Faculty, academic staff and students are invited to nominate tenured faculty members for the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Award. The universitywide award, established by the Cornell University Board of Trustees in 1992, recognizes faculty who have sustained records of effective, inspiring and distinguished undergraduate teaching and who have contributed to undergraduate education.

Weiss fellows receive a $5,000-a-year award for five years and hold the title as long as they hold a professorial appointment at Cornell. Fellows can apply the award to programmatic purposes of their choosing. Faculty members are permitted to hold the title simultaneously with any other named professorship.

The Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Nomination Committee, appointed by President David Skorton, comprises Weiss fellows, emeritus faculty and three students from the undergraduate colleges. The committee solicits and recommends nominees to the president.

Nominations from faculty should include the nominator’s own letter, an additional supporting letter from a faculty member or member of the academic staff and letters of support from six undergraduate students. Student nominators should include, in addition to their own letter, one supporting letter from another student and the names and addresses of four additional students who are willing to write letters of support.

All nomination letters should make a substantial case for the nominee, addressing his or her specific contributions, including examples that demonstrate:

• making distinctive contributions to undergraduate teaching such as challenging and well-organized presentations of the subject, adaptability to the learning needs of students, innovative approaches to course materials, creation of scholarly materials for student use and availability to students outside of class;
• influencing students beyond the formal role of teacher, such as advising or mentoring individual students (or former students), advising student organizations or groups, serving on teaching and curriculum committees or informally interacting with students;
• helping students, such as aiding in case of illness or other emergency, or advising students confronted with difficult problems.

Nominations are due by March 7. More information is available on the Dean of Faculty website.