Nominations for distinguished teaching award

We urge you to submit a nomination for the North Central Section Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics Award. We know that there are excellent teachers in the NCS but we need your help to nominate these people for the recognition they deserve. Even if the nominee is not selected this year, it is an honor for the individual to be nominated for this award, and the same person can be nominated again another year.

Please bring this announcement to the attention of colleagues in your departments. Self-nomination is not allowed, but anyone else may make a nomination. Eligibility and guidelines are listed below.

Nominations for the MAA-NCS Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics are due at a date which is determined each year at the fall section meeting. The Selection Committee will determine the recipient of the award from those nominated, and the awardee will be honored at the spring section meeting.

Eligibility

Nominees must:

  • Be College or University teachers who teach mathematical science courses at least half time during the academic year in either the United States or Canada. Those on approved leave (sabbatical or other) during the academic year in which they are nominated qualify if they fulfilled the requirements in the previous year.

  • Have more than seven years experience in teaching mathematical sciences.

  • Hold membership in the Mathematical Association of America.

Guidelines

Application packets should demonstrate the nominee’s excellence in at least two of the following categories:

  • Be widely recognized as extraordinary successful in their teaching *.

  • Have had influence in their teaching beyond their own institution**.

  • Foster curiosity and generate excitement about mathematics in their students.

* "teaching" is to be interpreted in its broadest sense, not necessarily limited to classroom teaching. It may include activities such as preparing students for mathematical competitions at the college level, attracting students to become majors in a mathematical science or to go on to graduate school in mathematics, working with pre-service or in-service teachers, etc.

** "influence beyond . . . " can take many forms, including demonstrated lasting impact on alumni, influence on the profession through curricular revisions in college mathematics with wide-ranging impact influential publications or innovative books concerned with the teaching of college mathematics, etc.

Nominations

Nominations must be submitted on the Nomination form (link above). Please follow the instructions on that form to assure uniformity in the selection process.

(2023 Submission Information) Completed packets can be sent electronically to the chair of the committee, Megan Breit-Goodwin (Megan.Breit-Goodwin@anokaramsey.edu). Include MAA/NCS Teaching Award in the subject line. The nomination due date is February 15, 2023.

Unsuccessful nominations will be retained for ONE year for consideration by the following year’s committee. After one year, nominators wishing to re-nominate a candidate should update the nomination packet and resubmit.

National nomination

Each year, the section will nominate one person for the national MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. This nomination will be chosen from the pool of previous winners of the Section Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics Award. The nominator for that year’s Haimo Award nominee will be asked to work with the winner and the chair of the Selection committee for that year to prepare a complete application. More information about that process can be found here. The section nominee will be notified after the spring section meeting and the Haimo Award nomination packet is due March 1st the following year.

Avoiding Implicit Bias: Guidelines for MAA Selection Committees (August 2011) (pdf)

The selection committee for the Distinguished College or University Teaching Award is comprised of the Section's Past-President, Member-at-Large in their last term and the two most recent Award winners, other than the Past-President.