Stephen H. Weiss ’57 was the Chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees from 1989 to 1997. His leadership at Cornell, spanning four presidential transitions, was characterized by his extraordinarily high standards and intellect, a devotion to supporting the faculty and excellence in research and teaching, and a generosity of spirit that brought out the best in all who had the pleasure to work with him.

–Cornell Chronicle (April 2008)

---

Steve Weiss was a passionate Cornellian.  He loved Cornell with every fibre of his being and showed it in his constant commitment to making Cornell a better university.  Steve valued above all else the teaching of undergraduate students because he had such memorable professors and classes at Cornell.  As a direct result, Steve created the teaching award program that fittingly bears his name.  It is the premier program of its kind at Cornell, honoring inspiring professors who dedicate themselves to mentoring undergraduate students.  Steve thereby continues to uphold the values that moved Ezra Cornell to found an institution where teaching is a central ethical commitment.

-President Emeritus Hunter Rawlings

---

Steve Weiss was one of the first individuals I met when coming to Cornell.  Among his many admirable qualities was his devotion to teaching, particularly that of undergraduates.  One of the many things that makes Cornell such an excellent place is the faculty’s authentic dedication to teaching.  Not just rhetorical but actual dedication.  The Weiss Awards give us the opportunity to pause and recognize especially exemplary examples and for this, as for so many other things, I am grateful to Steve.

-President Emeritus David Skorton

These fellowships are for tenured faculty members who, in addition to being successful researchers, have a sustained record of commitment to the teaching and mentoring of undergraduate students and to undergraduate education.

The title Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow is a permanent designation. Recipients receive a $7,000 a year award, for five years, 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. Up to four awards will be given annually.

List of Recipients

These fellowships are for tenured associate professors who, in addition to being successful early-career researchers, have a sustained record of commitment to the teaching and mentoring of undergraduate students and to undergraduate education.

The title Stephen H. Weiss Junior Fellow may be used during the five-year term of the award. Recipients receive a $4,000 per year award for five years as long as they continue to hold a professorial appointment at Cornell. Up to two awards will be given annually.

List of Recipients

These fellowships are for Senior Lecturers, Lecturers, Full and Associate Professors-of-the-Practice, Full and Associate Clinical Professors; in exceptional cases, other RTE title holders who have a sustained record of commitment to the teaching and mentoring of undergraduate students and to undergraduate education.

The title Stephen H. Weiss Provost Teaching Fellow is a permanent designation. Recipients receive $4,000 per year for five years as long as they continue to hold a professional appointment at Cornell. Up to two awards will be given annually.

List of Recipients

Nominations and Nominators

The nominator can be any member of the Cornell Community but is typically a member of the faculty. The nominator is the individual who submits the dossier. The dossier is a pdf whose structure and content is given below.

An intend-to-nominate email that specifies the nominee’s department and title must be sent to weissawards@cornell.edu (copy nominee’s college associate dean) by the first Tuesday in March. It should briefly mention in a few sentences the key aspects of the faculty member’s activities that make them a strong candidate for a Weiss teaching award.

A student or staff member who wishes to serve as a nominator is advised to contact the chair of the candidate’s academic unit. Because of the data-gathering work involved, the recommended arrangement is to have a departmental colleague of the nominee oversee the submission because that person can more readily tap into administrative support.

Previously declined nominations can be resubmitted, updated as appropriate.

The Dossier

The dossier consists of a single pdf file that includes a cover page that identifies  the nominee and the nominator, a table of contents, and the following content:

The Letters

Three separate letters from faculty or staff with knowledge of the nominee’s skill in and outside the classroom. Letters that are put together and co-signed by groups that consist of faculty and academic support-service personnel are acceptable.  Letters included in the dossier should be determined by the department chair/associate dean and should be the most influential toward the success of the dossier.

Five separate letters from students (or former students) whom the nominee has taught or mentored as Cornell undergraduates. Letters that are put together and co-signed by groups of students are acceptable.

