Distinguished Faculty Awards
Eligibility | Criteria | Nomination | Application | Past recipients
Distinguished Faculty Awards celebrate outstanding performance by faculty in all aspects of their role and the ongoing enhancement of their teaching and/or scholarship. Recipients of this prestigious award demonstrate excellence in scholarly teaching, leadership in service and significant accomplishments in scholarship.
Distinguished Faculty Awards have two award categories:
- Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award
- Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award
Recipients of the Distinguished Faculty Awards in both categories receive a monetary award of $1,500 (choice of a cash honorarium, professional development funds or donation to a Mount Royal scholarship), a letter acknowledging the award signed by the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, and a framed certificate. Recipients of the Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award also receive a $3,500 grant to support their work in teaching and/or scholarship.
Award recipients are also recognized on Mount Royal's Faculty Excellence Awards website and at the Faculty Excellence Celebration in May. They may also be recognized through other channels.
Typically, one (but up to two) awards may be granted in each category each year. A Distinguished Faculty Award may only be granted to an individual once in each category.
2025 Awards Adjudication Committee
| Member | Title |
| Dr. Karim Dharamsi | Vice-Provost Academic (Chair) |
| Dr. Connie Van der Byl | Associate Vice-President, Research, Scholarship and Community Engagement |
| Dr. David Hyttenrauch | Vice-Dean, Faculty of Arts |
| Dr. Adam Cave | Vice-Dean, Faculty of Business, Communication Studies and Aviation |
| Dr. Mark Lafave | Associate Dean, Faculty of Health, Community and Education |
| Dr. Sarah Hewitt | Interim Associate Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award recipient |
| Alice Swabey | Chair, University Library |
| Dr. Rachael Pettigrew | Associate Professor & Chair, General Management & Human Resources, Faculty of Business, Communication Studies and Aviation 2024 Distinguished Faculty Award recipient |
| TBD | Contract faculty member |
| TBD | Student representative |
Awards Requirements
Eligibility
All candidates for this award must be nominated.
The Distinguished Faculty Awards respect the diversity of roles and responsibilities undertaken by faculty at Mount Royal and the unique contexts and settings in which faculty are situated. Candidates are reviewed on the overall quality of their applications in relation to the award criteria. The awards are available in two categories:
Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award
All full-time tenured faculty on the TS or TSS work pattern who have at least five years of full-time service with Mount Royal are eligible for the Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award.
Previous recipients of a Distinguished Faculty Award in the previous full-time credit award category are not eligible to receive another Distinguished Faculty Award.
Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award
All senior lecturers with permanency, lab instructors with permanency, and contract faculty who have taught at Mount Royal in a credit area for at least eight semesters (consecutive or nonconsecutive) are eligible for the Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award.
Previous recipients of a Distinguished Faculty Award in the previous contract faculty credit award category are not eligible to receive another Distinguished Faculty Award.
Criteria
Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award
Nominees for the Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award are assessed on the following criteria:
Excellence in scholarly teaching
- Teaches in alignment with principles of effective practice in undergraduate education
- Holds high expectations for student learning
- Aligns intended outcomes, teaching practices and assessment methods
- Innovates and experiments in teaching with a view to enhancing student learning
- Engages in reflective practice
- Commits to continuous improvement in teaching
- Engages in teaching informed by scholarship
- Supports/mentors colleagues relative to teaching
- Influences or has an impact on teaching beyond the academic unit
Leadership in service
- Demonstrates substantial participation and contribution in service
- Contributes to the support or advancement of organizational goals and priorities (internal or external)
- Demonstrates leadership in service, beyond membership and participation
- Provides evidence of influence and/or impact and making a positive difference
Significant accomplishments in scholarship
- Sustains scholarly activity
- Holds a pattern of consistent dissemination of research outcomes in peer-reviewed fora/venues
- Has an impact on scholarly work in one's field
- Demonstrates the integration of scholarship and teaching
- Mentors/supports colleagues relative to scholarship
Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award
Nominees for the Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award are assessed on the following criteria:
Excellence in scholarly teaching
- Teaches in alignment with principles of effective practice in undergraduate education
- Holds high expectations for student learning
- Aligns intended outcomes, teaching practices and assessment methods
- Innovates and experiments in teaching with a view to enhancing student learning
- Engages in reflective practice
- Commits to continuous improvement in teaching
- Engages in teaching informed by scholarship
Nomination
Please carefully review the eligibility and criteria for the Distinguished Faculty Award, along with the following information, before submitting a nomination.
Eligibility to nominate
Nominations can be submitted by any student, employee or alumni of Mount Royal University, excluding any members of a Faculty Excellence Awards adjudication committee in the current adjudication year.
Self-nominations are not accepted.
Requirements
- All nominations must be seconded by a full-time or contract faculty member who is not a member of a Faculty Excellence Awards adjudication committee.
- Nominations should be accompanied by a statement that includes the reasons for the nomination (maximum 500 words). Specific reference should be made, where possible, to the nominee's qualifications relative to the criteria.
- Nominations should be submitted to the Office of the Provost and must be completed using the nomination form provided on this webpage during the nomination period.
- An mtroyal.ca email address is required to complete a nomination form. Anonymous emails or testimonials will not be accepted.
Application
Application process
- All candidates for this award must be nominated.
- The selection committee receives and reviews all nominations to confirm eligibility.
- Eligible nominees are invited to apply for the award. They are supplied with detailed application instructions.
- Applicants have approximately three to four weeks to submit their applications.
- The selection committee reviews the applications and selects the award recipients.
- All applicants receive a decision letter from the selection committee.
- Award recipients are expected to be announced by mid-April.
Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award
Detailed instructions, an application form (via Google Forms) and a dossier template (via Google Docs) will be provided to nominees who are invited to apply. All application materials must be submitted in PDF format.
The application package includes:
Dossier document (maximum 20 pages):
- Introduction (cover letter)
- Statements outlining excellence in scholarly teaching
- Teaching philosophy
- Innovative teaching methods
- Reflective practice
- Integration of scholarship in teaching
- Mentoring and impact
- Statements outlining leadership in service
- Service activities
- Leadership contributions
- Influence and impact
- Statements outlining significant accomplishments in scholarship
- Scholarly productivity
- Impact in your field
- Mentoring in scholarship
- Summary of three (3) to five (5) SPoT evaluations from the past three years
Additional documents:
- Current Curriculum Vitae (any CV format is accepted – an MRU CV is not required)
- Up to three (3) signed letters of support
- Up to five (5) other supporting documents, if necessary (e.g., course outlines, chair and peer evaluations etc.)
Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award
Detailed instructions, an application form (via Google Forms) and a dossier template (via Google Docs) will be provided to nominees who are invited to apply. All application materials must be submitted in PDF format.
The application package includes:
Dossier document (maximum 15 pages):
- Introduction (cover letter)
- Statements outlining excellence in scholarly teaching
- Teaching philosophy
- Innovative teaching methods
- Examples of peer recognition
- Examples of student impact
- Summary of three SPoT evaluations from the past three years
Additional documents:
- Current Curriculum Vitae (any CV format is accepted – an MRU CV is not required)
- Up to three (3) signed letters of support
- Up to five (5) other supporting documents, if necessary (e.g., course outlines, chair and peer evaluations etc.)
Return to Faculty Excellence Awards
The Faculty Excellence Awards are administered through Academic Affairs, as part of Mount Royal’s Celebrate U framework for employee rewards and recognition.