SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence

1. Background

The Teaching Awards policy was instituted in 2012 to recognise excellent teaching practices of Associate Faculty members (AFs). In 2019, the SUSS Teaching & Learning (T&L) Committee approved an updated policy applicable to both AFs and full-time Faculty. The updated policy implemented from January 2020 supersedes the 2012 policy, with award recipients being recognised at the Faculty Appreciation Event (FAE) 2020 and beyond.

2. Eligibility Criteria

Both AFs and full-time Faculty will be eligible to be considered for the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence (hereafter also termed “Teaching Award” in this page). External vendors will also be considered for the Teaching Award if they have undertaken the required training established for AFs. The following must be fulfilled for a staff to be eligible for the Teaching Award:

1. Candidate must have taught for at least two semesters in the last two years; and
2. Candidate must have a weighted average eCE score of 4.30 (out of 5) calculated across the two calendar years.

The list of eligible staff is further filtered to exclude those who are in the 2-year rest period. This includes

1. past recipients of the Teaching Excellence Awards (TEAs), or Teaching Merit Awards (TMAs), who had received a TEA/TMA within the past three years; and
2. past recipients of the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence, who had received the Teaching Award within the past three years.

3. Teaching Awards Nomination and Selection Process

The nomination and selection process requires shortlisted candidates to submit a two-page teaching narrative (see Annex A) to TLC, after they have been invited to do so via email. The self-nomination component is mandatory for shortlisted candidates to be considered for the Teaching Award. The narratives will be judged by a peer panel¹ using adaptive comparative judgement (ACJ). TLC will then apply the minimum judging threshold and allot the number of awards assigned to each School/College.

4. Number of Awards per School/ College and Quantum of Awards

The number of awards is computed based on a 1:70 award to staff ratio with a minimum of one (1) Teaching Award per School/College.

The Teaching Award will comprise a certificate and a cash prize of S$1,500. The former will be presented to recipients at the annual Faculty Appreciation Event (FAE), while the cash quantum will be credited to their bank accounts within 30 days from the FAD. SUSS will also publicly acknowledge the award recipients by announcing them on TLC's website, under the section - SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence.

5. Obligatory Requirements of Award Recipients

Recipients of the Teaching Awards may be invited to:

1. make a presentation to share their good teaching practices with other AFs and Faculty;
2. contribute an article to, or be interviewed and featured in TLC's publications and news; and
3. conduct a workshop at TLC's symposium and/or conference.

Teaching Award recipients may also be:

1. featured in SUSS / Schools’ / Centres’ promotional materials, which may include video interviews;
2. invited to be part of the peer judging panel for future teaching awards selection.

6. SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence - Honourable Mention Certificate

Introduced in 2021, the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence - Honourable Mention Certificate will be awarded to AFs or full-time Faculty who are shortlisted by their respective Deans/ Directors and have submitted their self-narratives. This Certificate recognises and celebrates outstanding teaching performance, and there is no rest period or quantum.

The Certificate will be presented to recipients at the annual Faculty Appreciation Event (FAE).

7. Special Awards Category - Innovation in Pedagogy Award

Introduced in 2023, the Innovation in Pedagogy Award (IPA) is a special award categorised under the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence. The IPA serves to recognise and celebrate effective innovative pedagogical practices that have been introduced into a course or classroom, individually or as a team.

 

IPA Eligiblity Criteria

The following criteria must be fulfilled for one to be eligible to apply for the IPA:

1. Applicants must be a full-time Faculty or Associate Faculty with SUSS;
2. Each staff can only apply for either the (A) Individual category, or (B) Team category in the same nomination exercise, with a maximum of ten (10) persons in the Team category nomination;
(A) Individual category: Applicant must have taught for at least two semesters in the last two years.
(B) Team category: Main member (first name in the application) must have taught for at least two semesters in the last two years.

Note: Nomination for the IPA is different from the nomination for the Teaching Award. An applicant can apply for both the IPA and the Teaching Award (if invited - see Section 3: Teaching Awards Nomination and Selection Process) in the same nomination exercise.

 

IPA Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria

All SUSS full-time Faculty and Associate Faculty are invited to apply for the IPA. Applicants have to submit a two-page narrative (see Annex B) of the innovative pedagogy with supporting artefacts to TLC via email. The self-nomination component is mandatory, and narratives will initially be reviewed by a shortlisting panel for appropriateness. The shortlisted applications will then be reviewed by a judging panel before being approved by the peer panel¹.

 

IPA Award Value

IPA recipients will receive a certificate and cash prize.

(A) Individual category: S$500 cash prize

(B) Team category: S$1,000 cash prize

 

Obligatory Requirements of IPA Recipients

Recipients of the IPA would be required to share their innovative pedagogical designs in at least two of the following categories:

1. Seeding ideas (e.g., TLC's T&L Conversations or professional sharing sessions);
2. Guiding implementation (e.g., workshop(s), seminar(s) - awardee to detail the proposed workshop, target audience, and implementation details); or
3. Documentation of practices via white paper, poster, journal or conference papers.

IPA recipients may also be featured in SUSS / Schools' / Centres' promotional materials, which may include video interviews.

8. Annex A: SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence Nomination Narrative

For more information and instructions on the preparation and submission of Teaching Award self-narratives, please click here.

9. Annex B: Special Awards Category - Innovation in Pedagogy Award Nomination Narrative

For more information and instructions on the preparation and submission of IPA self-narratives, please click here.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), please click here.

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¹The peer panel comprises selected academics and management staff.