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

Rules

• Eligibility: Nominees must teach at a Canadian university, be members of the CPSA, and have taught as primary instructors on a full time basis for at least five years.
  
  
• Format nomination packages as follows:
  
  Nomination packages must be typed in Times Roman 11 font, single spaced with strict adherence to the maximum page limits noted below. The nomination package will include, in the order that follows:
  

1. A summary of Key achievements documented in the nomination package (1 page maximum).

2. A CV outlining key accomplishments as a researcher and teacher (5 pages maximum).

3. A statement that characterizes the nominee's teaching philosophy, connecting this to specific discussion of effective innovation in teaching practices, and/or effective teaching and learning leadership and/or contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning (six pages maximum).

4. Two course outlines reflecting the breadth of the nominee's courses and pedagogy.

5. A one page table listing all courses taught by the nominee in each of the last five years during which the faculty member assumed a full time teaching load, the enrolment in each course and number of students completing course evaluations, the overall instructor rating for each course, and the mean for a relevant comparison set for each course (where this is available as part of the summary provided by the nominee's institution).

6. A copy of the teaching evaluation tool.

7. Full evaluation data (including complete student comments) for two courses.

8. A letter of support from the nominee’s current department chair (2 pages maximum).

9. Letters from three former students that discuss how the nominee’s teaching shaped their learning, perspective, and career trajectory (2 pages maximum each).

10. Appendices with evidence to support the criteria listed below and which may include scholarship of teaching and learning, evidence of teaching awards, evaluation of teaching workshops, etc. (20 pages maximum). 

a. Evidence of excellence in teaching over the most recent five years during which the faculty member assumed a full teaching load at the undergraduate and graduate level (where graduate programs exist). This requirement does not assume that all nominees have taught a full load in the last five years prior to submission of the nomination package, rather requires evidence of excellence in teaching over the most recent five years during which the faculty member assumed a full load.

b. Evidence of commitment to the improvement of university teaching and student learning, with emphasis on contributions to the discipline.

c. Evidence of effective innovation in teaching practices and/or

d. Evidence of effective teaching and learning leadership and/or

e. Evidence of commitment to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

• A distinguished prize jury has been appointed by the Canadian Political Science Association, which administers the prize.
  
  
• The deadline for submissions is 13 January 2012.
  
  
• The Prize winner will be announced at the 2012 Annual Conference of the Canadian Political Science Association, to be held in Edmonton.
  
  
• The Prize winner will receive a commemorative plaque.
  
  
• To nominate an individual, a copy of the package must be sent directly to each member of the Prize Jury and the office of the CPSA at the addresses provided below.  Nominations may be distributed in pdf form rather than as hard copies. 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
cpsa-acsp @ cpsa-acsp.ca

Jean François Mayer
Department of Political Science
1455 boulevard de Maisonneuve West
H-1225, Concordia University
MONTRÉAL QC H3G 1M8
jean.mayer @ concordia.ca

Janice Newton
Department of Political Science
York University
672 Ross Building
4700 Keele Street
Toronto ON Canada M3J1P3
jnewton @ yorku.ca

Tracy Summerville (Chair)
Political Science Program
University of Northern British Columbia
3333 University Way
PRINCE GEORGE BC Canada V2N 4Z9
summervi @ unbc.ca

Sarah Wiebe
School of Political Studies
University of Ottawa
55 Laurier Avenue East
Ottawa ON Canada K1N 6N5
swieb103 @ uottawa.ca

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.