Awards

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Each year, the faculty and staff of the College choose to recognize the extraordinary contributions of their colleagues to the College's research and creativity, teaching, and service missions. Recipients of the following awards represent the best traditions of scholarship, including discovery and the advancement of new knowledge; integration of knowledge across disciplines; engagement with the broader community within the University, the Hampton Roads area, the Commonwealth, and the world; and transformative teaching and learning for traditional and nontraditional students alike.

The College recognizes that each awardee's successes depend upon the inspiration, dedication and sacrifice of many others in the College. For this reason, the following awards celebrate our academic community as much as the distinguished individuals we choose to honor.

Recipients of 2024 Arts and Letters Awards

  • Sue Doviak Graduate Teaching Award in Liberal Arts — Bekah Broussard, Department of English
  • Charles O. and Elisabeth Burgess Faculty Research and Creativity Award — Katherine Hammond, Department of Communication and Theatre Arts
  • The Robert L. Stern Excellence in Teaching Award — Tracy Sohoni, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
  • Distinguished Adjunct Teaching Award — Michael Weber, Department of English
  • The Joel S. Lewis Faculty Award for Excellence in Student Mentoring — Brandi Woodell, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
  • Contributions to Interdisciplinarity Award — Annette Finley-Croswhite, Department of History
  • Staff Member of the Year Award — Tammy Allen, Department of English
  • Outstanding Service to College Award — Anne Muraoka, Director, Institute for the Humanities

Recipients of 2024 University Faculty and Administrator Awards

  • Eminent Scholar Award — Jennifer Fish, Department of Women's and Gender Studies
  • University Distinguished Teachers — Cathleen Rhodes, Department of Women's and Gender Studies; Jennifer Sloggie, Department of English
  • Doctoral Mentoring Award Winner — Vanessa Panfil, Department Sociology and Criminal Justice
  • Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, Classroom Award: Susana Avalos, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice

About the Awards

The Office of the University Registrar releases student's GPA every semester. View the most recent Arts & Letters Deans List Recipients here.

¹ÏÉñÍø has recognized graduate teaching assistants who have demonstrated exceptional instructional quality since 1996. Each year, the University selects two outstanding graduate teaching assistants - one for laboratory instruction and one for classroom instruction. The outstanding graduate teaching assistants who are selected are awarded $1,000 and they are recognized at the spring faculty recognition dinner. The College may nominate one student in each category. All of the college nominees receive recognition certificates. Calls for nominations will be sent by the Graduate School and/or the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the spring term.

Each year, one outstanding tenured faculty member will be recognized by the Office of Academic Affairs for excellence in graduate teaching. Each college may nominate two faculty members. The recipient of this award will receive $2,500 and be recognized at the Annual Faculty Recognition and Awards Ceremony in conjunction with other University -wide awards. Also the recipient's name will be prominently displayed on a plaque in a centralized location.

The Burgess Award recognizes consistent, high-quality achievement in scholarly or artistic endeavors over a period of years (rather than for a single work). The recipient will have a demonstrably national or international reputation as indicated by recognized experts in the appropriate field. The selection committee will give special consideration to work that results in creative thinking on the nature of assumptions in a given discipline; that represents creative interdisciplinary study; or that creates new forms of visual or performing art. The committee also will give special consideration to those faculty who have been at the University for a significant period of time. No person may receive the award more than once. Calls for nominations will be sent by the Graduate School and/or the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the spring term. Past Recipients >>

Students and faculty are cordially invited to nominate outstanding full-time Arts & Letters faculty for the Robert L. Stern Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The nominee shall submit the following materials as a single pdf file to the Associate Dean by March 21, 2022 to be considered for the award:

