E12.7 Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching for Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Scope: Applies to Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

The Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty recognizes excellence in teaching by non-tenure-track teaching faculty members at RIT who have demonstrated a significant commitment to educating students at RIT.

1. Eligibility

   1. Candidates must be non-tenure-track faculty members at the Rochester Institute of Technology as defined in E6.0 - Policy on Faculty Rank, and in each of the three consecutive years preceding the nomination has either 1) taught at least one academic course each academic term, or 2) taught at least four courses over the span of an academic year.

   2. The candidate shall not have been a recipient of this award within the seven years preceding the nomination.

2. Selection

   1. A selection committee will be appointed by the provost and will include the provost or a dean, a department head, the chair of Faculty Senate (or a representative), a student appointed by Student Government, a staff member appointed by Staff Council, and three faculty members each with a minimum of five years teaching experience at RIT.  Appointment to the selection committee will be for a given nomination cycle.

   2. The Selection Committee will solicit nominations from faculty, staff, students and administration.

   3. Each nominee will be asked to submit a resume, a statement of teaching philosophy, student evaluations, and a recommendation from the academic department head and endorsement from the dean. The selection committee may interview finalists selected from the pool of nominees.

   4. The award recognizes excellence in teaching. The selected faculty member should have demonstrated excellence in teaching, and an ongoing devotion to enhance classroom teaching and student engagement.

   5. A maximum of two awards will be given per year contingent on funding.

The award will be presented at the event organized by the Office of the Provost to honor the recipients of the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching and other awards. The awardee will be presented with a framed certificate and a taxable cash award.

Responsible Offices:
Faculty Senate and the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.  Inquiries can be directed to:

Faculty Senate:
fsenate@rit.edu

Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs:
academicaffairs@rit.edu

Effective Date:
Approved April 22, 2010

Policy History:
Edited September 2011
Edited March 14, 2013

Edited February 10, 2025 to update the award name

Revisions approved by Faculty Senate Executive Committee on March 2, 2026 - Sections I, II.A.2, II.B 3-5 and III.