2026 Teaching Excellence Award

Teaching Excellence Award Nomination Form

Teaching Excellence Award Timeline

Nomination and Application Procedures

1. A faculty member may be nominated for the award by other faculty members or an academic administrator. A faculty member may not be nominated by a relative, spouse, or significant other, or place his/her own name in for nomination.  A faculty member is ineligible for the award if he/she has received the award within the past seven years (no later than 2018).

2. Nomination forms and procedures are available through the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at each college or on the Nebraska State College System’s Teaching Excellence Award website. Dissemination of information relative to the award, including all deadlines, will be undertaken by the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA).

3. It is the responsibility of the nominator to complete the nomination process by providing the nomination materials listed below and submitting them to the academic vice president by Monday, November 3, 2025.

4. All nominations should include the following materials:

   1. An original nomination form.

   2. A 1-2 page (abridged) resume or vita that provides a concise summary of education, teaching experience, teaching awards, publications, service, and other significant contributions.  Focus on teaching; include the names of publications, articles, or books, but summarize the rest.  Only the first two pages of a longer submission will be considered.

   3. Three to four letters of support (one to two pages each) as follows:  

      • One letter must be from the nominator.

      • One letter which may come from faculty peers or the department chair.

      • One letter from the academic dean.  

      • One letter from a student who has completed at least one course with the faculty member as instructor.  If the student is the nominator, that letter is sufficient.

5. Nominees will be vetted with their respective Deans to ensure they are not currently under a Corrective Action Plan or Memo of Expectations.  If so, they will be ineligible.  The Dean’s letter of support is required for the nomination to move forward.  Final nominees will be notified of their nomination, the source, and the criteria to be met for the award by Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

6. The VPAA will forward the nomination to the Campus Review Committee, to be determined by the college president and academic vice president, by Monday, November 10, 2025. The Campus Review Committee will review the nominations and comment on each, relative to the candidates’ qualifications for the award. They will rank the candidates and recommend one as the nominee from the College. The nominations of all candidates will be forwarded to the VPAA for review and comment by Monday, January 12, 2026.

7. Upon receipt of all complete nominations from the Campus Review Committee, the academic vice president will review all nominations and comment on each, relative to the candidates’ qualifications for the award.

8. Upon completion of the review process, the academic vice president will forward to the president of the College all nominations of qualifying faculty by Monday, January 26, 2026. The president will undertake a final review of the nominations and submit one candidate from the College to the System Office for forwarding to the Academic and Personnel Committee of the board. Should the academic vice president and/or president not concur with the college committee, the recommendation will be returned to the committee for reconsideration. Each nominee will be formally notified of the status of his/her nomination following the president’s review no later than Monday, February 2, 2026, and the recipient of the college-level award will be asked to complete a personal statement for inclusion in the materials for the system-level award. 

9. Each president will submit the nominee’s name and materials to the System Office for review by the Academic and Personnel Committee by Monday, February 16, 2026. The Academics & Personnel Committee will make the final selection of the award recipient and forward that name to the Board for approval during the Board of Trustees meeting scheduled on April 9, 2026.

10. The recipient of the NSCS Teaching Excellence Award will be formally announced by the NSCS directly following the Board meeting via a press release from the System Office.

11. The award recipient will be recognized at his/her college’s Spring Commencement Ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, 2026, as both the college-level and NSCS system-level award recipient for the year.  At this time the stipend check from the Foundation Office will be presented by the representative NSCS Board member.

12. The NSCS Teaching Excellence Award recipient will be formally recognized by the NSCS Board of Trustees and Chancellor, and receive a commemorative gift, at a time and place determined by his/her college.