Office of Academic Personnel - University of California, Riverside

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Academy of Distinquished Teachers

In March, Chancellor France A. Cordova and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Ellen A. Wartella announced the appointment of four professors as the founders of UCR's Academy of Distinguished Teachers for the 2005/06 academic year. These founders served as a Selection Committee, recently appointing six new members to the Academy for the 2006/07 academic year. Please click here to view the March 1, 2006 EVC & Provost's announcement memo.

The Academy now has a total membership of ten faculty serving five year terms. Every member of the Academey has been a recipient of the UCR Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, or has exhibited evidence of an equivalent achievement in teaching. Please click here to view the June 9, 2006 EVC & Provost's announcement memo.

Please click on the links below for details concerning the Purpose of the Academy , the Role of the Academy , and other information relating to the Academy and its support of Teaching Excellence at UCR.

Members of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers are as follows:

Jury, William A. - Chair Distinguished Professor of Soil Physics & Soil Physicist		DiMatteo, Robin Distinguished Professor of Psychology
Elliott, Emory B. Professor Of English Director, Center for Ideas and Society		Schiller, Neal Associate Dean Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Forster-Hahn, Francoise Professor of Art History		Walker, Ameae Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Nothnagel, Eugene A. Professor of Plant Physiology & Plant Physiologist		Wu, Yenna Professor of Comparative Literature & Foreign Languages
Cardullo, Richard Professor of Biology		Yates, Marylynn Professor of Environmental Sciences

Awards Honoring Teaching

In acknowledgment of exceptional effort and achievement in teaching, the University as well as specific colleges recognize innovative and laudable UCR faculty via various teaching awards.
Please click here for additional Awards information.

Please click here to view the 2005-2006 Distinguished Faculty Recipients.

About the Academy

Purposes of the Academy
Size of the Academy
Rewards of Membership
Role of the Academy
Selection of Academy Members

1. Purposes of the Academy

To honor and reward excellence in teaching.
To enhance teaching effectiveness, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
To create a central core of teachers who can serve as a resource and an inspiration for other teachers.
To select a body of faculty who can promote a sense of community among teachers, foster research on effective college teaching and learning, and advise the institution on teaching policies and practices.

2. Size of the Academy

Members may be chosen each year. Academy members remain as Active Members of the Academy for a period of five years, after which they revert to non-active status for the duration of their tenure at UCR.

3. Rewards of Membership

Following election to the Academy, each faculty member will receive, effective the next academic year, an off-scale award of $5,000 that will remain as part of their salary while they are serving their 5-year term as Active Members of the Academy.
Each Academy member, whether active or non-active, will be designated a UCR Distinguished Teaching Professor, which will entitle the holder to use this title on university stationery.
On retirement, faculty members will be designated a UCR Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus or Emerita.
If a faculty member is teaching a full load of 4.5/5 courses per year, one course relief will be granted and the college/school will be compensated for the 5 year period.

4. Role of the Academy

The Academy will serve as an advisory group to the Provost on teaching excellence and will provide institutional leadership and guidance for the distinctive undergraduate experience available in our research university environment.
Academy members might fulfill these broad roles in various ways, such as serving as teaching mentors for new faculty or organizing and taking part in seminars, colloquia, and workshops on teaching excellence.

5. Selection of Academy Members

The Academy recognizes and honors tenured faculty members at UCR who have made sustained and significant contributions to education, particularly at the undergraduate level, within the context of their responsibilities as a full-time faculty member. A minimum requirement for selection is having received the equivalent of the UCR Senate Distinguished Teaching Award.
The Deans of the respective schools and colleges at UCR make nominations for the Academy. They are expected to consult broadly with faculty and students within their respective units. Current Members of the Academy may also submit at-large nominations.
Selection will be made by a campus committee nominated by the EVC in consultation with the Academic Senate Committee on Committees. The members of the Selection Committee will be the inaugural members of the Academy.