Calls are now open for the 2020-2021 WCU Board of Governors award for Excellence in Teaching, the university’s most esteemed teaching award. The UNC system-level award was established in 1993 to recognize our finest teaching at each of our universities.

Deans, faculty, and alumni may make a nomination through completion of a short survey. The nominations period closes September 4th. Note that two nominations for a faculty member are required for a faculty to be deemed eligible.

We encourage faculty, deans, and alumni to nominate a worthy candidate!

Nominee Process:
Faculty who are nominated will be asked to submit a teaching statement before the close of September. Finalists will be selected in October by the BOG campus committee, with virtual faculty teaching observations to be scheduled in early November. Faculty portfolios will also be due at this time, with interviews and a final recommendation to follow.

Eligibility:
Eligibility for the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching at Western Carolina University includes earned tenure and employment at Western Carolina for at least seven years; demonstrated excellence in teaching for a sustained period; and teaching in the academic year selected. The winning faculty member is eligible to receive the Board of Governors’ Award only once. Faculty members on scholarly leave are eligible but will still need to be observed in a teaching setting. 

In addition, faculty are automatically nominated if earned tenure and employed for the past seven years, and any one of the following three conditions are met: 1) a finalist for the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, 2017-2020; 2) if a recipient of their college’s top teaching award, 2017-2020; 3) a finalist for the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2017-2020.

For more information, please contact Dr. Terry Pollard, Coulter Faculty Commons, or Dr. John Whitmire, 2020—2021 committee chair.

2019-2020 UNC System Winners