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College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Faculty

College of Liberal Arts
and Social Sciences
The University of Houston
402 Agnes Arnold Hall
Houston, TX 77204-3000
Phone: 713.743.4002
Fax: 713.743.2990

Ross M. Lence Awards Nominations (2024)

Nominations now open for Ross M. Lence Awards for Teaching Excellence

Download Lence Awards Nomination Form

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) invites you to nominate a CLASS faculty member for the 2024 Ross M. Lence Teaching Excellence Awards in one of two categories: Social Sciences and Humanities. Nominees must indicate the category — Social Sciences or Humanities — based on their practice of teaching and disciplinary proclivities. Nominations are valid for two years for those not selected in the first year of being nominated. Winners will receive a $3,000 bonus.

The eligibility criteria for this year's award are:

  1. The recipient must be in at least the third year of full-time faculty service in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
  2. The award is for undergraduate and/or graduate teaching excellence over a period of years and not for one year's performance alone.
  3. Previous winners, members of the selection committee, and associate deans are ineligible.

Anyone may nominate a CLASS faculty member for the award. The nomination form and supporting materials must be submitted as a single PDF electronically to Sally Connolly no later than 5 p.m. Monday, February 12, 2024.

The PDF should be named as follows: [LAST NAME DEPARTMENT CATEGORY 2024] (So the PDF for Immanuel Kant from the Philosophy Department for a Humanities teaching award would be named “Kant Philosophy Humanities 2024”).

The PDF should include six items in this order:

  1. Nomination Form with accompanying letter
  2. Cover Sheet from the nominee indicating the teaching category. The nominee’s Chair or Director must sign the cover sheet.
  3. Nominee's current curriculum vita. Please submit a short cv, no more than 5 pages.
  4. A personal essay on teaching from the nominee (no more than 3 pages), along with any related supporting material (list of courses taught, course syllabi, any special projects or activities).
  5. At least three, but no more than five, letters of recommendation from students, colleagues, alumni — no more than two from any one group.
  6. Student and departmental teaching evaluation scores from the previous three academic years must be included. Tabulate numerical scores on the two key questions (overall quality of course and overall quality of instructor) compared to departmental and college means. Scores from sections taught from the previous four academic years may also be included.
The selection committee will evaluate the teaching excellence of each nominee as demonstrated by these materials and determine the recipients of this year's award.