Arthur F. Thurnau Professorships

Nomination Guidelines
August 2008

Purpose and History of the Award

Each year, Thurnau Professorships recognize and reward a highly select group of five or six tenured faculty for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.  Those appointed to Thurnau Professorships hold this title along with their other university titles and receive a $20,000 grant to support activities associated with further enhancing their teaching (e.g., travel, books, equipment, and graduate student support).  The Professorships are named after Arthur F. Thurnau, a student at the University of Michigan from 1902 to 1904, and are supported by the Thurnau Charitable Trust that was established through his will.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

Eligible for nomination are those tenured faculty members with a sustained record of excellence in undergraduate education who meet one or more of the following selection criteria, but not limited to:

• A strong commitment to students and to teaching and learning

For example: Undertaking activities to advance the quality and practice of teaching and learning at a variety of levels: e.g., classroom, studio, and/or laboratory; within the depart­ment; across the curriculum or discipline; and/or across the school/college or institution.

• Excellence in teaching

For example: Other teaching awards, using effective teaching strategies and notable methods to assess student learning.

• Innovations in teaching and learning

For example: Using innovative pedagogical approaches (such as instructional technology, problem-based learning, experiential learning), being significantly involved with inter-disciplinary and boundary-crossing teaching projects, being engaged with undergraduate research or community service learning, pursuing the scholarship of teaching and learning, or mentoring colleagues on pedagogy.

• A strong commitment to working effectively with a diverse student body

For example: Using effective pedagogical and administrative approaches to increase and retain students from underrepresented groups, contributions to course and curriculum development designed to include diverse perspectives, support and mentoring of student organizations on campus that focus on the needs of students from underrepresented groups.

• A demonstrable impact on students’ intellectual and/or artistic development and on their lives

For example: Helping students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and/or global and multicultural understanding, and being committed to advising and mentoring students.

Nomination Requirements and Process – Please read carefully.

Any dean, associate dean, department chair, or academic program director may submit a nomination.  A dean who oversees or shares oversight for a unit in which the nominee holds his or her tenured position must endorse every nomination.

Each nomination packet should include only the following items, preferably in the following order to assist the reviewers:

1. A completed nomination cover sheet must be submitted in hard copy, and include the signature of a dean giving his or her endorsement.  NOTE to deans: If you are nominating more than one faculty member from your School or College, please do not provide a rank order of the nominees.
   
   
2. A letter from the nominator that addresses how the nominee has achieved a sustained record of excellence in undergraduate education by meeting one or more of the selection criteria, but not limited to them. Please include any information about the nominee’s teaching responsibilities outside of the normal venue in which he or she teaches (e.g., mentoring and advising, GSI training, supervising honor’s theses, work on curricular reform, etc.).
   
   
3. A list of undergraduate courses taught in the past eight terms.  For each course, please provide the course number, title, and approximate number of students enrolled. NOTE: Student ratings reports will be provided to the Provost’s Office by the Office of Evaluations and Examinations and therefore need not be included with the nomination packet.  However, if other sources of information evaluating a candidate's courses are available, we encourage you to include them in the packet.
   
   
4. Three letters of support (additional letters will not be read) from current or past undergraduate students.
   
   
5. Three letters of support from colleagues (additional letters will not be read) in addition to the letter from the nominator.
   
   
6. A current curriculum vitae.

Additional Information

Reviewers may include members of the Faculty Advisory Board of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), previously selected Thurnau Professors, and faculty administrators in the Office of the Provost. Thurnau Professors will the recommended to the Regents at their February meeting and formally recognized at the Honors Convocation in mid-March.

Submission

** Nominations may be submitted in hard copy OR electronically.

– For paper submissions, please send materials to:

Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
Attention: Matt Kaplan
1071 Palmer Commons 2218

– For electronic submissions, please send materials to crlt@umich.edu. Please send signed Nomination Cover Sheet to the address above.

Questions? Contact Matt Kaplan at <mlkaplan@umich.edu> or 936-0644.

THURNAU PROFESSORSHIP