Teaching and Learning Awards
The University fosters and acknowledges excellence in its teaching and learning environments by recognising and rewarding its academic and general staff through annual award programs.
There are a number of awards and grants available to staff for recognition and promotion of excellence in teaching and learning. These awards and grants play an important role in supporting innovation in teaching practice, as well as rewarding best practice.
EAIT Teaching and Learning Awards
The EAIT Teaching and Learning Awards recognise and reward individuals or small teams for their Teaching and Learning Excellence and/or making a significant contribution to Excellence in Student Learning.
The conferring of these awards is based on the following set of EAIT Award Principles:
- Excellence: the awards should reflect the high level of teaching undertaken and expected in EAIT.
- Inclusivity: EAIT has a very diverse range of people who are excellent T&L contributors and who should be recognised and celebrated.
- Low participation cost: many award processes feel immense with prohibitive workload requirements so in EAIT we want the nomination process to be as easy as possible.
- Connectivity: EAIT T&L awards should be connected to School, UQ and external awards programs to support our staff to be recognised at all levels and enhance our outcomes in future competitive awards.
- Supportive: applicants or nominees should feel supported through the process and view it as a valuable experience.
- Transparency: the criteria and standards for receiving an award should be clear and the process for selecting award recipients must be unambiguous and seen to be without conflict of interest.
- High value: EAIT should receive value from its investment in the awards and the process should facilitate raising the profile of teaching in the faculty and the dissemination of excellent practices.
EAIT offers two types of awards - Teaching and Learning Excellence Awards (TaLEA) and Citations for Excellence in Student Learning (CEiSL). Successful recipients (either the individual or the team) of a TaLEA receive $5,000 while recipients of a CEiSL receive $1,000.
Assessment Criteria
Applications for either of the awards are assessed against the assessment criteria outlined in the Information for Applicants document. It is acknowledged that in keeping with the ‘Connectivity’ principle above, much of the information has been adapted from the information contained in documentation detailing the application processes for UQ and national T&L awards.
Nominations
Nominations can be made by any EAIT staff member but applications should be completed by the individual/team being nominated, and must be supported by their School's Director of Teaching and Learning and Head of School. EAIT staff members who would like to nominate a colleague for an award should send them a one-page nomination letter and encourage them to complete an application. EAIT staff members may also self-nominate for an EAIT Teaching and Learning Award.
Applicants should arrange for their Director, Teaching and Learning and their Head of School to endorse the application prior to the closing date.
The Director and Head of School may choose to endorse and submit the application by email in lieu of a signature.
All staff involved in the delivery of teaching and learning, including tutors and professional staff, are eligible for consideration for an Award.
Winners of an Award are encouraged to submit an application for the University Awards in the following year if they have not already done so.
Submission of Application
Applications for 2023 awards must be submitted on the appropriate nomination form (see below) to:
f.mearns@uq.edu.au by 5pm Thursday 26 October 2023.
Forms
2023 Award Winners
Australian Awards for University Teaching:
- Professor Steven Kenway (Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology), Dr Paola Leardini (School of Architecture, Design and Planning), Associate Professor Ilje Pikaar (School of Civil Engineering), Associate Professor Brian McIntosh (Griffith University and formerly the International Water Centre), Dr Mojtava Moraveh (Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology), Ms Cathryn Chatburn (School of Architecture, Design and Planning), and Ms Diana Navarro (Brisbane City Council and formerly the Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology) - The Urban Design Challenge
Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
EAIT Teaching and Learning Excellence Awards:
- Dr Paul Vrbik, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Dr Chamith Wijenayake, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
EAIT Commendation for Teaching and Learning Excellence:
- Associate Professor Tom Rufford, School of Chemical Engineering
EAIT Citations for Excellence in Student Learning:
- Dr Travis Mitchell, School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering
- Associate Professor Zuduo Zheng, School of Civil Engineering
EAIT Commendations for Excellence in Student Learning:
- Associate Professor Adrian Oehmen, School of Chemical Engineering
- Dr Jeffrey Venezuela, School of Mechanical an Mining Engineering