2024 Bernstein Award for Future Faculty
Eligibility
An applicant must be a doctoral candidate who has passed the comprehensive exam, is in good standing in a program based on the Lawrence campus, and is nearing the end of a graduate degree. Each applicant must have had at least two semesters with significant teaching responsibilities as a graduate student at KU. Note that the award is designed to honor a student who will graduate in calendar year 2024.
Application process
Submit a 1000-word (maximum) application. In a short introductory statement, indicate where you are in your graduate program and what your plans are after you graduate. Describe how you have been involved with teaching work within your department or more broadly. The rest of your application should focus on one course you taught at KU and address these points:
- Briefly identify the context in which you taught the course. How many times? Include year(s) and semester(s), description of students (number enrolled, lower/upper division), and how the course fits into the university and/or department curriculum.
- Describe a major learning goal you focused on for the students in that course, and why.
- What approaches and assignment(s) did you use to accomplish that goal?
- What did you learn from student performance on the assignment(s)? How did you/will you modify the course the next time it was/will be offered? (These questions are key to a successful application.)
Applications must also include a note from a faculty member who is familiar with the applicant’s teaching. The faculty member should address the applicant’s role in the course and the quality of work described in the application, rather than a testimonial. The letter should be submitted online by March 27.
Send applications to Judy Eddy at jeddy@ku.edu no later than March 27, and indicate the date that the online letter of support was submitted and the name of the faculty member who submitted it.
Members of the advisory board for the Center for Teaching Excellence will review applications and identify the award recipient by the end of April.
Recipient information
The award is funded through the KU Endowment Association. The recipient will receive a paper check from KUEA in Summer 2024. The recipient will be asked to attend the CTE Celebration of Teaching on May 3 at 3 p.m. The event will include the Bernstein Award presentation.
Questions?
Contact Judy Eddy, Center for Teaching Excellence, at jeddy@ku.edu.
About the Award
The Bernstein Award for Future Faculty was established in 2014 in honor of Dan Bernstein, who served as CTE’s director for 12 years.