Fordham University’s Arts and Sciences Teaching Awards will be presented at the Arts and Sciences Faculty Day in early March. Student nominations for faculty members were open until Feb. 14. The nominees are selected from over 1,200 part-time and full-time members of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, including graduate students. 357 of them hold tenured positions. The program has been around for a while, however, it was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to their description page, the faculty of Arts and Sciences “are leaders in research who regularly make significant scholarly contributions and advancements in their professional fields.” Additionally, the “Visions of the Good in The Bronx” program, which began in 2021 after a $300,000 grant to Stephen Grimm, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, continues this year to provide underserved students with academic resources they may not have access to. The department is headed by Deans Maura Mast and Ann Gaylin, but the selection process is directed across all four deans. 

The undergraduate deans, Mast and Jim McCartin, send requests to all undergraduate students to suggest they make a nomination for the Arts and Sciences awards. “We included the information in recent newsletters and asked students to nominate an instructor who has made a positive difference on the student’s academic or personal experience at Fordham,” said Mast. 

Invitations were also sent to graduate students by Gaylin of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to make formal nominations. Department chairs and other faculty leaders are also invited to submit nominations.

A variety of awards are presented at the event to cover a wide variety of strengths in Arts and Sciences faculty. “The Arts and Sciences deans review all of the nominations and use that information to determine four awards: teaching excellence in the humanities, in the social sciences, in science and mathematics, and graduate teaching excellence. Generally speaking, the nominations that are written authentically and that contain powerful examples are quite strong,” said Mast when asked why the department sought student nominations. “We also look for nominations from several students for the same individual,” said Mast. “If a student is willing to take the time to nominate one of their instructors, it means that the person made a significant difference in their classroom experience,” she said. 

Mast also described how Fordham puts a particular emphasis on the value of pedagogy in the classroom, creating a culture of excellence in education. Student Educational Experiences Questionnaire (SEEQ) scores and other evaluations only tell the department so much about a professor, and they value student input and impressions, as they can respond quickly to change. 

“When we read the nominations, we are reminded of just how amazing so many of our faculty are,” said Mast. “We see how they have made a difference to students, both as teachers and as mentors.” 

Professors in the department of Arts and Sciences have made significant contributions in their field, which makes coming to the decision a challenge. 

“It can be difficult to make the decision, given the strength of the faculty and their commitment to teaching and learning,” she said. 

Students should be on the lookout for nominations from the department in the coming weeks.