Student Assembly

As discussed Thursday, 1 March 2007.

Detailed Plan for the Students’ List

The Students’ List will be created to recognize professors who receive outstanding feedback on course evaluations. The end of every course evaluation will include the question, “Do you nominate this professor for a teaching award?” Professors must be evaluated by at least 50% of their students and receive at least a 90% “yes” response from those students who complete the course evaluation to qualify for recognition on the Students’ List. Professors must teach at least one course with at least 20 students to automatically qualify for this award; however, professors who do not teach any courses with over 20 students may still qualify for this award as long as they receive a nomination letter from a student.

Those professors who receive 95% “yes” responses will qualify for the Distinguished Students’ List. Because narrative feedback is sometimes more important than a single percentage, the recipients of the Distinguished Students’ List will be determined by both quantitative and qualitative criteria. A committee consisting of two undergraduate students from each year, two graduate students, both student-elected trustees, and two young alumni will review course evaluations and recommendation letters for those professors who qualify for the Distinguished Students’ List. The committee will determine the recipients in open-session meetings and will submit a report explaining their decisions to ensure transparency in the award process. The undergraduate members of the committee will be chosen by the Vice President of Internal Operations for the Student Assembly based on responses from the Undergraduate Application for Assemblies’ Committees. The graduate members of the committee will be chosen by the GPSA, while the young alumni will be chosen through a self-nomination process. One professor from the Hotel, ILR, Human Ecology, and Architecture schools, two professors from the Engineering and Agriculture and Life Sciences schools, and three professors from the Arts and Sciences school will be honored with this award each year.

In addition to the Students’ List, other prizes based on specific criteria and expectations that are important for students may be granted. For example, a young faculty member may receive the Distinguished Young Teacher award if they show significant progress in student evaluations for a number of years or if they listen to students’ feedback in the middle of a course to improve his/her teaching. Significant progress may be measured by a 20% increase in “yes” responses or a 1 point increase on course evaluations if such data is released to the committee. The committee established to determine the recipients of the Distinguished Students’ List will also determine if any such awards are appropriate for that year.

The Students’ List will be announced at the end of the academic year during a reception held by the Dean of Students’ Office, the Student Assembly, and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. The names of all professors on the Students’ List will appear in The Cornell Daily Sun, and the names of all professors on the Distinguished Students’ List will be inscribed on a plaque permanently displayed in Willard Straight Hall. No money necessary for the creation of this award will be collected through tuition, student fees, the Student Assembly budget, or the GPSA budget; all money will come from alumni donations.

A professor may receive the honor of appearing on the Students’ List as many times as he or she qualifies. However, those professors who have not previously been recognized on the Distinguished Students’ List will be given preference for this award.