International Educator of the Year Awards for Faculty and Staff 2013

Dr. David Sammons, Dean of the International Center

In 2004, an award was created to recognize outstanding international endeavors by tenured UF faculty members and to encourage more UF faculty to pursue international activities. Subsequently, a similar award was created for faculty in junior ranks and in 2010 a new award was added to recognize the many contributions of staff to our campus internationalization priorities. I write today to invite nominations from all colleges across campus for each of these awards in recognition of outstanding contributions to the internationalization of the campus. Details follow:

Faculty: Each college is invited to submit nominations for the two faculty “International Educator of the Year” awards by Friday, October 11, 2013.  Each college may nominate one individual for each of the two awards-one for junior faculty (untenured or newly tenured) and one for senior faculty.  IFAS, CLAS and the College of Medicine may nominate up to two people in each category because of the relatively larger sizes of those colleges. Award criteria and the nomination process for the faculty awards are detailed below. The winner of each of these two awards will receive $1,000.

Staff:  The staff award recognizes the important contributions of University of Florida staff to the internationalization priorities of the campus. This newer award, first made in 2010, is intended to recognize the essential role of UF staff in furthering campus internationalization priorities.  Award criteria and the nomination process for the staff award(s) are detailed below. Up to two awards may be made in the staff category. The awardees, if more than one, will share equally the $1000 set aside for the staff award(s).

Process: Nominations for each of the above awards 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 submitting nominations for each award; the faculty nominations from each college must be officially transmitted to the UF International Center by the department chair of the nominee with the endorsement of the college dean. Nominations for the staff award may be developed and submitted to the UF International Center directly by the nominator. The nominations, in each case, should consist of a statement 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 (brief professional biography) about him or her should be placed at the beginning of each nomination.  Please do not submit full resumes.

Nominations must be received by Friday, October 11, 2013. Electronic submissions are preferred but not required. Nomination packets should be directed to:

UF International Center
Attn. Vanessa Fayo (Tel: 273-1536)
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. The award committee will consider the following factors in selecting the awardees in each category:

*  The strength of the nomination statement 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.

* The significance of the nominee’s accomplishments within the last five (5) years 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:

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  learning outcomes with respect to international issues and/or involved students in academic activities abroad. Also, the committee will review the extent to which courses with international content (including study abroad courses) were developed by the nominee and how that affected the curriculum.

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

The awards will be presented by Dr. Angel Kwolek-Folland, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, at a reception on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 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 sammons@ufl.edu.