Regents Honor Top Faculty with $1.6 Million in Awards

By Amy Madden in 40 Acres on August 19, 2013 at 3:53 pm | No Comments

The best educators in the University of Texas System are about to get a little something extra for all their hard work.

The UT System Board of Regents will award 63 faculty members from UT’s nine academic institutions a total of nearly $1.6 million for their extraordinary classroom performance and dedication to innovation at a reception Wednesday night. Some 26 of the winners were UT-Austin faculty.

Each of the honorees, chosen for their classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development, and student learning outcomes, will receive an unrestricted check for $25,000. Among the largest in the nation for rewarding outstanding faculty performance, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards, or ROTA, are highly competitive awards that honor the best of the best.

“Our faculty members are the heart and soul of our institutions, and they are the most critical factor in student success,” says Board of Regents Chairman Gene Powell. “The Board created the ROTA program because of our respect and appreciation for these outstanding teachers, and because we want to make sure our institutions continue to be places of educational excellence.”

ROTA was established for academic institutions in 2008 and health institutions in 2012. A total of $12 million in cash has been awarded to UT System faculty members since then, including almost $1 million to 39 faculty members from the UT System’s six health institutions earlier this year.

“We are deeply grateful to the regents for their ongoing commitment to honor our very best and most dedicated faculty,” UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa says. “These awards recognize the immeasurable impact teachers have on our students, who will shape the future of our communities across Texas and the nation.”

Twenty six recipients were selected from UT-Austin. James Karboski, who will receive an award for his work in the College of Pharmacy, will speak at the Board of Regents meeting on Wednesday, where the winners will be officially announced.

“I’m very proud to be part of a university system that acknowledges the importance of teaching,” Karboski said. “Guiding my students through a new concept and seeing the look in their eyes as they grasp it is an incredible thing.”

Image courtesy roberthensley via Flickr Creative Commons.

Tags: board of regents, francisco cigarroa, gene powell, regents, Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards, ROTA, University of Texas System