Nominations for 2005 Weiss Fellows

Nominations sought for the 2005 Weiss Presidential Fellows awards

In recognition of the importance of undergraduate teaching, the Cornell Board of Trustees established the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowships in 1992. Faculty, academic staff and junior and senior students once again are invited to nominate tenured faculty members for the 2005 awards at Cornell. Nominations are due by March 9.

Each fellowship is a universitywide award for a tenured faculty member who has a sustained record of effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students and of contributions to undergraduate education. The title Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow is a permanent designation, and recipients receive a $5,000-a-year award for five years. Fellows can apply the award to programmatic purposes of their choosing, and faculty are permitted to hold the title simultaneously with any other named professorship.

The Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Nomination Committee, appointed by President Jeffrey Lehman, 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.

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 nominators 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 that 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, availability to students outside of class;

influencing students beyond the formal role as a teacher, such as advising or mentoring individual students, advising student groups, serving on teaching and curriculum committees, 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 should be sent to the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Nominating Committee, 315 Day Hall. For further information, call 255-4843.

There have been 34 faculty members named as Weiss fellows. The 2004 recipients will be announced in an upcoming edition of the Cornell Chronicle and will be honored at a special recognition dinner March 10.

February 3, 2005