Each year, the Faculty Senate provides for recognition to faculty and students through the following awards programs:
Faculty Awards
Contact: Jacqueline Foertsch, chair, Faculty Awards Committee
Minnie Stevens Piper Award: Deadline Monday, October 16, 2023 - 5:00 p.m.
This prestigious award honors ten (10) professors from throughout Texas during the current academic year for their dedication to the teaching profession and superior teaching ability at the college level. Although the purpose of these awards is to provide recognition to the teaching profession, the selection committee will also consider factors such as research, publication, administration and related activities. Each award recipient will be honored with a certificate naming him/her “Piper Professor” of the year, a cash honorarium of $5,000, and a gold commemorative pin.
Under the current Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation guidelines, each institution may submit only one nomination. The Faculty Awards Committee reviews nominations and makes a recommendation to the President for approval of the selected candidate. Nominations are taken in early fall, with the official announcement of award recipients made in May each year by the Piper foundation. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Nomination Packet Requirements
Additional information from the state comptroller’s office concerning the award, please visit:
https://comptroller.texas.gov/programs/education/msp/funding/programs/ppnominationform.php
President's Council Teaching Award: Deadline Monday, November 6, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
The President's Council Teaching Award was established to recognize annually two full‑time faculty members for a record of teaching excellence at the University of North Texas over at least a five-year period. The nomination and judging period is in the fall each year, with recipients being recognized for their achievements at the “Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner and Ceremony” in the spring. Each recipient will receive a $3,000 award from the university.
Eligibility: All full-time faculty (tenured and professional faculty) are eligible, but previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination for five years following the receipt of the award. Faculty must be nominated by the Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC or LPAC) of a department, division, school or college or by any ad-hoc committee of three or more faculty members self-constituting. Administrators, including those who teach, are not eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria: The selection is based on evidence that substantiates and documents teaching excellence over at least a five-year period of time while at UNT. The Faculty Awards Committee is free to solicit additional input regarding the teaching record of any nominee. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Selection Criteria for President’s Council Teaching Award
President’s Council Teaching Award Application form
President's Council University Service Award: Deadline Monday, November 6, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
The President's Council Service Award was established to recognize annually one full‑time faculty member for a record of outstanding service at the University of North Texas over at least a five-year period. The nomination and judging period is in the fall each year, with the recipient being recognized for their achievements at the “Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner and Ceremony” in the spring. The recipient will receive a $3,000 award from the university.
Eligibility: All full-time faculty (tenured and professional faculty) and all librarians are eligible, but previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination for five years following the receipt of the award. Faculty must be nominated by the Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC or LPAC) of a department, division, school or college or by any ad-hoc committee of three or more faculty members self-constituting. Administrators, including those who teach, are not eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria: Selection is based upon evidence documenting outstanding service at the departmental and/or college and university levels over at least a five-year period of time while at UNT. The Faculty Awards Committee is free to solicit additional input regarding the service record of any nominee. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Selection Criteria for President’s Council Service Award
President’s Council University Service Award Application form
J.H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award: Deadline Monday, November 6, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
This annual award, named for UNT alumnus Joe Houston Shelton, recognizes one full-time faculty member for a record of outstanding teaching at the University of North Texas for at least a five-year period. The award recipient will receive a $1500 payment, and, like the President's Council Teaching awards and President's Council Service award, the Shelton awards process begins in the fall semester, with recognition of the recipient at the “Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner and Ceremony” in the spring.
Eligibility: All full-time faculty (tenured and professional faculty) are eligible, but previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination for five years following the receipt of the award. Faculty must be nominated by the Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC or LPAC) of a department, division, school or college or by any ad-hoc committee of three or more faculty members self-constituting. Administrators, including those who teach, are not eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria: The selection is based on evidence that substantiates and documents teaching excellence over at least a five-year period of time while at UNT. The Faculty Awards Committee is free to solicit additional input regarding the teaching record of any nominee. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Selection Criteria for J. H. Shelton Teaching Award
J. H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award Application form
Student Awards
Past TF/TA Award Recipients
Past University Writing Award Recipients
Outstanding Teaching Fellow/Teaching Assistant Awards: Deadline Friday, February 16, 2024 5:00 p.m.
Contact: Yu (Kelly) Shi, chair, TF/TA Committee
Each spring, the Faculty Senate’s Teaching Fellows/Teaching Assistants Committee selects four (4) outstanding graduate students who have served as Teaching Fellows or Teaching Assistants during the previous calendar year to receive $500 scholarships. Candidates nominated for these awards must demonstrate superior teaching and academic performance as graduate students.
For the purpose of this award, a “Teaching Fellow” is defined as any graduate student who has full responsibility for actual classroom instruction. A “Teaching Assistant” is defined as any graduate student who assists professors/instructors with their teaching responsibilities of large lecture sections.
For more information about this year’s award process, review/download the following items:
University Writing Awards: Deadline TBD (spring)
Contact: Kimberly Moreland, chair, University Writing Awards Committee
The Faculty Senate’s University Writing Committee awards scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students for outstanding written works submitted through this program. Pieces must have been written during the spring or fall semesters of the designated calendar year. Students may submit entries in more than one category, but each submission must be accompanied by a nomination form signed by a faculty member. Entries are accepted the following categories:
- Graduate Creative Writing: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
- Graduate Scholarly Writing: Argumentative or Expository
- Undergraduate Creative Writing: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
- Undergraduate Scholarly Writing: Argumentative or Expository
Two works will be selected as award recipients per writing category. Scholarship awards will be provided in the amount of $325 each for undergraduate students and $500 each for graduate students. For more information about this year’s award process, review/download the following items:
Submission Requirements
Application/Nomination Form