Provost’s Innovative Teaching Award

• Nominees must be full-time faculty as defined in E6.0 - Policy on Faculty Rank with at least one year of teaching at RIT.  (Adjuncts may be eligible for the Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty).
• Nominations will be accepted from students, alumni, faculty, and staff, and faculty may self-nominate.
• The nominee shall be a full-time faculty member for all of the year in which the award is given, and will not be on official leave for any of this period.
• The primary responsibility of the nominee, demonstrated by the teaching assignments of the nominee, shall be teaching RIT students. Primary responsibility is defined as at least three courses in the year of evaluation, as principal instructor in formal RIT courses (classroom, lab, studio, online).
• Faculty with administrative titles shall not be eligible for this award.
• Awardee will make themselves available to serve on the award committee the subsequent year.
• The candidate shall not have been a recipient of the award in the preceding three years.

Nominations for this award will be evaluated against the university’s definition and rubric of innovative teaching and learning.

The 2026-2027 Provost’s Innovative Teaching Award is now accepting nominations.

Step 1: Use the Application Template to preview the information and questions included in the nomination form. This will help you plan your submission and ensure all required materials are ready.

Step 2: All nominees will provide:

• A signed Eligibility Certification form
• A link to a 10-minute recorded video presentation describing why their teaching practice is innovative at RIT, how it aligns with the unique needs of our students, and how it connects to the award’s rubric for innovative teaching and learning. The presentation may take many forms, such as a lesson demonstration, activity summary, simulation, class recording, or a more traditional presentation highlighting the impact of your approach. We recommend using Zoom to record your video presentation.

Step 3: Understand Your Submission Path

• If you are nominating someone else: You will submit a brief nomination form, and the nominee will be contacted directly to upload the required materials. A nomination is not considered complete until the nominee submits all required documents.
• If you are self-nominating: You will upload all required materials as part of your initial online application. Self‑nominations must include all materials at the time of submission.

Step 4: Use the Online Nomination Form to complete and submit a nomination no later than Monday, October 26, 2026 11:59pm ET. To be eligible for consideration, all required materials must be submitted in full with your application. Nominations with missing or incomplete materials will not be eligible for the award.

Please email pit@rit.edu with any questions.

The award committee assesses nominees to determine if they meet eligibility requirements, then individually and collectively each candidate is ranked on how strongly they meet the stated criteria. Final candidates will be invited to an interview with the award committee. After careful deliberation, the award committee selects one recipient and provides their recommendation to the provost.

Award recipients will be honored at the RIT Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship ceremony, where they will be presented with a framed certificate and a $1,250 taxable award.

Learn more about the Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship ceremony.

2025-2026
Dean Ganskop, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

2024-2025
Marissa Tirone, College of Art and Design
Dina Newman, College of Science

2023-2024
Makini Beck, College of Liberal Arts, School of Individualized Study

2022-2023
Shaun Foster, College of Art and Design
Peter Pincus, College of Art and Design

2021-2022
Sarilyn Ivancic, Kate Gleason College of Engineering

2020-2021
Lara Cardoso Goulart, College of Art and Design

2019-2020
Linda Gottermeier, National Technical Institute for the Deaf

2018-2019
Hinda Mandell, College of Liberal Arts
Kelly Norris Martin, College of Liberal Arts

2017-2018
Nathaniel S. Barlow, College of Science

2016-2017
Elizabeth Reeves O'Connor, College of Liberal Arts

2015-2016
Brian Tomaszewski, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

2014-2015
Mario W. Gomes, Kate Gleason College of Engineering

2013-2014
Robert Garrick, College of Engineering Technology

2012-2013
Robert Teese, College of Science

2011-2012
Victor Perotti, Saunders College of Business

For more information, contact pit@rit.edu.