoun, MD; Katherine Potter, MD
• Trover Campus/School of Medicine: William Crump, MD
• Department of Management and Entrepreneurship/College of Business: Sharon Kerrick, PhD

View the 2010 winning application.

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Instructions for Completing the 2012 Weber Award Application

NOTE: Carefully planning and assembling application materials is an essential component of competitive applications for the Paul Weber award. Winning applications typically represent a department’s intentional, systematic, and ongoing program of teaching improvement, assessment, and collaboration. In particular, developing evidence of a research-based and data-driven program of assessing student learning is an ongoing process that requires long-term commitment. Interested department representatives are encouraged to think strategically about implementing an assessment and evaluation program. Early adoption of a well-designed assessment program of student learning is invaluable for assuring an application is competitive in subsequent awards cycles.

To learn more about establishing the foundation for a competitive application, department representatives are also encouraged to schedule an individual consultation with Dr. Marie Kendall Brown, assistant director of teaching and learning at the Delphi Center.

Each application packet should include the following four items, preferably in the following order to assist the reviewers (more detailed information follows):

1. A completed application cover sheet.
2. An e-mail from your Dean indicating his or her acknowledgement of the application.
   
3. An application statement that explains how the department has achieved a sustained record of excellence in undergraduate or graduate education and addresses the four selection criteria described above (maximum length: 10 double-spaced pages, Times New Roman 10-point font).
4. Other relevant evidence to document outstanding accomplishments that meet the selection criteria described above.

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Application Cover Sheet

Please supply all information requested below by filling out the application cover sheet form.

• Full name of department/school applying for award
• Name, title, and university address of primary contact person(s)
• Telephone of primary contact(s)
• Email of primary contact(s)
• 100 word summary/abstract of project being nominated (this summary will be used in promotional materials)

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Acknowledgement E-mail from Your Dean

Please supply an e-mail from your dean to the review committee indicating his or her acknowledgement of the application.

Send e-mail to Delphi Center Program Coordinator, John Whitney, using the subject line “2012 Paul Weber Application Acknowledgement”.

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Application Statement

In your application statement, please address the following prompts and questions in detail.

• Commitment to Exemplary Teaching: Describe how the teaching in your unit or department is exemplary or unique. How do best practices in teaching and learning inform your efforts?  How do pedagogical practices reflect best practices in your discipline or field of study?  How do the efforts of your unit or department contribute to teaching excellence at the University of Louisville?
• Collaboration: Describe how members of your academic unit collaborate to enhance student learning. What is the role that individual faculty play in assuring a rich culture of faculty, student, and staff collaboration?
• Research-Based and Data-Driven Results: What is the evidence that the work of your unit or department has impacted student learning in the past?  What is the procedure for collecting and analyzing data to inform ongoing improvements?  How is impact on student learning measured?
• Evidence of Sustainability: Describe how your unit’s record of teaching excellence will be sustained beyond the award period.  How will members of your unit ensure the long term success of your innovations in teaching and learning? What provisions have been made to make your efforts self-sustaining?

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Relevant Evidence

Please synthesize addenda to no more than 10 pages. Examples of possible supporting evidence include:

• Teaching Artifacts and Awards: Course level, programmatic, or department level innovations such as:
• Syllabi
• Sample course materials
• Student evaluations
• Awards for teaching
• Scholarship informing unit’s approach to teaching
• Evidence of leadership in teaching and learning at the college, university, or national level

• Data/Research: Quantitative and qualitative data that speaks to the collaborative and innovative scope of your work such as:
• Aggregated information showing student accomplishment with respect to learning goals
• Sample student work over the course of a semester
• Evidence of students’ success in subsequent course, career, graduate school
• Description of data/research methods and rationale for their use

• Scholarship and Dissemination: Citations or examples of scholarly products from individuals and faculty teams such as:
• Evidence of evolution of course goals and advances in scholarship
• Relevant conference presentations and publications
• Grants to support pedagogical or curricular innovation
• Evidence that demonstrates faculty-developed material has been adopted by others

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