[bioundgrd] Fwd: Due March 12 - Call for Nominations: Goodwin Medal

[Janice Chang]

Dear faculty, undergrad and grad students,

Please see below the call for Goodwin Medal nominations for a graduate student TA award.  The department can submit one nomination to the Office of Graduate Education.  If there is interest in submitting a nomination package for a biology graduate student please let me know.  Please send nominations by Wednesday, March 12, 2025 for the department internal review.

Nomination package from departments
Departments may nominate one person. A complete nomination package includes only the following:

  1.  Up to two recommendation letters from faculty members or lecturers who oversaw the nominee’s work as a TA/IG. This letter should include:
     *   The course or courses in which the nominee and letter-writer worked together
     *   Information about the course, including
        *   The number of students in the course
        *   The typical teaching duties and responsibilities of TAs/IGs in this course
        *   How the TA/IG went above and beyond mere excellence in their role as TA/IG
     *   Explanation of context for other application materials
  2.  Up to four supporting letters from former students. These letters could be prompted by the questions
     *   How did the TA/IG enhance your experience in the class?
     *   What large or difficult concepts did the TA/IG help you to understand? What did they do to help you come to this understanding?
     *   In what ways did the TA/IG help you see the big picture about your course?

  1.  The nominee’s CV, which should include teaching experience.

If you are planning to submit a nomination please let me know in advance.  Thank you.


Sincerely,
Janice



***********************
Janice Chang | Educational Administrator | Department of Biology | MIT
rm:68-120 | ph: 617.253.7344 | jdchang at mit.edu<mailto:jdchang at mit.edu>



Begin forwarded message:

From: Kevin F O'Brien <kobrien1 at mit.edu>
Subject: Call for Nominations: Goodwin Medal
Date: January 27, 2025 at 3:57:11 PM EST

The Office of Graduate Education is soliciting nominations for this year’s Goodwin Medal for outstanding teaching by a graduate student, as part of the MIT Awards Convocation. Please note the application materials have been revised and that nominators should be sure to review the new application requirements below.

The Goodwin Medal
Each year, MIT awards the Goodwin Medal to a graduate teaching assistant (TA) or Instructor-G (IG) who has performed above and beyond the norm, and whose teaching efforts can truly be characterized as “conspicuously effective.”  Conspicuously effective TAs demonstrate some commitment to supporting student learning above and beyond excellence in typical TA tasks. Descriptions of recent outstanding teachers, who model conspicuous efficacy, can be found below under “Former Goodwin Medal Recipients<https://oge.mit.edu/community-diversity/awards-recognition/the-goodwin-medal/>”. This award was established in memory of Harry Manley Goodwin, the first dean of the graduate school at MIT, through a gift from his widow, Mary B. Goodwin, and son, Richard H. Goodwin. The award consists of an engraved bronze medal designed by Katharine Lane and a monetary gift of $7,000.

Eligibility
The award will be presented to a graduate student teacher who has established a place of distinction in teaching in the opinion of their students and the faculty of their department. The nominee must satisfy the following requirements:

  1.  Be a current graduate student who is primarily at MIT (if involved in a joint program with another university)
  2.  Must have served as a TA/IG at least twice as a graduate student and held positions that involved significant student support (e.g., teaching recitations, holding office hours, etc.).
     *   Co-teachers may be nominated jointly, but the specific contributions of each individual must be detailed (please see below). Descriptions of recent recipients (below) may provide helpful reference points for faculty and department nominators.

Nomination package from departments
Departments may nominate one person. A complete nomination package includes only the following:

  1.  Up to two recommendation letters from faculty members or lecturers who oversaw the nominee’s work as a TA/IG. This letter should include:
     *   The course or courses in which the nominee and letter-writer worked together
     *   Information about the course, including
        *   The number of students in the course
        *   The typical teaching duties and responsibilities of TAs/IGs in this course
        *   How the TA/IG went above and beyond mere excellence in their role as TA/IG
     *   Explanation of context for other application materials
  2.  Up to four supporting letters from former students. These letters could be prompted by the questions
     *   How did the TA/IG enhance your experience in the class?
     *   What large or difficult concepts did the TA/IG help you to understand? What did they do to help you come to this understanding?
     *   In what ways did the TA/IG help you see the big picture about your course?

  1.  The nominee’s CV, which should include teaching experience.

Departments should not submit any other materials. If additional materials are submitted, they will be removed before circulating them to the selection committee. Prompts for the nomination and student letters should be given based on the sub-points above.

We will collect subject evaluation reports directly and circulate them to the selection committee. Please do not include them with the nomination packages.

For more details on the Goodwin Medal, eligibility and nomination process, please visit here<https://oge.mit.edu/community-diversity/awards-recognition/the-goodwin-medal/>. On this page, you will find a list of former Goodwin Medal recipients, outlining what made their teaching efforts “conspicuously effective”. This serves as a good reference for what the selection committee is looking for in a candidate!

Nominations should be sent to the faculty head of the candidate's home department of registration, even if the candidate has taught subjects listed in other departments. The final nomination from each department is due to the Office of Graduate Education by 5 pm on Monday, March 24, 2025 (this is a hard deadline with no extensions). Nomination letters may be addressed to the Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Denzil Streete.

Final nomination packages can be submitted through the Google Form here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtuGE-Fs6xj79X49ZVx8V6P8--Awkn7ow4wvoqiSLJ51P8RQ/viewform?usp=dialog>.

Thank you for your support. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Best,
Kevin

Kevin O’Brien
Director of Graduate Fellowships

Office of Graduate Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Building 3-107k
77 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-324-7021

Check out our fellowships page<https://oge.mit.edu/fellowships/>!

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/bioundgrd/attachments/20250128/98b33407/attachment-0001.htm>