The Canadian Political Science Association announces the first biennial competition for the Excellence in Teaching Prize to recognize the contributions of political scientists to excellence in teaching and student learning.

Rules

• Nominees must teach at a Canadian university and be a member of the CPSA.
  
  
• Format nomination packages as follows:
  
  Nomination packages must be typed in Times Roman 11 font, single spaced with maximum page limits noted below. The nomination package will include, in the order that follows:
  

1. A table of contents

2. A cover letter that provides a summary of the contents of the nominee’s application package (2 pages)

3. A statement of the candidate’s teaching philosophy (3 pages maximum)

4. A teaching dossier that demonstrates effective innovation in teaching practices, and/or evidence of effective teaching and learning leadership and/or the scholarship of teaching and learning (five pages maximum).

5. Three to five course outlines over a range of courses from the last five years during which the faculty member assumed a full time teaching load.

6. A one page table listing all courses taught by the nominee in the last five years during which the faculty member assumed a full time teaching load, the enrolment in each course, and the rating received for the overall instructor rating for each course.

7. A copy of the teaching evaluation tool

8. A letter of support from each of the candidate’s department chair and three former students (2 pages maximum)

9. Appendixes with evidence to support criteria listed above and which may include publications, evidence of teaching awards, evaluation of teaching workshops, (20 pages maximum) 

• A distinguished prize jury has been appointed by the Canadian Political Science Association, which administers the prize.
  
  
• The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2010.
  
  
• The Prize winner will be announced at the 2010 Annual Conference of the Canadian Political Science Association, to be held in Montreal.
  
  
• The Prize winner will receive a commemorative plaque.
  
  
• To nominate an individual, a copy must be sent directly to each member of the Prize Jury and the office of the CPSA at the addresses provided below.  Packages must be clearly marked CPSA TEACHING EXCELLENCE PRIZE ENTRY.

CPSA Teaching Excellence Prize Jury
Canadian Political Science Association
Suite 204, 260 Dalhousie Street
Ottawa ON Canada K1N 7E4

André-J. Bélanger
Département de science politique
Université de Montréal
Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, C-4006
3150 Jean-Brillant
Montréal QC Canada H3T 1N8

Kathy Brock
School of Policy Studies
Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 217
Queen’s University
Kingston ON Canada K7L 3N6

David Kahane (Chair)
Vargo Distinguished Teaching Chair
Department of Political Science, Tory 10-27
University of Alberta
Edmonton AB Canada T6G 2H4

Anita Singh
1002, 25 Telegram Mews
Toronto ON Canada M5V 3Z1

2010
J. Marshall Beier, McMaster University

Excerpt from the jury report:
J. Marshall Beier is clearly an exceptional teacher of global politics. His courses are intellectually ambitious and cohesive, as well as clear about learning goals and evaluation criteria. He creates excitement in his classrooms, and his approach is striking in the extent to which it not only respects students but treats them as full intellectual agents. In his Innovation in Arms Control Project, a final year seminar, he supports students in collaboratively producing their own scholarship, which is published in a Working Paper series he has created; these research products feed into a third year class, and simulations in the third year class in turn inform research in the fourth year seminar. His students’ letters reflect not only their appreciation for its teaching, but the extent to which his courses, his mentoring, and his example shaped the development of their goals and careers.