The nominator’s letter should be so designated and placed just after the table of contents in the dossier. Nominators are strongly encouraged to have a conversation with the nominee about their teaching so that their letter fully captures the essence of the contribution.

The Curriculum Vitae

The nominee’s curriculum vitae should include awards for teaching and other accomplishments that relate to undergraduate education.

A List of Courses Taught

The list should include all courses taught at Cornell by the nominee during the past ten years. Course number, course title, semester taught, and approximate enrollment should be included. Courses that were co-taught should be so indicated.

The Documentation of Teaching

The following documentation must be provided for each undergraduate course taught at Cornell by the nominee during the  past five years:

(a) Enough information to understand what the course was about and what was required of the student, e.g., weekly homework, papers, projects, portfolios, presentations, exams, etc. Detailed syllabi, copies of key assignment write-ups are acceptable as are links to webpages that include the same.

(b) All written comments that are part of the course evaluation process must be reported. The “cherry picking” of favorable evaluations is not  allowed. If numerical scores are part of the evaluation, then it  must be possible to get a sense of their value either through raw data or through summary statistics or both. The course evaluation response fraction must also be reported, e.g., “50/60” meaning that there were sixty students in the class and fifty submitted a course evaluation.

Remarkable levels of learning can result through a combination of challenging and engaging curricular materials and instructional styles that are broadly inclusive and motivating. Faculty can mentor  through great teaching and can teach through great mentoring.

Excellence in undergraduate education is not necessarily correlated with the highest teaching evaluation scores or the largest growth in course enrollments although both of these metrics matter.

There are many venues for teaching excellence: the laboratory, the seminar, the large lecture, the design studio, the small section, the field study, etc. Likewise, there are many manifestations of teaching excellence. The following randomly ordered list communicates the importance of thinking broadly when  it comes to teaching excellence. In other words, here  are some things that might apply to a faculty member’s record of undergraduate teaching. The list is NOT intended to be a sequence of do-or-die checkboxes.

• develops challenging and well-organized presentations of course material.
• teaches in a way that transcends cultural boundaries.
• makes effective use of new active learning strategies.
• improves learning outcomes through the use of new  technologies.
• develops novel  course infrastructure  that can be used later on by colleagues.
• teaches students how to think critically, act ethically, and write effectively.
• mentors at-risk students, improving their retention and performance.
• creates scholarly materials that are available to students outside of class, e.g., textbooks, online notes, videos.
• plays a strong leadership role in the development of curricula and their implementation at the national level or at Cornell.
• communicates research ideas at the undergraduate level.
• engages students in their classes who come from “far away” disciplines.
• inspires and empowers students to pursue additional study in a subject, integrating curricula so that students are exceptionally well prepared for subsequent coursework or an undergraduate major or graduate school.
• helps undergraduates who are facing challenges outside the classroom so that they succeed academically.
• mentors student organizations and groups that contribute positively to the academic environment and the overall undergraduate experience.
• develops a passion in students for problem-solving, laboratory work, and/or field work, and for engaging in the great challenges facing their community and the world beyond.

Nominator Concerns

Should I be worried about the length of the dossier?

What about the re-submission of a past nomination?

Exactly who is eligible for the Provost Teaching Fellowship Award?

How do I know whether I should nominate an associate professor for the Presidential Award or for the Junior Award?

How are the numerical course evaluation scores “weighted” by the Selection Committee?

Do nominees who teach small courses have a chance?

If a course is taught multiple times in the last five years, is it necessary to repeat detailed descriptions of its content and the underlying methodology?

How can the quality of the nominee’s work in a given course be best communicated?

Is it important for the nominee to a have a distinguished track record in a single course rather than in multiple courses?

Is it OK to provide links in the dossier to webpages that provide additional information about the accomplishments of the nominee?

What level of detail is appropriate for the curriculum vitae?

Eligibility

Can a junior fellow be nominated for a presidential award later in their career?

Engaging the Nominee

Why is the nominator encouraged to have a conversation about teaching with the nominee?

How might the nominator-nominee conversation be structured?

Letter-Writer Concerns

What makes a support letter strong?

Explain how I can put together a letter of support from a group?