Nominations of tenured faculty sought for Weiss Presidential Fellows Award

Faculty, academic staff, and junior and senior students are invited to nominate tenured faculty members for the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Award. The universitywide award, established by the Cornell Board of Trustees in 1992, recognizes those faculty who have a sustained record of effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students at Cornell. Weiss Fellows receive a $5,000 a year award for five years and hold the title as long as they continue to hold a professorial appointment at Cornell. Faculty are permitted to hold the title simultaneously with any other named professorship.

The Weiss Presidential Fellows Nomination Committee, appointed by President Hunter Rawlings, is a mixture of Weiss Fellows, other faculty and three students from the undergraduate colleges. The committee is charged with soliciting and recommending nominees to the president for his final selection. Announcement of the new awards will be made at the October 2000 meeting of the board of trustees.

Nominations from faculty should include the nominator's own letter, an additional supporting letter from a faculty member or other member of the academic staff as well as letters of support from six undergraduate students. Student nomina
tors should include, in addition to their own letter, one supporting letter from another student and the names and addresses of four additional students who are willing to write letters of support. The committee will obtain any additional material required.

All nomination letters should make a substantial case for the nominee, addressing his or her specific contributions, including examples which demonstrate:

• making distinctive contributions to undergraduate teaching, such as challenging and well-organized presentations of the subject, adaptability to the learning needs of students, innovative approaches to course materials, creation of scholarly materials for student use and availability to students outside of class;

• influencing students beyond the formal role as a teacher, such as advising or mentoring individual students, advising student organizations or groups, serving on teaching and curriculum committees and informal interacting with students; and

• helping students, such as aiding in case of illness or other emergency or advising students confronted with difficult problems.

Nominations are due by March 6 and should be sent to the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Committee, 315 Day Hall. For further information, call 255-4843.