The President's Distinguished Senior Lecturer and Lecturer Awards, presented annually, honor and recognize the distinguished accomplishments of faculty who hold the rank of Senior Lecturer or Lecturer for their outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service. The recipients will receive a taxable cash award of $1,000. Names are displayed on a plaque on the third floor of the Waterman Building.
The AY 2022-2023 award recipient is:
• Senior Lecturer Priyantha Wijesinghe, Ph.D., Director of Curricular Enrichment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
Priyantha Wijesinghe is recognized as an innovator in the classroom. Her courses integrate varied approaches, including laboratory, analytical, computational, and writing-intensive work. She also employs active learning and project-based learning in the classroom and is a leader on campus in the scholarship on teaching and learning in engineering education. Wijesinghe has a dedicated focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and was instrumental in guiding faculty in CEMS through the transition to remote teaching during COVID. She serves as co-principal investigator on two large grant applications to the National Science Foundation.
Eligibility/Criteria
All full-time faculty with a minimum of three years or more in the rank of Senior Lecturer or Lecturer are eligible for consideration. Eligible faculty may be nominated by a dean, department chair, or faculty within the academic discipline of the nominee.
The Award (one each to a Senior Lecturer and one to a Lecturer) will be made annually. The criteria include the following:
- Demonstrated record of exemplary contributions (innovation, creativity, productivity, impact, success, scholarly output) as a teacher-scholar at the University of Vermont;
- Demonstrated record as a leader, role model, innovator in activities that promote or enhance teaching effectiveness, new pedagogy, and/or curricular reform or development;
- Demonstrated record of excellence in teaching;
- Notable achievement(s) in teaching or scholarship, recognized beyond the University, that bring recognition to the department, program, college or school;
- Demonstrated commitment to inclusive excellence and to advancing the University’s diversity goals; and
- Record of scholarship/research/creative arts dissemination as evidenced by peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings papers, presentations at national conferences, invited talks, books, and creative activities (e.g., exhibitions, screenings). *Note that the scholarship is often not part of the workload for lecturers. A record of scholarship should only be considered in cases where it is part of a faculty member’s workload.
Awards Evaluation Rubric (pdf)
Nomination Process
Faculty, staff and students may nominate faculty members for the President’s Distinguished Senior Lecturer and Lecturer Awards. Faculty members may self-nominate. Nominations are due by February 1st every year, and must include the following:
- Letter of nomination from the faculty member’s department chair, associate dean or program director;
- Letter of support from the faculty member’s dean;
- Up to three internal letters of support from faculty members at UVM including one from outside the nominee’s home department; and
- Nominee’s current CV.
- Optional supporting materials (up to three abstracts or papers, or other evidence of creative scholarship).
Nomination material should be submitted with the "President’s Distinguished Senior Lecturer Award Nomination", or "President’s Distinguished Lecturer Award Nomination" as the file name no later than 11:59 PM on February 1st.
Award Committee
The Committee is made up of one tenured or senior lecturer faculty member appointed by the dean from each of the eight degree granting colleges or schools and the University Libraries, and two faculty members appointed by the President of the Faculty Senate, each serving for a three-year staggered term and eligible for reappointment for a second term. The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs appoints the Chair of the Committee. The Committee recommends candidates for the award to the President. The President will make the final decision regarding award recipients.
Award Review Committee 2023-2026
Review Committee Chair: Professor Dianna (Annie) Murray-Close, Department of Psychological Science, College of Arts and Science, and a recipient of the 2018 George V. Kidder Outstanding Faculty Award and the AY2018-2019 Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award.
Review Committee Members:
- Karen Benway, Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences; AY2021-2022 PD Senior Lecturer Award recipient
- Kelly Hamshaw, Senior Lecturer, Department of Community Development & Applied Economics, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences; AY2020-2021 PD Senior Lecturer Award recipient
- Laura May-Collado, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences; AY2019-2020 PD Lecturer Award recipient
- Walter Poleman, Senior Lecturer, Natural Resources Program, Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources; AY2017-2018 PD Senior Lecturer Award recipient
- Thomas Chittenden, Senior Lecturer, Grossman School of Business; AY2016-2017 PD Lecturer Award recipient
- Jacqueline Weinstock, Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Human Development & Family Science, College of Education & Social Services; Named Award: 2001 Jackie Weinstock Service Award, LGBTQA Services; a recipient of the (2002, 2005) Faculty Leadership Award, LGBTQA Services of the Diversity and Equity Unit at UVM; and 2005 Pride Center (Then R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center) Volunteer of the Year Award
Selection Timeline
- December 1, annually: Call for nominations opens.
- February 1, annually: Nominations due.
- February 1 - March 30: Nomination reviewed by Awards Committee.
- April 1: Awards Committee submits list of finalists to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Jokech@uvm.edu. Copy submissions to Jennifer Diaz (she/her) at Jennifer.Diaz@uvm.edu.
- May 1: The President announces award recipients.
For more information
Contact Jennifer Diaz (she/her) at Jennifer.Diaz@uvm.edu