Internal Resources for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
University at Buffalo (UB)
SEAS Faculty & Staff Award Descriptions and Criteria
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences recognizes faculty and staff excellence through an awards program. Recipients are nominated by fellow faculty/staff and vetted by the SEAS Faculty Awards Committee or the SEAS Staff Awards Committee.
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Best Teaching Faculty of the Year Award
Description
This award is presented to teaching faculty member(s) whose recent teaching performance, initiatives, publications and/or presentations demonstrate outstanding contributions to education within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Eligible awardees must be full-time members of one of the School's departments/units and they must have an in-house title of Teaching Assistant Professor, Teaching Associate Professor, or Teaching Professor. The award recognizes outstanding performance during the past 5 years. A recipient may receive the award multiple times, but not more than once in 5 years. A maximum of two awards will be made each year.
Nomination
Each Chair may nominate up to three persons from their department for this award. A cover letter from the Chair (maximum 1 page) and recent CV (maximum 3 pages) must accompany the nomination, together with a citation paragraph which states succinctly why the individual being nominated is worthy of the award. Applications shall be considered by the SEAS Awards Committee. The nominee's name (with nomination materials) will be forwarded to the Dean for final approval.
Nomination Deadline: March 1
Criteria
This award is designed to recognize a teaching faculty member with a documented record of teaching excellence over the previous 5 years. Descriptions of new teaching methods or initiatives and/or publications and presentations related to teaching may also be considered positive evidence of excellence.
Nominations
Nominees may be individuals or teams. With supportive examples, describe why and how the nominee(s) demonstrate(s) excellence in relation to the award criteria. Please submit nominations using the linked forms.
Nomination Deadline: March 1
Dean’s Award for Staff Excellence
Description
Recognizes a staff member whose extraordinary contributions and exceptional achievements reflect superior performance and have enriched SEAS.
Criteria
5 or more years of service in SEAS
- Exemplary execution of professional responsibilities in one’s department, unit, or the school.
- Outstanding achievements should have either direct or indirect schoolwide impact. An example of direct impact might be advising first-year SEAS students. An example of indirect impact might be exemplary performance as a director of administration who provides mentorship for colleagues or models excellence for other SEAS departments and staff.
- Builds cooperation and collaboration among colleagues in support of departmental, unit, or SEAS strategic initiatives.
Staff Mentoring Award
Description
This award is presented to faculty or staff for their effective mentoring commitments to other staff. It seeks to celebrate both what the mentor does and how they do it and can be awarded to mentors of all kinds (officially assigned mentors, peer mentors, mentoring networks, and informal or unofficial mentoring). As such, the nomination can be for a single individual or a group of mentors working collectively to offer support.
A maximum of two awards will be made each year.
Nomination
Nominations for staff mentoring should include a cover letter from the chair, supervisor, or other relevant colleague. Nomination letters should speak directly to the criteria below and include the date started, the assigned role and responsibilities (as might be relevant), and any other pertinent details to contextualize the nominee’s work. Notes of support from mentees are optional.
Nomination Deadline: March 1
Criteria
Mentoring nominations will be evaluated on one or more of these criteria:
The mentor or mentoring team inclusively supports the mentee or group of mentees in one or more of the following:
- Navigating and impacting their department, school, and institutional cultures.
- Excelling at professional responsibilities.
- Understanding tenure, permanency, reappointment and promotion.
- Establishing career-enhancing networks and relationships.
- Balancing job responsibilities (e.g., teaching, research, service) and non-work responsibilities.