Call for Nominations – International Educator of the Year Awards

Leonardo A. Villalón, Dean, UF International Center

I am pleased to invite nominations for the 2015 International Educator of the Year awards. These awards are made annually in recognition of the outstanding contributions of faculty and staff to the internationalization of the University of Florida. As in years past, three awards will be made:

• Senior Faculty International Educator of the Year
• Junior Faculty International Educator of the Year
• Staff International Educator of the Year

Nomination process:
Senior and Junior Faculty nominations:
Colleges are invited to submit nominations for the Senior and Junior Faculty International Educator awards. All UF colleges are eligible to nominate one faculty member for each award category; CALS, CLAS and the College of
Medicine may nominate up to two faculty members for each award. Each college is free to develop its own review process for selecting nominees. Faculty nominations from each college must be officially sent to the UF International Center and include an endorsements by the nominee’s department chair and college dean.

For the purposes of this award, junior faculty nominees should normally be no more than five years post-tenure or no more than ten years into their academic career (for non-tenure track faculty). Senior faculty nominees should normally be individuals who have held tenure for more than five years or who have been in their academic career for more than ten years (for non-tenure track faculty).

Staff nominations:
The staff award recognizes the important contributions of University of Florida staff in support of the internationalization of the campus. Nominations for the staff award may be made by any UF faculty or staff member to the nominee’s respective college or unit. Staff nominations must be officially sent to the UF International Center and include an endorsement by the nominee’s supervisor and department chair/director/dean.

Colleges may re-nominate individuals who were previous college nominees for the campus-wide award.

All nominations should consist of:
1. Cover page with the full name, title, position, and college/unit of the nominee
2. A 1-2 page personal statement by the nominee describing his/her international engagement activities and contributions to the internationalization of UF. Please limit this statement to two pages and do not include a CV, resume, or other extensive materials in the nomination packet.
3. Two letters of support from supervisors, colleagues, and/or students.
4. A letter of endorsement from the appropriate chair, director, dean, or unit supervisor.

More information about the awards as well as profiles of previous winners are available at: http://www.ufic.ufl.edu/iea.html

All nominations must be received by Thursday, October 15th at 4PM. Nominations must be sent by email as electronic attachments to Vanessa Fayo at: vfayo@ufic.ufl.edu

Criteria and 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 nominations in light of the international educational contributions of the faculty or staff member and the impact of those contributions on students, international partners, university stakeholders, and/or the nominee’s discipline. We are particularly interested in accomplishments within the past five years which demonstrate a commitment to international education.

The awards committee will look for excellence in keeping with the nominee’s position and duties. This might include: the extent to which the nominee’s teaching has significantly contributed to student learning and engagement with international issues; the extent to which the nominee’s research has made a significant and recognized contribution to knowledge about international issues or has been carried out in collaboration with international partners; or the extent to which the nominee’s efforts have contributed substantially in support of UF’s global engagement.

Presentation of awards:
The awards will be presented at a reception on Monday, November 16th during the International Education Week reception. In addition to a plaque, the winner in each category will also receive $1,000.

For more information, please feel free to contact Vanessa Fayo at: vfayo@ufic.ufl.edu or by phone at 273-1536.