Teaching Excellence Awards

The Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee and the Center for Teaching and Learning invite nominations to recognize outstanding educators in the University. All UNM instructors, students, and staff are encouraged to nominate lecturers, instructors, and professors for special award recognition. We encourage nominations from departments in all UNM colleges and branches.

We encourage nominees and applicants from all colleges, branches, and departments. The Center for Teaching and Learning offers guidance on the application process. You can also set up a consultation with the Teaching Support team (teachingsupportctl@unm.edu) to receive feedback and guidance on your materials.

Previous Award Recipients

The 2024-2025 call for nominations is open

See Full Call For Nomination

Nominations are due on December 9, 2024

Access Nomination Form 2024-2025

Awards Descriptions and Eligibility

Presidential Teaching Fellow

All tenured faculty are eligible. The Presidential Teaching Fellowship promotes excellence in teaching by establishing a core group of faculty who are given the highest recognition for their effective teaching. Additionally, Fellows carry a special responsibility for ensuring teaching excellence by sharing their expertise with the university community. One Fellow is selected each year and serves an active term of two years. Fellows retain their title while employed at UNM. During the two years of their fellowship, recipients receive a $1000 increase to their base salary, paid by the Provost’s office. Additionally, recipients are provided with $3000 for each of the two years from CTL to honor their fellowship projects, including projects in collaboration with CTL. Payment will be made at the close of the two-year fellowship once the fellow has submitted an executive summary or can be arranged in communication with CTL.  The Teaching Support program processes this payment via non-standard payment form or JV transfer to recipient index – the distribution is decided upon by the Director of the Teaching Support program and the recipient’s agreement of what they will do as a Presidential Teaching Fellow. Nominations can be made by colleagues, students, or alumni.

To be eligible for the Presidential award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am a tenured faculty member at The University of New Mexico
  2. I have not previously received the Presidential Teaching Fellow award

Outstanding Teacher of the Year

All tenured faculty, clinician educators, and professors of practice are eligible. The Teacher of the Year Award recognizes, and rewards teaching excellence and fosters a campus climate that supports teaching improvement and accomplishment. Multiple recipients may be selected for this monetary award. Nominations can be made by colleagues, students, or alumni. $1250 award to be paid by non-standard payment form processed by CTL.

To be eligible for the Outstanding Teacher award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am a tenured faculty member, a clinician educator, or professor of practice at The University of New Mexico
  2. I have not previously received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award

Early Career Teacher of the Year

All pre-tenure, tenure-track assistant professors are eligible. The Early Career Teacher of the Year Award recognizes tenure-track educators who have not yet achieved tenure, with 5 years or less teaching experience (as instructor of record). Multiple recipients may be selected for this monetary award. Nominations can be made by colleagues, students, or alumni. $1250.00 award to be paid by non-standard payment form processed by CTL.

To be eligible for the Outstanding Teacher award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am a tenure-track, untenured assistant professor at The University of New Mexico.
  2. I have not previously received the New Teacher of the Year award or the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award.

Online Teacher of the Year

All lecturers, clinician educators, adjunct faculty on a current contract, and tenure-track and tenured faculty who have already taught at least one fully online course are eligible. This award acknowledges excellence in the challenging teaching and learning arena of online education.

Multiple recipients may be selected for this monetary award. Nominations can be made by colleagues, students, alumni, or the nominee. $1250.00 award to be paid by non-standard payment form processed by CTL. To be eligible for the Online Teacher award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am one of the following at The University of New Mexico: lecturer, clinician educator, adjunct faculty on a current contract, or tenure-track or tenured faculty.
  2. I have taught at least one fully online course at The University of New Mexico. Fully online courses do not include web-enhanced, face-to-face, or hybrid courses.
  3. I have not previously won an Online Teacher of the Year award.

Lecturer of the Year

Eligible faculty includes any lecturer who has taught a minimum of two semesters at UNM. This award recognizes the contributions of UNM’s teaching mission by non-tenure track faculty. Multiple recipients may be selected for this monetary award.

Nominations may be made by colleagues, students, or alumni. Faculty may also nominate themselves. A monetary award of $1250.00 will be paid to the recipient of the Lecturer of the Year Award by non-standard payment form processed by CTL. To be eligible for the Lecturer award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am a faculty member (not including clinician educator or professor of practice) in a non- tenure eligible lecturer position at The University of New Mexico.
  2. I have taught at least two semesters at UNM.
  3. I have not previously received the Lecturer Award.

Affiliated Faculty of the Year

Eligible instructors include any affiliated faculty (adjunct, part time) who has taught a minimum of one class at UNM. This award recognizes the contributions of UNM’s teaching mission by affiliated faculty. Nominations may be made by colleagues, students, or alums. Faculty may also nominate themselves. A monetary award of $1250.00 will be paid to the Affiliated Teacher of the Year Award recipient by a non-standard payment form processed by CTL. To be eligible for the Affiliated Teacher Award you must meet the following criteria (same as above)

  1. I am a faculty member (not including clinician educator or professor of practice) in a non- tenure eligible affiliated teacher position at The University of New Mexico (instructor, part-time temporary faculty, visiting professor, adjunct faculty).
  2. I have taught at least one class at UNM.
  3. I have not previously received the Affiliated Teacher of the Year Award.

Branch Teacher of the Year

 All tenured or tenure-track educators who teach at a branch campus (Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos, or Valencia) are eligible. Nominations can be made by colleagues, students, or alumni. $1250.00 award to be paid by non-standard payment form processed by the Teaching Support program. To be eligible for the Branch Campus Outstanding Teacher award you must meet the following criteria:

To be eligible for the Branch Campus Tenure Track/Lecturer of the Year award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am a tenured or tenure-track professor at one of UNM’s branch campuses.
  2. I have not previously received the Branch Tenure Track/Lecturer Teacher of the Year award.

Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistants

This award recognizes and rewards teaching achievements of graduate students. Multiple recipients may be selected for this monetary award. Nominations are to be made by department chairs on the basis of one nomination for every ten departmental teaching assistants. Please suggest names of deserving teaching assistants to their department chairperson. $1000.00 award to be paid by scholarship processed by CTL. To be eligible for the Teaching Assistant award you must meet the following criteria:

  1. I am a graduate student and currently enrolled at The University of New Mexico
  2. I have not previously received the Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award