The purpose of these awards is to acknowledge and recognize outstanding graduate teaching assistants for their contributions to the teaching mission of Northern Illinois University (NIU). These awards will also help to identify individuals who may go on to be an institutional nominee for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award.
Awards
Each recipient of the award will be presented with a plaque and recognized at the Graduate Student Reception sponsored by the Graduate School at the end of the spring semester. Usually three to four awards are presented, and at least one of the awards will be presented to an outstanding graduate teaching assistant pursuing a master’s degree at NIU.
To be eligible for this award, each candidate must:
be enrolled as a graduate student in good standing at NIU during the semester the award nominations are due,
have been employed as a graduate teaching assistant for one or more semesters (excluding the semester of nomination) during the past 2 years at NIU,
have been responsible for teaching a course as the primary instructor of record or providing teaching-related support (example: leading discussions, grading, tutoring, recitation, etc.) which involved student contact as part of the graduate teaching assistant employment,
have contributed above and beyond the general expectations of the position,
have not previously received this award at NIU.
Nomination Process and Deadline
Each academic or academic support unit that employs graduate TAs for teaching and related activities is invited to nominate two (2) outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants, one at the master's level and the other at the doctoral level, from its department/school for the awards. Nominations should be submitted by the head of the academic department/school or designee; all nominations will be routed to the head of the department for approval. Nominators must complete the nomination form for each nominee by Friday, October 16, 2026.
Selection Criteria
Nominations will be evaluated by members of the Innovative Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee based on the following criteria, which are weighted equally:
Length of service as a TA (gives preference to TAs who are later in their program and may not have the opportunity to be nominated again)
Nominee has exceeded expectations in their role, relative to their specific assignment and responsibilities
Nominee has adopted sound principles of teaching, mentoring, and/or instructional design
Nominee has had an exceptional impact on students through their TA role
Nominee has mentored students outside of the classroom and/or served as a mentor or leader to their fellow TAs
Nominee has demonstrated a commitment to improving their teaching through professional development
Additional Information
For additional information, please check the Frequently Asked Questions section or contact Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at 815-753-0595 or citl@niu.edu.
The committee looks for compelling evidence that this TA has exceeded expectations in their teaching or teaching-related support. The specific criteria assessed are:
Length of service as a TA (gives preference to TAs who are later in their program and may not have the opportunity to be nominated again)
Nominee has exceeded expectations in their role, relative to their specific assignment and responsibilities
Nominee has adopted sound principles of teaching, mentoring, and/or instructional design
Nominee has had an exceptional impact on students through their TA role
Nominee has mentored students outside of the classroom and/or served as a mentor or leader to their fellow TAs
Nominee has demonstrated a commitment to improving their teaching through professional development
No, each school or department can nominate only one TA at the master's level and one TA at the doctoral level. If there are many outstanding graduate teaching assistants in several programs within the department/school, then you may want to select the best one among them and nominate that individual for that award. You may also want to consider offering your own program-level awards to recognize more individuals!
If your TA is teaching a course or providing teaching-related support for your academic program/center that is independent of an academic department or school, then you can nominate that TA as a nominee from your program/center for the award.
If your TA does not remember the TA development programs they attended through the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, you can request a list from us by emailing citl@niu.edu at least 2 working days before the nomination deadline. Your TA can also log in to our Event Registration System to view and export the list of programs they attended.
Along with providing information for all the items in the nomination form (Word) and clearly indicating that the nominee satisfies the eligibility criteria, the nomination form should provide:
A detailed explanation of nominee’s contributions to teaching above and beyond the general expectations of the TA position.
Tangible evidence to support nominee’s outstanding teaching or teaching-related support, such as summary of nominee's student evaluations, comments/testimonials from students or faculty, or sample teaching materials.
There is no word or page limit for the nomination form or attachment. Kuali will accept a single attachment, so additional evidence will need to be consolidated into a single file (steps to combine files into one PDF in Adobe Acrobat). Kuali limits attachments to 30 MB.
Award recipients will be selected and notified prior to the end of the semester. If possible, CITL works with the nominator to surprise the recipient while they are in class, during a seminar, or a department meeting. When that is not possible, recipients are notified via phone or email.