Recognizing Teaching Excellence Across USask

At the University of Saskatchewan, we recognize that excellent teaching develops over time and is supported by many people working in different roles and contexts. USask’s teaching awards are organized within an institutional framework designed to recognize teaching excellence and leadership across career stages, disciplines, and contributions to student learning.

Rather than advancing a single model of excellence, this framework provides multiple pathways for recognition, enabling colleges and academic leaders to highlight the diverse ways teaching and learning are advanced across the institution.

College-Level and Institutional-Level Recognition

A foundational element of this framework is the College Outstanding Teacher recognition. Each college is encouraged to establish its own process to annually identify and recognize an outstanding teacher within their discipline or unit. This college-level recognition acknowledges disciplinary teaching excellence and provides an important foundation for broader institutional-level recognition.

USask’s institutional-level teaching awards reflect the full teaching ecosystem and provide opportunities to recognize excellence among:

• New and emerging educators (first 5 years of teaching).
• Collaborative and team-based teaching initiatives.
• Graduate students, who support student learning as teaching assistants and as instructors while developing as educators.
• Sessional instructors, whose teaching expertise and instructional leadership play a critical role in program delivery and student success.
• Professional and support staff, whose work in advising, educational technology, program coordination, and learning initiatives is integral to teaching and learning.
• Outstanding Educators, who demonstrate sustained excellence in teaching over time (five years or more).

At the highest level, the USask Distinguished Teacher Award recognizes individuals whose careers reflect ongoing leadership and excellence in teaching, with impact that extends beyond individual courses or programs.

Our institutional-level teaching awards are aligned with provincial and national standards of teaching excellence. In some cases, this alignment supports future external nominations, while maintaining the primary focus on recognizing and advancing teaching excellence at USask.

An Invitation to Academic Leaders

Deans, Associate Deans, Heads, and Directors play a critical role in advancing teaching excellence at USask. We encourage academic leaders to engage with this framework as a way to recognize teaching across the full range of roles, career stages, and contributions within their colleges, and to support nominations for both college-level and institutional-level teaching awards.

Full details about USask’s internal teaching awards, including eligibility and nomination processes are available, see Awards & Funding / USask teaching awards.

This resource is shared by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL), University of Saskatchewan, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.