Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching
The Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching is RIT’s highest honor for tenured faculty. Annually, it recognizes up to four faculty members who excel at teaching and enhancing student learning.
This prestigious award is named after the late M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart. Eisenhart, a former president and board chairman of Bausch & Lomb Inc., was a member of RIT’s Board of Trustees for more than 50 years. His contributions to RIT during that span were countless, and he was the recipient of the RIT Founders Awards in 1971. His commitment to RIT was further evidenced by his generous bequest that created the M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart Endowment Fund, which provides permanence to the Eisenhart Awards for Outstanding Teaching as well as a major scholarship fund.
Eligibility
The candidate must be a full-time faculty member of the university and have completed at least seven years as a full-time tenure and/or tenure-track faculty member at RIT by June 30 of the year in which the award is given. The seven years of teaching do not have to be contiguous and can be interrupted by service such as department head or by official leave.
The nominee must be a full-time faculty member for all of the year in which the award is given and will not be on official leave for any of this period.
The primary responsibility of the nominee, demonstrated by the teaching assignments of the nominee, shall be teaching RIT students. Primary responsibility is defined as at least nine courses for the past three years and three courses in the year of evaluation, as principal instructor in formal RIT courses (classroom, lab, studio, online).
Faculty with administrative titles are not eligible for this award.
The candidate shall not have been a recipient of the award in the preceding seven years.
Nomination committee members are not eligible in the years in which they serve, but they may resign if recommended for evaluation. Members will be replaced as outlined in the Organization and Selection of Nomination Committees section of policy E12.1.
The coordinator of the Eisenhart Awards shall not be eligible but may resign if recommended for evaluation. In the event of a resignation, the chair of the Academic Senate shall submit another name to Academic Senate for approval as coordinator of the Eisenhart Awards. In the interim period, the chair of the Academic Senate shall serve as coordinator.
Criteria
To determine teaching excellence, each nomination committee thoroughly investigates and establishes that:
- The candidate has clearly and unequivocally demonstrated superior teaching methods and has made significant contributions toward the betterment of RIT students’ educational, vocational and professional development. The superiority of each candidate shall have been thoroughly proven through documented evaluation, including endorsements by peers in the field of specialization, student evaluation, and classroom observation by the Nomination Committee members.
- The candidate has demonstrated excellent knowledge of the discipline(s) taught.
- The candidate has maintained the currency of material presented and general knowledge of subject matter through such means as: research, publications, conferences, professional communications, and contacts with fellow scholars or centers of research and study, seminars abroad or at home, or projects of scientific, artistic or professional interest to RIT’s students and faculty.
- The candidate has made a distinct difference in the teaching climate of the college in such areas as: model classroom teaching, campus leadership, pioneering teaching methodology, creative course development, and/or instructional support.
- The candidate has been involved with and served the RIT community as a whole.
Nomination Process
For more information about the nomination process, go to section E12.1 of RIT’s University Policies.
History
Teaching excellence has been formally recognized at RIT since 1965 when the Awards for Outstanding Teaching and their accompanying ceremony were established. The scope of the awards program was broadened in 1967 to include Distinguished Young Teachers. The program was further expanded in 1975 to better recognize the diversity of RIT’s education by providing a maximum of four awards to faculty members from various educational disciplines.
Although the program has changed, the reasons behind the awards have not: to encourage the professional growth and development of RIT faculty and to specifically recognize those members of the academic body who contribute most to enhance student learning.
The late M. Herbert Eisenhart, former president and board chairman of Bausch & Lomb Inc., was a member of RIT’s Board of Trustees for more than 50 years. His contributions to RIT during that span were countless, and he was the recipient of the RIT Founders Award in 1971.
His commitment to RIT was further evidenced by his generous bequest that created the M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart Endowment Fund, which provides permanence to the Eisenhart Awards for Outstanding Teaching as well as a major scholarship fund.