2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching. That’s 30 years of recognising and rewarding teaching efforts that go above and beyond. In that time, more than 110 individuals and teams have been recognised by their peers as leaders in their field, and many winners have gone on to receive recognition on the national stage through the Australian Awards for University Teaching. Since 2018 these awards have been complimented by an additional Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation Award, recognising recent exciting and responsive innovations made to teaching that have impacted the student experience.
Teaching Awards are not about “blowing your own trumpet” (although there’s nothing necessarily wrong with this!) They serve to share with peers exciting innovations, projects, developments and achievements in university teaching, and in the process hopefully inspire and encourage others to strive. They are a statement of commitment to high standards of teaching and care for the student experience. They are also a useful source of evidence for academic promotion.
At Flinders we have a well-defined trajectory of teaching recognition, beginning at the local level with College Teaching Awards, and progressing to Vice-Chancellor’s Awards and then, for some, national teaching awards. Many College Teaching Awards – the first step – are open now.
If you’re thinking of going for promotion in the next year or two and suspect that you have been doing some pretty excellent things, inquire with your College to start your recognition journey with a College Teaching Award, and speak to Anna Smith about your interest in the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.