CBS Teaching and Mentorship Awards

The College of Biological Science is now accepting nominations for the 2023/24 CBS Teaching Award, CBS Staff Teaching Award, CBS Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, Graduate Mentorship Award and the Mentorship Award for a Post-Doctoral Fellow. 

Members of the University Community are invited to nominate individuals from within the College of Biological Science for the following teaching awards. Nominations should be sent to the CBS Associate Dean Academic Office (cbsada@uoguelph.ca). Full details regarding the eligibility, criterion and nomination requirements can be found below. All nominations are due to the CBS ADA office by Friday April 19th, 2024.

The list of previous winners can be found below. 

Staff Teaching Award of Excellence

Individuals or groups may be nominated on the basis of outstanding individual performance or contributions in at least two of the following areas: 

  • undergraduate class-room support and instruction
  • graduate teaching support and instruction
  • curriculum development
  • preparation of teaching materials
  • developing of innovative teaching methods
  • scholarship in the field of education
  • other contributions

Nominations should include the following:

  1. Nomination form
  2. Cover Letter from nominator(s) with a statement of recommendation about the nominee(s)
  3. No more than four letters of support, if appropriate, from undergraduate students, graduate students, colleagues, alumni, administrators, and off-campus collaborators

Nominations will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  1. Significance of the contribution relative to conventional practices
  2. Benefits to the quality of the learning experience
  3. Impact or potential for impact on significant numbers of students
  4. Overall dedication to the student learning experience

CBS Teaching Excellence Award

Individuals or groups may be nominated for individual or collaborative performance in at least two of the following areas: 

  • undergraduate classroom instruction
  • graduate teaching
  • course design and curriculum development
  • development of teaching materials (reference material, manuals, computer, modules, and other learning aids)
  • development of innovative teaching methods
  • scholarship in the field of education

Nominations should include the following:

  1. Nomination form
  2. Cover letter from nominator(s) with a statement of recommendation about the nominee(s)
  3. Impact or potential for impact on students
  4. No more than six letters of support, if appropriate, from undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, administrators, and off-campus collaborators

Nominations will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  1. The significance of the contribution relative to conventional practices
  2. Demonstrated benefits to the quality of the learning experience
  3. Impact or potential impact on students
  4. Overall commitment and dedication to the student learning experiences

Graduate Teaching Assistant Award of Excellence

Members of the University Community are invited to nominate a current graduate student within the College of Biological Science for this award who has currently held a Teaching Assistant position during the current academic year (S22, F22, W23).

The nominee will be recognized for their exemplary teaching skills and abilities, and commitment to undergraduate learning, characterized in at least two of the following ways: 

  • their ability to encourage student engagement and participation;
  • their enthusiasm and subject-area expertise;
  • their dedication, preparation, organization and time-management skills;
  • their ability to innovate, and to motivate, recognize and reward student excellence;
  • their ability to communicate and translate disciplinary knowledge;
  • their ability to be accessible and approachable to students
  • their ability to work collaboratively in a teaching team

Nominations

  1. Nomination Form
  2. A one page letter of support from the nominators outlining the major contributions and accomplishments of the nomiee
  3. A one page summary of the nominee's teaching responsibilities, duties and contributions as a T.A.
  4. No more than four letters of support, if appropriate, from undergraduate students, colleagues, supervisors and/or departmental faculty members

Graduate Mentoring Award

Graduate students are invited to nominate a faculty member within the College of Biological Science who has demonstrated excellence and/or innovation in the supervision and mentorship of graduate trainees.

Nominations:

  1. Nomination form
  2. Cover letter from nominator (must be a current or former graduate student) with a statement of recommendation that speaks to the evaluation criteria
  3. A minimum of two support letters, and no more than five. At least one letter must be from a current or former graduate student. Additional letters may be provided, as appropriate, by other students, faculty, staff, alumni, administrators, and external partners or collaborators. 

Nominations will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  1. Quality of the graduate training environment provided by the nominee* 
  2. Impact on graduate students
  3. Commitment and dedication to training and mentoring

*Quality of the graduate training environment can include, but is not limited to, the following: (i) opportunities for regular interaction with advisor; (ii) opportunities to participate in outreach activities and/or conferences, and to interact with collaborators/partners/stakeholders, and (iii) development of professional skills needed in research or other career paths, and/or encouragement of students to pursue additional training activities as appropriate. 

Mentorship Award for Post-doctoral Fellows

In recognition of the important role that post-doctoral fellows play in guiding and inspiring undergraduates and graduate student researchers, the College of Biological Science would like to invite nominations for its inaugural Mentorship Award for Post-doctoral Fellows. Students, faculty and/or staff are invited to nominate a post-doctoral fellow within CBS who has demonstrated excellence in the mentorship of undergraduate and/or graduate students. Post-docs may also be nominated by another post-doctoral fellow. 

Nominations:

  1. Nomination form
  2. Cover letter from the nominator with a statement of recommendation that speaks to the evaluation criteria
  3. A minimum of one additional support letter, and no more than three

At least one of the letters (either nominator’s cover letter or letter of support) must be from a current or former student who was mentored by the nominee.  Additional letters may be provided, as appropriate, by additional students, other post-doctoral fellows, faculty or staff.  

Nominations will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  1. Demonstrated commitment to mentoring junior trainees in the areas of research, professional development, career planning and/or personal challenges
  2. Impact of the post-doc's mentoring activities on the trainees

 

Previous Award Winners

On behalf of the CBS Awards Commitee and the CBS ADA office we would like to congratulate the 2021- 22 Teaching Award Winners:

  • Faculty Teaching Award of Excellence: Alex Smith
  • Staff Teaching Award of Excellence: 
  • Graduate Student Teaching Award: Christopher Pignanelli
  • Graduate Mentoring Award of Excellence: Geoffrey Power
  • Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows: Laetitia Maroc

On behalf of the CBS Awards Commitee and the CBS ADA office we would like to congratulate the 2020- 21 Teaching Award Winners:

  • Faculty Teaching Award of Excellence: William (Bill) Bettger
  • Staff Teaching Award of Excellence: Sheri Hincks
  • Graduate Student Teaching Award: Alexandra Coates
  • Graduate Mentoring Award of Excellence: Shoshanah Jacobs
  • Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows: Yoamel Garcia 

On behalf of the CBS Awards Commitee and the CBS ADA office we would like to congratulate the 2019 Teaching Award Winners:

  • Faculty Teaching Award of Excellence: Sally Adamowicz
  • Staff Teaching Award of Excellence: Chris Meyers
  • Graduate Student Teaching Award: Stacey Forbes
  • Graduate Mentoring Award of Excellence: Patricia Wright
  • Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows: Timothy Bartley. 

On behalf of the CBS Awards Commitee and the CBS ADA office we would like to congratulate the 2018 Teaching Award Winners:

  • Faculty Teaching Award of Excellence: Prof. Amy Newman
  • Staff Teaching Award of Excellence: Charlene Winchcombe-Forhan
  • Graduate Student Teaching Award: Kamil Chatila-Amos
  • Graduate Mentoring Award of Excellence: Prof. Jamie Burr
  • Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows: Dr. Heather Hager

All nominations should be submitted to the CBS ADA or can be dropped off in-person to the, Summerlee Science Complex Rm 1476. 

  • CBS Teaching Award Description and Nomination Form
  • CBS Staff Teaching Award Description and Nomination Form
  • CBS Graduate Teaching Award Description and Nomination Form
  • CBS Graduate Mentorship Award Description and Nomination Form
  • CBS Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Description and Nomination Form