Nominate an outstanding instructor for the OUSA Teaching Excellence Award.
Ask your peers to submit their nomination.
Celebrate those who make learning an unforgettable journey.

Congratulations to this year’s Recipient, Dr. Josh D. Neufeld.

Nominations

Is there a teacher who has inspired you this term? Check out the criteria below and complete the nomination form to celebrate great teaching at the University of Waterloo.

The nomination deadline is the third Friday in February. The winners are announced at the March meeting of the Senate and awards will be presented at the Annual President’s Reception for Excellence in Teaching and Research in April.

Criteria

The following three categories are considered during the selection process for the OUSA Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award:

The delivery of course content and presentation of material is engaging and useful to the student. This can include anything from excelling in a traditional lecture style, to incorporating discussions for a seminar-format class, to the use of innovative and unique technologies for presenting material to students in an engaging way.

The instructor is conscious and considerate of student well-being and is eager to aid students in ways which set them up for success. This can include being attentive to student needs and accommodations, helping students plan for future degrees or employment opportunities, or pointing students toward extra resources which will help students develop skills and excel in their personal, professional, and academic goals.

Opportunities which allow students to work with or apply course materials outside of the classroom are available. This includes experiential learning opportunities, field trips, participation in events and extracurricular activities which provide students with the opportunity to engage with materials outside of a lecture, lab, tutorial, etc.

Past Recipients

Awards are given the year after the teaching year is recognized. For example, the award for teaching in the year 2014 was given in 2015.

Two individuals stand on a stage in front of an "Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance" banner. The individual on the left holds a plaque for the 2023 Teaching Excellence Award, while the other is shaking hands and smiling. Several people seated at tables in the foreground take photos and applaud.

2024

Prof. Josh D. Neufeld

2023

Dr. Faisal al Faisal

2022

Dr. Kathryn S. Plaisance

2021

Dr. Tara Bissett

2020

Dr. Tara Bissett

2019

Dr. Brenda Yasie Lee

2018

Dr. Chad Wriglesworth
Dr. Norm Klassen

2017

Dr. Frankie Condon

2016

Michelle Ashburner

2015

Prof. Rohan Jayasundera

2014

Dr. Josh D. Neufeld

“My vision is best expressed in the words of bell hooks, who writes that “the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy”. This award means a lot to me, especially knowing that the initiative for the nomination came directly from my students.”

Tara Bissett, 2020 OUSA Teaching Award Winner
Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture