FACULTY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The Ralph A. Ciancio Award for Excellence in Teaching

The Ralph A. Ciancio Award was established in 2000 in honor of this distinguished faculty member in the English Department of Skidmore College. This annual award recognizes a faculty member at Skidmore College for excellence in teaching. The Faculty Development Committee welcomes nominations and will evaluate the qualifications of nominees on the basis of criteria such as teaching rigor, effectiveness, motivation, knowledge of subject matter and overall dynamism. Nominees must be tenured or be a writer-in-residence, artist-in-residence or a senior teaching associate with at least 5 years of teaching experience at Skidmore College. Past recipients include John Anzalone, Professor of French (2001-02); Carolyn Anderson, Professor of Theater (2002-03); Gregory Pfitzer, Professor of American Studies (2003-04); Tadahisa Kuroda, The David H. Porter Professor (2004-05); Ronald P. Seyb, Associate Professor of Government (2005-06); Penny Jolly, Professor of Art History (2006-07).

The Faculty Development Committee does not provide a special form for submitting a nomination, but would appreciate receiving from you a letter identifying the faculty member and the reasons that lead you to make your nomination. As you report the qualifications of the candidate, please speak to the following:

1. Cite evidence that demonstrates the nominee's excellence in teaching according to the guidelines set forth in the Skidmore Faculty Handbook (Part One, V "Evaluative Criteria for Continued Service").

2. Report on the nominee's exemplary performance in areas such as:

A. Developing lectures and facilitating discussion at levels, appropriate for the students' experience, knowledge, and ability to grasp material.

B. Clarifying the context and goals for the proceeding of the course and the daily classroom.

C. Stimulating and challenging students to learn, to interact with the substance of the course, and to move beyond the classroom in the acquisition of knowledge and the solution of problems.

D. Interacting with students in the classroom and in the office, encouraging curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, inviting, between faculty and students, collaborative learning and scholarship.

E. Providing teaching excellence at different levels of the curriculum (e.g. introductory classes, advanced classes...).

3. In addition to the nominating letter and teaching evaluations, each nominee for the Ciancio award should submit the following two items to FDC, to help provide as full a picture as possible of the nominee's contributions as a teacher at Skidmore:

A. A written statement from the nominee;
B. A supporting letter from a second Skidmore faculty member, different from the faculty member who submitted the original nomination.

The statement and letter should address the criteria for the Ciancio Award as outlined in the description of the award, with emphasis on information that might go unmentioned in teaching evaluations, and also on information that might more appropriately be addressed by one's peers than by one's students. For example, such information might include descriptions of contributions to teaching that may not be directly observable in the classroom, such as innovative teaching techniques, or the nominee's role in helping to shape the curriculum of one or more programs, or teaching and student mentoring other than in the traditional classroom setting.

The deadline for submitting nominations is February 5, 2007.

Please send your nomination and supporting declaration to Mark C. Hofmann, Associate Dean of the Faculty.

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