Rutgers Announces the Inaugural Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Part-Time Lecturer

January 20, 2022

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey seeks to celebrate the valuable contributions of its part-time faculty to the teaching mission of the university. Each year, beginning in spring 2022, the university will showcase up to five part-time lecturers (PTLs) or adjunct faculty who demonstrate exemplary teaching performance to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Part-Time Lecturer. The award will consider candidates from any discipline who have demonstrated excellence in classroom instruction.

Important attributes for consideration include exceptional creativity and/or curricular, pedagogical, or experiential innovations; a deep commitment to excellence in classroom instruction; and demonstrable contributions to student learning and advancement. The award especially recognizes the longer-term institutional impacts that exceptional PTLs may have on strengthening the academic fabric and vitality of programs through their successive teaching at the university over multiple years.

The award will take into consideration teaching accomplishments as supported by a spectrum of different records, including conventional in-class or on-field evaluations, in-class peer observations, instructional philosophy, and testimonials from former students, faculty, and professionals from industry or other sectors.

The award will be instituted as a part of the Faculty Year-End Awards, with a call for nominations in January 2022. Nomination packets for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Part-Time Lecturer will be endorsed by the respective academic unit to be eligible for consideration. Nominations will be reviewed by a universitywide committee, which will submit its recommendations to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President. Awardees will be recognized by a commemorative certificate and a $1,000 honorarium.