Distinguished Teaching Awards

The Tuscarawas County University Foundation each year presents a Distinguished Teaching Award (DTA) to one (1) full-time and one (1) part-time member of the Tuscarawas Campus faculty.  The awards emphasize the importance placed on excellence in instruction at Kent State Tuscarawas.  Finalists will have their pictures posted inside the front entry of Founders Hall during the voting period and preceding the Awards Presentation.  Winners receive a plaque and a monetary stipend provided by the Foundation. The awards are presented at the annual spring awards ceremony.

For purposes of the award, a “distinguished teacher” is defined as one who possesses a comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter, organizes and presents the subject matter effectively, stimulates thinking, develops understanding, demonstrates resourcefulness and arouses interest.

Nominations for the DTA will be solicited by the DTA Committee from September through the beginning of March.  A committee of faculty, administrators, staff, students, and Foundation members will then meet to review all nominations and, based upon the criteria outlined in the preceding paragraph, determine the finalists for the award.  Nominees who become finalists for the DTA are then notified, and the committee will further evaluate the finalists and determine the recipients.  Possible finalist evaluation techniques used by the committee may include, but are not limited to, interview(s) with the person(s) making the nomination, a review of past student evaluation forms, short essay evaluation forms to be filled out by a current class or classes, peer reviews/interviews with members of the candidate’s department, and classroom observations by the committee.  A finalist always has the option to withdraw his/her name from further consideration for the DTA.

After receiving the DTA, recipients are expected to serve on the DTA selection committee for the next three (3) years and chair this committee during their second year.