Xavier Teacher of the Year
The Xavier University Teacher of the Year award was reimagined in 2024 to align with principles of Ignatian Pedagogy. The award is now given in two categories:
- Tenured faculty
- Senior teaching professors
Awardees will be recognized at Commencement. One awardee will be invited to speak at Honors Celebration.
Purposes for reimagining the award include:
- To provide a more transparent process for nomination that engages the full campus community
- To align the award to clear standards of excellence that support Xavier’s values and mission and account for a wider range of faculty responsibilities as educators, including what might now be “invisible labor”
- To broaden the award to include recipients from principal and participating faculty
Process
- Students, faculty and staff are invited to nominate faculty who demonstrate a commitment to the principles of Ignatian Pedagogy (see below) in their full responsibilities as educators: as instructors, advisors, and mentors to students.
- Eligible nominees in each category will be invited to submit a reflection on how they meet the criteria of the award. Applications will also include a letter of support from the nominee’s department chair or program director.
- A committee comprised of faculty from each college, an undergraduate and graduate student, will review nomination packets and make recommendations to the provost.
- Prior recipients of the Alpha Sigma Nu Teacher of the Year award are not eligible. Recipients must be full-time tenured faculty or senior teaching professors not in primarily administrative positions (i.e., they must be members of the Faculty Assembly).
Nominations will begin being accepted in January 2025 until January 31, 2025.
Ignatian Pedagogy
The five principles of Ignatian Pedagogy* are:
- Context: Instructors value the relevance of contemporary circumstances, including socio-geo-political context, for students’ learning.
- Experience: Instructors invite students’ lived experience, their diverse backgrounds and prior learning, in order to engage students’ whole selves in transformative education.
- Action: Instructors encourage students to apply their learning to meaningful action that benefits their communities and society.
- Reflection: Instructors intentionally reflect on their teaching practices and provide opportunities for students to develop reflection and discernment skills that deepen their learning.
- Evaluation: Instructors work toward magis by being attentive to feedback and engage in opportunities for professional development to enhance their teaching.
*Adapted from What is Ignatian Pedagogy, Loyola University Chicago