The Decanal Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities and Social Sciences recognizes the use or development of meaningful and/or innovative methods of curriculum design, course instruction, learning materials and technologies, and/or assessment. This award honours teaching within a particular course or a teaching project completed within the given academic year that promotes critical thinking and social inquiry, deep learning, student engagement, and/or, creative, logical, and persuasive expression of ideas. In a given year, the Dean of Humanities and Social Science may choose to invite nominations of faculty engaged in particular forms of teaching excellence.
Award Criteria
In addition to providing students with timely, helpful feedback and leadership to support and strengthen learning, the candidate has distinguished themselves by excelling in the following practices:
- Imaginative Approaches: The candidate has implemented creative approaches to course design, instructional strategy, or assessment.
- Quality of Course Materials and Instructional Strategies: The candidate has created well-designed course materials and utilized effective instructional strategies.
- Learner Satisfaction: The candidate has demonstrated rapport and ongoing engagement with learners as well as other course participants.
- Effective Learning Outcomes: The candidate has demonstrated effectiveness in enabling students to achieve desired learning outcomes in the course, promoted student engagement with critical scientific inquiry, and encouraged deep learning of scientific knowledge.
Eligibility
Eligible nominees include all full-time and part-time faculty who have taught at least one half-credit course in the humanities or social sciences during the academic year in which they are nominated. For the purposes of this award, the academic year is considered to begin in Summer Session of one calendar year and end in Winter Session of the following year. Candidates can only win this award once.
Please see “How to Write a Strong Teaching Award Nomination” for guidance on writing your nomination as well as annotated examples of high-quality nomination letters.
How to Nominate:
Nominations will be accepted for a two-week window at the conclusion of each academic term:
Nomination Window 1: August 12-26, 2025
Nomination Window 2: November 18-December 2, 2025
Nomination Window 3: April 8-April 22, 2026
To nominate an instructor, complete the online form below (online form will be live from 12AM on the first day of each nomination window to 4PM on the final day):
What should your nomination include?
Complete the "Nominator Information" and the "Candidate Information" sections on the Nomination Form.
In the section on “Candidate Qualifications,” explain what the instructor did to create a successful course. Present specific details about your experience with the candidate, providing clear examples that illustrate the ways in which they used or developed meaningful and/or innovative methods of curriculum design, course instruction, learning materials and technologies, and/or assessment. How did the instructor specifically promote student engagement, critical inquiry, creative expression, and deep learning?
Please see “How to Write a Strong Teaching Award Nomination” for guidance on writing your nomination as well as annotated examples of high-quality nomination letters.
How is the Award Determined?
Nominations are collected over the course of the academic year during three nomination windows (August, December, and April). They are then collated by Trent Teaching Commons staff who remove nominators’ identifying information except for whether they are faculty, staff, students, or alumni. All nominations are then considered by a Decanal Teaching Award Committee, which determines the award recipient in the spring of each year. A public announcement of all Decanal Award recipients is made by Communications in September of each year. Recipients receive $500 and a framed certificate of achievement.
Timeline
August-March: Nominations are cumulatively collected during Summer, Fall, and Winter terms.
April: Nomination Window closes.
April/May: Trent Teaching Commons prepares nomination packages.
May: Collated nominations packages are circulated to committee members for review and scoring.
May: Deadline for all committee members to submit scores to Trent Teaching Commons.
May: Trent Teaching Commons sends finalized shortlist to committee.
May: Meeting to deliberate and decide award.
June: Award recipient is notified.
September: All nominees are notified.
September: All Decanal Award recipients are publicly announced
Previous Recipients
- 2024-2025 Dr. Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall (Indigenous Studies)
- 2023-2024 Dr. Brent Ryan Bellamy (Cultural Studies)
- 2022-2023 Dean Howley (Trent School of Business)
- 2021-2022 Dr. Neal A. Smithwick (Sociology)