Each year, the Faculty Senate provides for recognition to faculty and students through the following awards programs:
Faculty Awards
President's Council Teaching Award
Spring 2020 Award Recipients
The President's Council Teaching Award was established to annually recognize two full‑time, tenured/tenure‑track faculty members for a record of teaching excellence at the University of North Texas over at least a five-year period. Each recipient will receive a $3,000 award from the university, and recipients will be recognized at the “Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner and Ceremony” in the spring for their achievements.
Eligibility: All full-time, tenured/tenure-track faculty members are eligible, but previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination for five years following the receipt of the award. Faculty must be nominated by the Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC) of a department, division, school or college or by any ad-hoc committee of three or more tenured/tenure‑track faculty members. Administrators are not eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria: The selection is based on submitted evidence that substantiates and documents teaching excellence over at least a five-year period of time while at UNT. The Faculty Awards Committee is free to solicit additional input regarding the teaching record of any nominee. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Selection Criteria for President’s Council Teaching Award
President’s Council Teaching Award Application form
President's Council Service Award
Spring 2020 Award Recipient
The President's Council Service Award was established to annually recognize one full‑time, tenured/tenure‑track faculty member for a record of outstanding university service at the University of North Texas over at least a five-year period. The recipient will receive a $3,000 award from the university, and the faculty member will be recognized at the “Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner and Ceremony” in the spring.
Eligibility: All full-time, tenured/tenure-track faculty members are eligible, but previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination for five years following the receipt of the award. Faculty must be nominated by the Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC) of a department, division, school or college or by any ad-hoc committee of three or more tenured/tenure‑track faculty members. Administrators are not eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria: Selection is based upon submitted evidence documenting outstanding university service over at least a five-year period of time while at UNT. The Faculty Awards Committee is free to solicit additional input regarding the service record of any nominee. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Selection Criteria for President’s Council Service Award
President’s Council Service Award Application form
J.H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award
Spring 2020 Award Recipient
This annual award, named for UNT alumnus Joe Houston Shelton, recognizes one full-time faculty member for a record of outstanding teaching at the University of North Texas for at least a five-year period. The award recipient will receive a $1500 payment, and, like the President's Council Teaching awards and President's Council Service award, the Shelton awards process begins in the fall semester, with recognition of the recipient at the “Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner and Ceremony” in the spring.
Eligibility: All full-time faculty members (including lecturers) are eligible, but previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination for five years following the receipt of the award. Faculty must be nominated by the Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC) of a department, division, school, or college or by any ad-hoc committee of three or more tenured/tenure-track faculty members. Administrators are not eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria: The selection is based on submitted evidence that substantiates and documents teaching excellence over at least a five-year period of time while at UNT. The Faculty Awards Committee is free to solicit additional input regarding the teaching record of any nominee. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Eligibility and Selection Criteria for J. H. Shelton Teaching Award
J. H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award Application form
Minnie Stevens Piper Award
2019-2020 Award Nominee
This prestigious award honors ten (10) professors from throughout Texas during the current academic year for their dedication to the teaching profession and superior teaching ability at the college level. Although the purpose of these awards is to provide recognition to the teaching profession, the selection committee will also consider factors such as research, publication, administration and related activities. Each award recipient will be honored with a certificate naming him/her “Piper Professor” of the year, a cash honorarium of $5,000, and a gold commemorative pin.
Under the current Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation guidelines, each institution may submit only one nomination. The Faculty Awards Committee reviews nominations and makes a recommendation to the President for approval of the selected candidate. The candidate for the award must be a full-time instructor. Nominations are taken in early fall, with the official announcement of award recipients made in May each year by the Piper foundation. For information about how to apply for this year’s award, please review the following:
Additional information from the state comptroller’s office concerning the award, please visit:
https://comptroller.texas.gov/programs/education/msp/funding/programs/ppnominationform.php
Past Faculty Award Recipients:
UNT Minnie Stevens Piper Award Nominees
J. H. Shelton Award Recipients
President's Council Teaching Award Recipients
President's Council Service Award Recipients
Student Awards
Outstanding Teaching Fellow/Teaching Assistant Awards
2020 Award Recipients
Each spring, the Faculty Senate’s Teaching Fellows/Teaching Assistants Committee selects four (4) outstanding graduate students who have served as Teaching Fellows or Teaching Assistants during the previous calendar year to receive $500 scholarships. Candidates nominated for these awards must demonstrate superior teaching and academic performance as graduate students.
For the purpose of this award, a “Teaching Fellow” is defined as any graduate student who has full responsibility for actual classroom instruction. A “Teaching Assistant” is defined as any graduate student who assists professors/instructors with their teaching responsibilities of large lecture sections.
For more information about this year’s award process, review/download the following items:
TF Nomination Form
TA Nomination Form
University Writing Awards
2020 Award Recipients
The Faculty Senate’s University Writing Committee awards scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students for outstanding written works submitted through this program. Pieces must have been written during the spring or fall semesters of the designated calendar year. Students may submit entries in more than one category, but each submission must be accompanied by a nomination form signed by a faculty member. Entries are accepted the following categories:
- Graduate Creative Writing: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
- Graduate Scholarly Writing: Argumentative or Expository
- Undergraduate Creative Writing: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
- Undergraduate Scholarly Writing: Argumentative or Expository
Two works will be selected as award recipients per writing category. Scholarship awards will be provided in the amount of $325 each for undergraduate students and $500 each for graduate students. For more information about this year’s award process, review/download the following items:
Past Student Award Recipients: