Awards Nomination Tips

Teaching at Queen’s University is supported by the work of dedicated educators across disciplines, who affect in significant and meaningful ways the learning experiences and success of students at our institution. Teaching awards offer recognition to individuals or groups who have gone above and beyond their normal duties to help our institution cultivate teaching excellence and educational leadership that pushes the boundaries of knowledge through teaching—in service to an inclusive, diverse, and sustainable society.

Teaching awards are a great way to recognize outstanding and impactful teaching within Queen’s teaching community. Whether you are a student, a fellow educator, or a departmental leader, your voice matters in honouring and celebrating a nominee, and helping advance their career.

At Queen’s University, we promote a number of faculty specific awards, institution wide awards, as well as external awards to recognize the unique contributions of teachers and educators across campus.  

Why your nomination matters:

Nominating someone for a teaching award is important for several reasons, including:

1. Recognition of impact and excellence: Teaching awards are a great way to acknowledge and celebrate exceptional teaching practices, dedication to and impact on student learning. It is also a great way to acknowledge and demonstrate appreciation for the nominee’s hard work and commitment to pedagogy.
2. Promote and encourage innovation: Getting recognition for creative and innovative teaching can not only benefit the recipient, but also serve as inspiration for colleagues. It helps set a standard for teaching excellence and encourage others to strive for similar achievements, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the educational community at Queen’s!   
3. Remember the joy of teaching: Fostering a culture of enthusiasm and innovation in teaching is incredibly important; and little brings more joy to an educator than reading about the impact they had on a student’s experience, learning, and trajectory.    
4. Enhance unit reputation: A nomination reflects positively on the nominee’s unit and showcases its commitment to educational excellence.
5. Promote student engagement: Acknowledging exemplary educators reinforces the importance of teaching and encourages former students’ reflection on their learning experiences.

Remember: According to research, researchers and educators from equity-deserving groups (including but not limited to): women, visible/racialized minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+) may be less likely to engage in self-promotion, including seeking or accepting award nominations (Lincoln et al., 2012). Departmental leaders, colleagues, and mentors should strongly consider championing and providing visibility for educators from equity-deserving groups, and work with them to build a proactive plan to pursue increasingly prestigious awards (from internal departmental awards to external/nationwide awards) as their careers progress.   

Developing an award strategy

1. Begin with a brainstorm: Pick the right award for your nomination by referring to the award criteria. Think about some of the reasons why you want to nominate this educator, and why you are inspired by their teaching. Start thinking of specific memories, anecdotes from colleagues or students, and think of others who might want to support this nomination.  
2. Construct a narrative: Provide context about who you are in relation to the nominee.  
3. Organize your sections: The strongest testimonials refer directly to award criteria and explain, with detail and examples, how the nominee not only meets, but also exceeds the criteria. Many strong nomination testimonials use the criteria as headers to divide the sections of their testimonial.
4. Be specific and provide details: Writing an impactful teaching award nomination involves effectively conveying the nominee's qualities, achievements, and the positive impact they have had on students. concrete examples of the nominee's exceptional teaching practices. Include specific instances where the teacher went above and beyond, demonstrating dedication, innovation, or a positive influence on students. Share anecdotes, testimonials, or stories that illustrate the teacher's ability to inspire, motivate, and create a conducive learning environment.

Remember: Use accessible language

Adjudication committees can be composed of faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral scholars who might not be from the same department as you. Successful nomination letters and letters of support work best when they avoid jargon, and ensure that the contexts and evidence presented about the nominee’s work are accessible to a broad audience outside the discipline. If a discipline-specific term must be used, remember to define it for the reader within. If you include acronyms, clearly spell them out. If the nomination references courses, include the course title for better clarity.

The best letters are clear, concise, and direct in their language and context.

Bias-free letters of recommendation

All of us may hold biases we are unaware of, and unfortunately, they can sometimes enter our writing. When letters of recommendation or support increasingly play a significant role in career progression and recognizing exceptional individuals’ contributions – particularly equity-deserving or underrepresented groups – there is evidence to suggest that letters of recommendation contain language that expresses implicit biases, that these biases occur for all recommenders regardless of one’s positionality. It is important to recognize bias in letter writing to more accurately speak to candidates’ skills and contributions for which they are being recognized.

Below are some sources that are helpful in learning how to recognize, avoid, and rectify bias in letters of recommendation:

• Northwestern University provides a gender bias calculator, and examples: Bias-Free Letters of Recommendation
• Some key points that can be adapted can be found here: Unconscious Racial Bias Can Creep Into Recommendation Letters—Here’s How to Avoid It
• A one pager from the University of California on avoiding racial bias: Avoiding racial bias in letter of reference writing
• A one-pager from LeHigh University with examples of language and phrases that are gendered and/or racially biased: Best Practices for Reading and Writing Letters of Recommendation
• A guidebook from Reinert Center: Avoiding Racial and Gender Bias When Writing Recommendation Letters

Table from the Reinert Center: Superlatives Commonly Used in Recommendation Letters