I. Eligibility

A. In order to be eligible for one of the four major teaching awards (University of Tennessee National Alumni Association [2] (UTNAA), Cunningham [1] and Coffey [1], a person must be a full-time, tenure-track faculty member whose normal duties include at least 50 percent teaching and who has taught at UT Martin for the last four consecutive years.

B. Faculty members will not be eligible for more than one teaching award per year. Faculty members who have won the Coffey Outstanding Teaching Award or the Cunningham Outstanding Teacher/Scholar Award will not be eligible to apply for either of those awards again for a period of five years. Any faculty member who has the UTNAA Outstanding Teacher Award will not be eligible for that award for 10 years.

II. Nomination Process and Criteria: Coffey and Cunningham Awards

A. The College of Business and Public Affairs will nominate one (1) candidate for each award. The nomination process will proceed as follows:

1. The Dean will appoint a committee of three (3) College faculty members who will serve two-year terms and, with him or her, evaluate all faculty members from the College who are nominated for either award. At least one member of this committee will also serve on the University's Teaching Effectiveness Advisory Committee. To the extent it is possible, each committee member will have received a prior teaching award or other recognition for his or her work as a teacher/scholar. The Dean and the committee will be responsible for establishing and revising the College's award-specific criteria; all nominees must also meet the requirements set forth in the University's administrative provisions for the award. By August 1 each year, the Dean will submit a copy of the College's selection criteria and that year's committee membership to the Office of Research, Grants, and Contracts. In the event an eligible College committee member is nominated for either award, he/she shall recuse himself/herself from the committee for that year and a temporary replacement will be named by the Dean.
2. Any UT Martin faculty member, UT Martin student, UT Martin alumnus or UT Martin administrative staff member may submit a nomination according to the guidelines set forth on the nomination form and addressing the specific College criteria. Nominations should be submitted to the Dean by 4:30 p.m. on September 1 (or the first succeeding business day if September 1 falls on a weekend). Nomination forms are available in the Office of Research, Grants, and Contacts, 311 Administration Building. Faculty members who are nominated will be informed of such nominations by the Dean and permitted to submit additional information if they so desire; all materials submitted, however, must fit within a standard 9-inch-by-12-inch manila file folder and be turned in to the office of the Dean by 4:30 p.m. on September 10 (or next business day is on a weekend).
3. The College committee will select one nominee for each award using the criteria hereinafter enumerated. The Office of Research, Grants, and Contracts will then provide a complete application packet to give to each of the College's nominees. In addition to the general application materials, this packet will include a formal acceptance notification that must be signed by the applicants and a form on which the applicants must list their course schedules for that semester. The Dean will contact the final nominees, explain the nomination and subsequent application process, and verify the nominees' intent to proceed. The Dean will then forward the nominees' intent to proceed. The Dean will then forward the nominees' signed acceptances of the nominations and completed class schedule forms to the Office of Research, Grants, and Contracts by October 1 (or next business day if on a weekend).

B. The College committee will select its nominees using the following criteria:

1. Coffey Outstanding Teacher Award

   a. The committee will evaluate nominees for this award primarily on teaching, allocating a maximum of 80 percent of an individual nominee's "score" to evidence of effective teaching. Such evidence must include student evaluations for University-level consideration. The committee may also consider, among other evidence, course syllabi, innovative techniques introduced by the faculty member, student achievements, peer evaluations, results of senior exit interviews, alumni feedback and materials related to academic advising.

   b. The committee will allocate 20 percent of a nominee's score to extracurricular achievements related o the nominee's discipline, leadership, responsibilities, grant activities, and scholarly or creative efforts. Scholarship may include, among other things, published books or articles, book r media reviews, program appearances, seminars attended or presented, and speeches.

2. Cunningham Teacher/Scholar Award

a. The committee will evaluate nominees for this award equally on teaching and scholarship, with 50 percent of an individual nominee's "score" allocated to evidence of effective teaching. Such evidence must include student evaluations for University-level consideration. The committee may also consider, among other evidence, course syllabi, innovative techniques introduced by the faculty member, student achievements, peer evaluations, results of senior exit interviews, alumni feedback and materials related to academic advising.
b. The committee will also allocate 50 percent of nominee's score to extracurricular achievements related to the nominee's discipline, leadership responsibilities, grant activities, and scholarly or creative efforts. Scholarship may include, among other things, published books or articles, book or media reviews, program appearances, seminars attended or presented, and speeches.