  1. A letter of nomination from a current or former student, current faculty member, or department chair, (with a copy of the letter sent to the Associate Dean's Office by Monday, February 28, 2022.)
  2. A letter of support from the nominee's department chair (unless the chair has written the nominating letter). If the nominee is the department chair, the letter of support should be from a colleague holding the rank of Associate or Full Professor.
  3. A second letter of support, preferably from a former student or former or current colleague. There should be no more than 3 letters of support, including the nomination letter.
  4. A personal statement, to include the nominee's teaching accomplishments, goals, and philosophy (for example, innovations in the classroom, special projects, extraordinary student research, web pages, use of instructional technology, etc.) not to exceed three (3) double-spaced pages.
  5. Curriculum vitae.
  6. Student evaluations (quantitative and qualitative), for all courses taught for the previous three (3) academic years of full-time teaching
  7. Course materials, including syllabi and handouts describing class projects or assignments if such descriptions are not included in the syllabi, exams, and grade distributions for all courses taught for the previous three (3) academic years of full-time teaching.
  8. A teaching log listing all the courses taught for the previous three (3) academic years of full-time teaching and the enrollments in each.

It is the nominee's responsibility to submit the requested materials by the deadline. The nominee should not submit materials not requested. Past Recipients >>

Students and faculty are cordially invited to nominate outstanding Arts & Letters faculty and faculty administrators for the Joel S. Lewis Faculty Award for Excellence in Student Mentoring.

The Lewis Award is given annually to a full-time faculty member in the College of Arts & Letters who most successfully mentors students as they plan for life after college. The mentoring may include preparing students for future graduate or professional school study, or for employment in a relevant career. Past Recipients>>

The College of Arts and Letters invites nominations for the "Outstanding Contribution to Interdisciplinarity" Award.Past Recipient>>

The purpose of this award is to recognize someone who has made a sustained contribution to interdisciplinary teaching, curriculum development, programs and / or activities. The individual must be a full-time faculty member in the College of Arts and Letters.

Faculty, chairs or directors may nominate a candidate. The letter of nomination should outline how this person has made contributions to interdisciplinarity in the areas listed above for a sustained period of time. The letter should include, not only the effort put forth by the candidate, but his / her impact to students, programs or the college or the university as a whole.

Students and faculty are invited to nominate outstanding Arts & Letters adjunct faculty for the Distinguished Adjunct Teaching Award.

The nominee will submit the following materials as a single pdf file to the Associate Dean by March 21, 2022 to be considered for the award:

  1. Letter of nomination from a current or former student, faculty member or department chair (with a copy of the letter sent to the Associate Dean's Office by Monday, February 28, 2022)
  2. A letter of support from the nominee's department chair or director (unless the chair has written the nominating letter)
  3. One additional letter of support. There should be no more than three letters of support, including the nomination letter.
  4. Curriculum vitae.
  5. A teaching log listing all the courses taught during the six most recent full semesters of teaching at ¹ÏÉñÍø.
  6. Teaching evaluations from all courses taught in the previous three years.
  7. Syllabi for all the courses taught and class handouts describing assignments not fully explained in the syllabi.
  8. Personal Statement outlining teaching accomplishments, goals, and philosophy.

It is the nominee's responsibility to submit the requested materials by the deadline. The nominee should not submit materials not requested. Past Recipients>>

The Staff Member of the Year Award shows appreciation to an employee who has given exceptional service to students, faculty, and/or staff in the College of Arts & Letters. This exceptional service might have improved customer service, avoided complaints, saved money, or created better ways to accomplish difficult tasks. The improvement or outstanding results must be documented. Specific examples are very helpful. Past Recipients>>

The Dean's Award highlights outstanding service to the College of Arts and Letters. Recipients have helped to carry out the mission of the College without regard for recognition or reward. They also embody the principles of collegiality and civility. This award can be given to acknowledge an exceptional accomplishment or to honor someone for constant and steadfast dedication to the College. Past Recipients>>

The Eminent Scholar designation has been established in order to recognize faculty members of unusual merit and service to the university. Only faculty members holding the rank of full professor at ¹ÏÉñÍø for a minimum of three years may be considered for this honor. The Eminent Scholars Committee submits recommendations to the provost and vice president for academic affairs, who make the final designation.

The designation of University Distinguished Teacher has been established in order to recognize faculty members at the University who are outstanding teachers at the undergraduate level. Only full-time non-tenure-track and non-tenured faculty members will be considered for this honor.