Award Criteria

The following three areas will be weighed by the Pedagogy Award Committee, with the acknowledgment that equal work in all three areas is not necessarily expected. While a balance of outstanding teaching practice, influential pedagogical materials, and effective service to the field is optimal, instances may exist in which exceptional work in one of the first two areas will be considered appropriate for conferral of the award. Outlined below are guidelines rather than fixed criteria. The Award Committee will weigh the various elements, especially those involving instruction and creation of educational materials, as they deem most appropriate.


Instruction  

The nominee should demonstrate evidence of outstanding achievement in several but not necessarily all of the following areas:

• engaging student interest within the day-to-day workings of the large or small group undergraduate or graduate classroom

• designing imaginative and/or innovative assignments, lessons, lectures

• encouraging and nurturing student scholarship and/or production

• encouraging and influencing minority, deprived, or challenged students

• mentoring students effectively through thesis, dissertation, internship, or production supervision

• instructing and mentoring graduate teaching assistants in their own classroom methodology and practice

• providing educational outreach to teachers at the secondary and elementary levels in an attempt to extend film and media education beyond the university

• developing programs (courses, workshops, seminars, tutorials) to improve teaching in the field at any or all levels

• providing support for graduates and junior faculty as they become professionalized in the classroom and the field

• providing opportunities beyond the classroom for students to engage with film, television, and new media and with scholarship in those areas (fieldtrips, media clubs, film and media series, speakers series, etc.)

• extending film and media education to the larger university and the community beyond


Publication and Development of Educational Materials

The nominee should demonstrate evidence of outstanding achievement in at least one of the following areas:

 • authoring or co-authoring influential textbook(s) for use in the graduate, undergraduate, or secondary film and/or media studies classroom

• authoring or co-authoring influential books or essays on pedagogy, teaching methodology, and/or practice in the field

• creating useful CD-ROMS to aid in film and media pedagogy

• producing quality educational films, videos, or DVDs for use in the graduate, undergraduate, or secondary film and/or media studies classroom

• designing influential web-based instructional resources and/or research instruments for use in film and/or media studies


Service/Value in Cinema and Media Studies Pedagogy

The nominee should include evidence of strong contributions in several but not necessarily all of the following areas:

• leading or participating in panels or workshops devoted to film and media studies pedagogy

• developing curriculum in film and media studies locally or beyond

• designing courses in film and media studies locally or beyond

• participating in educational planning and/or policy making in the field

• serving on professional policy committees devoted to film and media pedagogy


Nominating Procedures

Because candidates for the Pedagogy Award may likely be nominated by colleagues from geographically distant institutions, the candidate herself or himself will be responsible for gathering and organizing necessary materials.

Candidates for the pedagogy award will be nominated by a member or members of the film and media studies field. The nominator must submit a completed nomination form and submit online to the SCMS office by August 1, 2010 (5pm CT).

The candidate will be asked to accept or decline the nomination. In accepting the nomination, the nominee will agree to complete a dossier and submit it first to the nominator by September 1, 2010.

On the basis of the dossier and her or his own observations, the nominator(s) will write a 3-5 page nomination statement summarizing the nominee’s accomplishments and providing a synopsis or overview of the various documents supporting those accomplishments in the areas of instruction, publication and development of educational materials, and/or service/value in cinema and media studies pedagogy, as outlined above. This statement should concisely index and elaborate upon each section of the candidate’s dossier, while also explaining how letters of support were obtained and selected. By the established deadline, this statement must be sent to the nominee who will include it within the dossier submitted to the SCMS Pedagogy Award Committee.


Nomination Deadlines

• August 1:  Nominators must submit the nomination form to the SCMS office.

• August 13:  The SCMS office will notify nominees, sending them a copy of the nomination form.

• September 1:  Nominees will accept or decline the nomination by notifying the SCMS office.

• October 1:  Nominees will submit a completed copy of the dossier to the nominator.

• October 15:  Nominators will submit a nomination statement to the nominee.

• November 1:  Nominees will submit six bound copies of the dossier, including the nomination statement, to the SCMS office.

Dossier Guidelines and Requirements

Note:  The dossier should not exceed 35 pages in length.

The nominee will submit six required number of copies of a spiral or strip bound dossier to the SCMS office by the November 1, 2010 deadline. The bound dossier should be identical to the copy submitted to the nominator with the addition of the nominator’s statement.

Dossier Contents

The dossier should be prepared especially for the SCMS Pedagogy Award. It should include, in the following order:

1. Nominee’s curriculum vitae

2. Nominee's Statement.  the nominee statement should be no more than 1000 words in length and should address the questions:  How do I teach? Why do I teach?

3. Nominator’s statement (3000 word maximum)

4. Evidence of accomplishment in instruction

                        and/or

5. Evidence of publication in the area of film and media studies and/or development of educational materials

                        and/or

6. Evidence of service/value in film and media studies

Dossier Format
Nominee’s Curriculum Vitae—The vitae should include information presented in the following order:

• educational background

• teaching positions held

• instructional  section (courses taught in the last five-ten years; when and where they were taught—please note that courses cross-listed between departments or grad./undergrad. double-listed courses should be mentioned only once, with both course numbers included if applicable; optional brief description of some or all courses, referencing anything innovative in the approach; list of awards, grants or other recognition directly related to pedagogy only)

•publication section (books/essays/materials directly connected with film and media pedagogy only)

•service section (those commitments directly related to film and media pedagogy only)

•optional  supplementary section (other significant publications, awards, grants, and service related to teaching/pedagogy only).


Nominee's Statement-see above; no more than 1000 words and should answer the questions:  How do I teach? Why do I teach?

Nominator’s Statement—see above; 3000 word maximum

Evidence of accomplishment in instruction—Following the guidelines under “Instruction” above, this section may include some but not necessarily all of the following:

• syllabi or brochures from special teaching programs and seminars
 
• descriptions of particularly successful assignments

• letters of support from department chairs or colleagues who have observed classes and/or can summarize raw data from course evaluations, specifying particular semesters and courses from which data was gathered

• letters of support from students encountered in a range of venues over the past 5 or more years

• evidence of student scholarship or production directly resulting from the nominee’s teaching or mentorship

• evidence of film/media-centered extra-curricular involvement with students

• evidence of advisorship for student theses, dissertations, internships, or productions

Please note that the substance of the above materials will be given preference over sheer quantity; student/course evaluation forms should not be included but rather referenced or summarized within letters of support.

Evidence of publication and/or development of educational materials— Following the guidelines under “Publication and Development of Educational Materials” above, this section may include some but not necessarily all of the following:

• reference to textbooks and books on pedagogy should include only a copy of the cover, title page, the table of contents page, and perhaps one chapter, rather than the entire book

• published essays or articles on pedagogy  

• reviews of books/articles/electronic or creative materials should address the pedagogical significance and/or lasting value of the work.

Evidence of service—Following the guidelines under “Service/Value” above, this section may include some but not necessarily all of the following:

• letters of support should outline and comment upon the nominee’s specific contributions in the areas of curriculum development or educational planning; as a member or chair of various committees; as a workshop chair, participant, or panelist

• samples of course or curriculum development projects

Please note that all letters of support, whether from colleagues or students, must be dated and must include the writer’s complete contact information, including address, e-mail address, and telephone number.

Especially welcome and desirable are letters of support from colleagues outside of the nominee's institution that address contributions to pedagogy in the profession, although letters from within the nominee's institution are important as well.