SUSS Teaching Awards
Background
The SUSS Teaching Awards serve to recognise the stellar performance and commitment of Associate Faculty (AFs) and full-time Faculty who consistently exemplify excellent teaching practices at SUSS. There are three award categories:
- Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA): Recognises staff who have demonstrated outstanding teaching practices that have enhanced students’ learning experiences at SUSS
- Excellence in Teaching Award (ETA): Recognises staff who have demonstrated capability and commitment to promoting teaching excellence
- Special Awards
For a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), please click here.
Active teaching AFs and full-time Faculty are eligible for consideration for the Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) and Excellence in Teaching Award (ETA). Vendors would also be considered for the Awards if they have undertaken the required training established for AFs. The following must be fulfilled for a staff to be eligible for the Awards:
- Candidate must have taught for at least two semesters in the last two years; and
- Candidate must have a weighted average eCE score of 4.30 (out of 5) calculated across the two calendar years.
The list of eligible staff is further filtered to exclude those in the three-year rest period. This includes
- Between 2020 to 2023: past recipients of the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence; and
from 2023: OTA recipients and three-time ETA recipients.
Nomination and Selection Process
The OTA and ETA Nomination Exercise occurs annually.
The nomination and selection process requires shortlisted candidates (based on name lists submitted by the Schools/ Centres) to submit a teaching narrative (see Annex A) to TLC, after they have been invited to do so via email. The teaching narrative is mandatory for shortlisted candidates to be considered for the OTA and ETA. All submitted narratives would be judged by a peer panel using adaptive comparative judgement (ACJ). TLC would then apply the minimum judging threshold and allot the number of awards assigned to each School/ College. The list of all award nominees would then be endorsed by a peer panel comprising selected academics and management staff.
Number of Awards and Award Quantum
The number of Awards is computed based on an award to staff ratio with a minimum of one (1) OTA per School or College. There is no quota for the number of ETA each year.
The OTA would comprise a certificate and cash prize of S$1,500, while the ETA would comprise a certificate and cash prize of S$500. The award certificates would be presented to award recipients at the annual Faculty Appreciation Event (FAE), while the cash quantum would be credited to award recipients’ bank accounts after the FAE. SUSS would also publicly acknowledge the award recipients by announcing them on TLC's website, under the section - SUSS Teaching Awards.
Obligatory Requirements of Award Recipients
From 2023 onwards, OTA recipients and three-time ETA recipients would be inducted into the SUSS Teaching Awardee Honour Roll upon receiving the Award. It would be a three-year tenure, and members of the Honour Roll would be subjected to a three-year rest period, during which they would not be considered for the OTA or ETA until after the rest period has been completed.
Members of the SUSS Teaching Awardee Honour Roll may be invited to contribute in the following ways:
- make a presentation to share their good teaching practices with other AFs and Faculty;
- contribute an article to, or be interviewed and featured in TLC's publications and news;
- conduct a workshop at TLC-organised symposium and/or conference; and/or
- sit on the peer judging panel for future Teaching Award Nomination Exercises.
Award recipients may also be featured in SUSS/ Schools'/ College’s/ Centres' promotional materials, which may include video interviews.
Annex A: Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) Nomination Narrative – Guidelines and Instructions
For more information and instructions on the preparation and submission of the OTA and ETA nomination narratives, please click here.
Introduced in 2023, the Special Award in Innovative Pedagogy (SAIP) serves to recognise and celebrate effective innovative pedagogical practices that have been introduced into a course or class, and includes the SAIP (Individual) category and SAIP (Team) category.
TLC would announce the SAIP Call for Application annually via email.
Eligibility Criteria
Active teaching AFs and full-time Faculty are eligible to apply for the SAIP. Each staff may only apply for either the SAIP (Individual) category or the SAIP (Team) category in the same Call for Application.
Applicants to the SAIP (Individual) category must fulfill the following requirements:
a) Must be an SUSS AF or full-time Faculty not currently in the three-year rest period;
b) Applicant must have taught for at least two semesters in the last two years; and
c) Innovative pedagogy being described in the narrative must have been implemented at least once in the last four semesters, and has not been retired.
Applicants to the SAIP (Team) category must fulfill the following requirements:
a) Main applicant (first name in the application) must be an SUSS AF or full-time Faculty while team members must be an SUSS staff, AF, or full-time Faculty;
b) Main applicant (first name in the application) must have taught for at least two semesters in the last two years;
c) Maximum of ten (10) members in the team, with members not currently in the three-year rest period; and
d) Innovative pedagogy being described in the narrative must have been implemented at least once in the last four semesters, and has not been retired.
Note: Nomination for the SAIP is different from the nomination for the OTA and ETA. An applicant may apply for both the SAIP and OTA or ETA (if invited - see Section: OTA and ETA Nomination and Selection Process) in the same Nomination Exercise.
Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria
SAIP applicants are required to submit a narrative (see Annex B) of the innovative pedagogy, supported by relevant artefacts, via email to TLC within a specified period. The narrative component is mandatory for applicants to be considered for the SAIP.
SAIP narratives would undergo an initial round of review by a shortlisting panel for appropriateness. The shortlisted applications would then be reviewed by a judging panel, before being approved by a peer panel comprising selected academics and management staff.
Number of Awards and Award Quantum
A maximum of one (1) SAIP (Individual) award and one (1) SAIP (Team) award would be given out each year.
Recipients of the SAIP would receive a certificate and cash prize.
- SAIP (Individual) category: S$500 cash prize
- SAIP (Team) category: S$1,000 cash prize
Obligatory Requirements of SAIP Recipients
SAIP recipients would be subjected to a three-year rest period upon receiving the Award, during which they would not be considered for the SAIP until after the rest period has been completed. SAIP recipients would be required to share their innovative pedagogical designs in at least two of the following categories:
a) Seeding ideas (e.g., during TLC’s T&L Conversations or other professional sharing sessions);
b) Guiding implementation (e.g., workshop(s), seminar(s) – award recipient to detail the proposed workshop, target audience, and implementation details); and/or
c) Documentation of practices via white paper, poster, journal articles/ papers, or conference papers.
Annex B: Special Award in Innovative Pedagogy (SAIP) Nomination Narrative – Guidelines and Instructions
For more information and instructions on the preparation and submission of the SAIP nomination narratives, please click here