The University of Lethbridge Students' Union (ULSU) would like to formally recognize and honour teaching excellence at the University of Lethbridge.

The Students' Union aims to do this by introducing the Teaching Excellence Award, allowing students an avenue for nominating a professor, sessional staff member or lab instructor who has shown outstanding efforts to increase the learning experience of their students.

"The Students' Union wants to recognize those individuals at the University who have had an impact on their students' academic career," says Taz Kassam, ULSU President. "We want to encourage all undergraduate students who have had an exceptional instructor in the 2010-2011 academic year to nominate these well deserved instructors for the Teaching Excellence Award."

The award is based solely on teaching excellence and will be presented to three instructors that meet the award criteria. All undergraduate students are eligible to nominate an instructor for the honour. A student who wishes to nominate an instructor will be required to complete a letter of support outlining how the nominee has demonstrated excellence in teaching. The nomination deadline is Feb. 28, 2011.

All nominations will be handed to a selection committee consisting of, the ULSU Vice-president Academic, five members of the ULSU General Assembly, and three students-at-large. The selection committee will then conduct additional research on each candidate, and in March the committee will decide which candidates will be receiving the award.

The winners will be formally recognized on Apr. 7, 2011 as part of the ULSU Last Lecture event.

"This is the first year that the Students' Union has offered this award to honour outstanding instructors at the University, and we want to give students an opportunity to acknowledge their appreciation for the impact these individuals have on their students," says Kassam.

Students can visit www.ulsu.ca to download a nomination form and drop it off at the Students' Union Office by 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 28.

For a full look at the January issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.