Excellence in Teaching Award
The Excellence in Teaching Awards recognize and reward outstanding faculty at Columbia College Chicago. Our faculty inspire student learning through masterful innovation, inclusivity, and pedagogical expertise in their classrooms and beyond.
Acknowledging that excellence can take many forms, the committee may select up to 2 Adjunct and up to 2 Full-Time winners from the college’s diverse field of excellent teachers. By adopting a cohort model, the Excellence in Teaching Award strives to cultivate transdisciplinary connections, conversations, and collaboration among faculty. An excellent teacher is one from whom all in the college community can learn.
How to Nominate Someone
Students, faculty and staff may nominate a faculty member through the electronic form that has been emailed, which asks for the following information:
- Your name
- Whether you are a student, faculty member or staff
- The nominee's name and school name/course(s) taught
- A brief statement about how this faculty member made a difference in your educational experience or significantly contributed to student learning at Columbia, including one or two examples.
Deadline for Nominations: Sunday, February 1, 2026, 11:59 pm.
Submission of Materials
The Faculty Affairs Office will contact nominees by Friday, February 6 to request the following materials, which are due Monday, March 2, 2026, 11:59 pm.
- A teaching philosophy/pedagogical statement (750 words maximum) articulating their core values as a teacher and examples of how they practice those values in the classroom.
- Permission for the committee to review the faculty member’s Canvas pages, student course evaluations, and access their CV via the Provost’s Office.
- Agreement to provide and/or allow us to attend your class to observe and create a recording of any one of your course sessions held between weeks 8-11 of the semester. Note: This classroom observation and/or recording will only be asked of those who are selected by the committee as semi-finalists. These recordings will not be shared with anyone outside of the Excellence in Teaching Award committee and they will be deleted as soon as the committee arrives at their final decision.
REVIEW TIMELINE
March and April
Committee members meet to review materials and select semi-finalists. Semi-finalists submit recordings of one complete class session. Committee members review recordings and meet a second time to select up to two Adjunct and up to two Full-Time winners.
Friday, May 1
Winners in each category (Full-Time and Adjunct) will be notified and will receive a financial award.
Recent Past Recipients
Adjunct Faculty
|
2024 |
Chris Flynn Alphonso Peluso Jeff Christian |
Visual Arts Design Film and TV |
|
2023 |
Ann Marie Toebbe |
Art and Art History |
|
2022 |
Terri Griffith |
Humanities, History and Social Sciences |
|
2021 |
Gregory Geffrard |
Theatre |
|
2020 |
Matthew Andersen Derek Fawcett Joseph Kramer Sam Roe |
American Sign Language Music Audio Arts and Acoustics Communication |
|
2019 |
Michele Hoffman |
Science and Mathematics |
Full-Time Faculty
|
2024 |
Victoria Can Brian Shaw Jo-Nelle Sieren Michelle Yates |
Design Theater and Dance Design Communication and Culture |
|
2023 |
Gabriela Diaz de Sabates Yonty Friesem Florian Hollerweger |
History, and Social Sciences Communication Audio Arts and Acoustics |
|
2022 |
Chris Eliopoulos Susan Kerns Jackie Spinner |
Design Cinema and Television Arts Communication |
|
2021 |
Carmelo Esterrich |
Humanities, History and Social Sciences |
|
2020 |
Lauren Downing Peters Carolina Posse Khalid Long Hilary Sarat-St. Peter Wendi Weber |
Fashion Studies Cinema and Television Arts Theatre English and Creative Writing Theatre |
|
2019 |
Tom Fraterrigo |
Cinema and Television Arts |