International Educator of the Year Awards for Faculty and Staff 2010

Dr. David Sammons, Dean of the International Center

International Educator of the Year Awards:
Beginning in 2004, an award to recognize outstanding international endeavors by UF faculty members and to encourage UF faculty to pursue international activities was created. Subsequently, a new award was created specifically for faculty in junior ranks and in 2010 a new award has been added to recognize the many contributions of staff to our campus internationalization priorities.

Faculty: Each college is asked to submit nominations for the two faculty International Educator of the Year Awards by October 22, 2010. Colleges are asked to make nominations for two awards-one for junior faculty (untenured or newly tenured) and one for senior faculty. IFAS, CLAS and the College of Medicine may nominate two people in both categories because of the size of those colleges. The winner of each of these two awards will receive $2,000.

Staff: In 2010 an additional award is offered to recognize the important contributions of University of Florida staff to the internationalization priorities of the campus. This new award is intended to recognize the essential role of UF staff in furthering the campus internationalization efforts. Anyone may nominate a staff member from any unit on campus for this award following the criteria and process described below. [NOTE: Staff members of the UF International Center are not eligible for the staff award.] The winner of this award will also receive $2000.

Process: Nominations for each award may be made by anyone on campus (not limited to the unit in which the individual nominee is employed). Each college is free to develop its own review process for submitted faculty nominations, but the faculty nominations from each college should be officially transmitted to the UF International Center by the department chair with the endorsement of the dean. Nominations for the staff award should be developed and submitted to the UF International Center directly by the nominator. The nominations, in each case, should consist of a memo of no more than three pages describing the international accomplishments of the faculty or staff member being nominated. Contact information for the nominee and a summary paragraph about him or her should be placed at the beginning of each nomination.  Please do not submit resumes.

Nominations must be received by October 22, 2010. Electronic submissions are preferred but not required. Nomination packets should be directed to:

UF International Center
Attn. Vanessa Fayo
170 HUB – P.O. Box 113225
or by email at: vfayo@ufic.ufl.edu
Selection of Winners: A university-wide committee appointed by the Dean of the UF International Center will select the winners for each of the awards. Consideration will be given to the following factors by the award committee:

–Faculty nominations made by department chairs, endorsed by the dean, and reviewed by an awards committee within each college prior to submission to the UF International Center; staff nominations submitted by any member of the campus community. Staff nominations are directly submitted by the nominator.

–The nomination, in each case, should be based primarily on a memo of no more than three pages describing the international accomplishments of the faculty or staff member and the impact of those accomplishments on students, international partners, university stakeholders, and/or the nominee’s discipline.

–Accomplishments must have been within last five (5) years and as a UF faculty or staff member; evidence of sustained international involvement is an important criterion for a strong nomination.

–The awards committee will look for excellence in international contributions in the context of at least two of the following factors (one in the case of the staff award):

Research: The extent to which the faculty or staff member’s research made a significant contribution to his/her discipline through the creation or discovery of new knowledge and how that work involved international activities.

Teaching: The extent to which the faculty or staff member’s teaching increased student awareness of international issues and involved them in academic activities abroad. Also, the committee will review the extent to which courses with international content (including study abroad courses) were developed and how that affected the curriculum.

Service: The extent to which the international activities cited in the nomination raised UF’s profile as a major research university, the benefits derived from them, and documented evidence of such. Significant roles in advising, mentoring exchange partners, and similar service activities are included in this category as well, especially for those individuals in staff ranks.

The awards will be presented by the Office of the Provost at a reception on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. in the Keene Faculty Center as part of International Education Week.

For more information, please contact Dr. David Sammons, Dean of the UF International Center, at 273-1536 or snielsen@ufl.edu.