Distinguished Faculty Awards
Eligibility | Criteria | Application | Nomination | Current recipients | 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
Up to two awards may be granted in each category, each year.
Recipients of the Distinguished Faculty Awards in both categories receive a cash honorarium of $1,000, 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 $4,000 grant to support their work in teaching and/or scholarship.
Distinguished Faculty Award recipients are also recognized on Mount Royal's Faculty Excellence Awards website and at the Faculty Excellence Celebration in May. Award recipients may also be recognized through other channels.
2024 Distinguished Faculty Award recipient
Dr. Rachael Pettigrew
Associate ProfessorDepartment of General Management and Human Resources
Faculty of Business and Communication Studies
Dr. Rachael Pettigrew is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of General Management and Human Resources. She joined Mount Royal in 2015.
In her two decades as a student-centred instructor, Rachael Pettigrew has crafted a multidisciplinary background that combines management, sociology, and family social sciences to explore issues related to gender in the workplace, inclusive organizational cultures, and legislated and employer policies.
In support of her nomination, one of her colleagues stated, “Rachael continually embraces new challenges to enhance the University's environment through service. Her ability to translate ideas into action and mobilize teams underscores her commitment to fostering positive change within our academic community.”
Rachael’s service engagements range from serving on the board for the Mount Royal Early Learning Centre, running International Women's Day conferences, previously serving on the Joint Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and most recently working with a team partnered with Old Sun Community College and Siksika First Nation to develop the Indigenous Business and Economic Development BBA Concentration.
Rachael’s recent SSHRC-funded research focused on gender-diverse boards and individuals' experiences, aspirations and barriers faced on the path to board work. Recent projects have explored work-life issues including fathers' parental leave use and employer adaptation to the new extended parental leave legislation, and an international collaboration comparing members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community’s access to parental leave in six countries.
Her secondary research stream explores newcomer employment. Recent projects have explored the treatment of seasonal agricultural workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she has a grant application under review for an exploration of newcomer women’s experiences as providers and accessors of childcare.
As the Chair of the Department of General Management and Human Resources in the Faculty of Business and Communications Studies, Rachael uses her education, experience, and research to better understand the University, curriculum, program design and administration from a variety of perspectives on these important issues.
Altogether, Rachael’s outstanding work has truly had a lasting impact on the Mount Royal community and far beyond.
2024 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. Samanti Kulatilake | Associate Professor, Anthropology |
| Dr. Adam Cave | Vice-Dean, Academic, Faculty of Business and Communication Studies |
| Dr. Gaye Warthe | Vice-Dean, Faculty of Health, Community and Education |
| Dr. Melanie Rathburn | Vice-Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology |
| Cari Merkley | Associate Professor & Librarian, University Library |
| Paul Jessop | Contract Faculty, Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Health, Community and Education |
| Joseph Nguyen | President, Students' Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) |
| Tala Abu Hayyaneh | Vice-President Academic, Students' Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) |
Award 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 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 non-consecutive) 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
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 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 statement
- 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 to five SPoT evaluations from the past three years
Additional documents:
- Current curriculum vitae
- Up to three letters of support
- Optional supporting documents (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 statement
- Innovation and adaptation
- Examples of innovative teaching
- Examples of peer recognition
- Examples of student impact
- Summary of three SPoT evaluations from the past three years
Additional documents:
- Current curriculum vitae
- Up to three letters of support
- Optional other supporting documents (e.g., course outlines, chair and peer evaluations etc.)
Nomination
Please carefully review the Distinguished Faculty Award eligibility and criteria, along with the following information, before submitting a nomination.
Eligibility to nominate
Nominations can be submitted by any student, faculty, staff, management or alumni of Mount Royal University.
Requirements
- All nominations must be seconded by a full-time or contract faculty member.
- 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 Vice-Provost Academic 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.
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.