Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy

Application Instructions, Submission Guidelines & Selection Criteria

The purpose of the application content and process are to enable reviewers to efficiently understand and compare candidates’ accomplishments in order to select the most qualified individuals according to the specified selection criteria. Reviewers will rely, to the best of their abilities, on the information presented in the application, and NOT on candidates’ reputations or reviewers’ first-hand, personal knowledge. Because Columbia has so many outstanding educators, reviewers’ will have a difficult time only selecting 10 individuals. You will help the reviewers with this challenging task--and maximize their consideration of your own accomplishments--if you closely follow the application Instructions and submission guidelines.

Application Instructions: Your application must include the following components in this order:

1. Cover Page which includes important contact information and serves as a table of contents. It also serves as a reminder of the contents of the application. A format for the cover page is include in the Academy Portfolio Template.
2. Letter of Recommendation from your departmental Chair, division head, or dean of education, which includes a statement that you are a member in good standing with a strong reputation of ethical/professional behavior.
3. Educational Portfolio formatted according to the academy portfolio template. The portfolio must not exceed 11 pages, front and back.  In the portfolio, you will present aggregated summaries (‘bird’s eye view) of your educational contributions organized into sections* using the provided structure. Follow the guidelines for completing the portfolio.
4. Supporting Documents which help to substantiate summaries included in the portfolio. You can have up to 15 pages, front and back of supporting documents. Documents can include photocopies of original materials such as letters from peers and evaluation data. (Please summarize evaluations and other large volumes of data into tables or graphs.) For education grants or publications, include only the first page or abstract of the document.
5. Your CV. Reviewers will use your CV to further verify summaries in the portfolio and to place your educational contributions into the context of your overall academic work.
   
   (Please note, that only two reviewers will see the supporting documents and the CV. The majority of the reviewers will rely on the aggregated summaries in the educational portfolio to understand and compare candidates’ contributions. Consequently, it is important that these summaries must be clear, concise, and able to ‘stand alone.’)

Submission Guidelines

1. Submit three (3) copies of your application, in the order specified above, by the submission deadline.
2. Copies of the portfolio, supporting materials, and CV should be front and back, with each component starting on a new page.
3. Please use clips. Do not use staples or three ring binders.
4. Hand deliver the application to TJ Garrett’s office, Black Building 1516 by 5:00 on the day of the deadline. 

Selection Criteria

Reviewers will use the following selection criteria, adapted from recently published national guidelines for documenting and recognizing educational contributions: ¹

Quantity and quality of teaching (This accounts for approximately 50% of the panel’s rankings and is equally divided between quantity and quality.) The review panel will rank candidates according to the overall amount and degree of excellence of their teaching and evaluation contributions. The panel will emphasize work done in the past 4-5 years. The academy specifically seeks faculty with active teaching loads, who bring forward evidence of exceptional quality.

Quantity and quality of other contributions to the education missions of CUMC member schools (This accounts for approximately 30% of the panel’s rankings and is also equally divided between quantity and quality.) The review panel will further distinguish and rank candidates according to the scope of their contributions in one or more of the other four categories, again with an emphasize on work done in the past 4-5 years. The academy specifically seeks faculty who are not only excellent teachers, but who have had a sustained and exceptional influence in at least one other area.

Degree to which contributions meet nationally accepted criteria of scholarship (This accounts for approximately 20% of the panel’s rankings.) The review panel will make final selection decisions, by adding preference to candidates to the degree to which their contributions adhere to the following six attributes of scholarship:

1. Clear goals
2. Adequate preparation
3. Use of effective methods
4. Obtainment of meaningful results
5. Effective dissemination of results to meaningful communities of educators (local, regional, national)
6. Reflective critique

Recommendation from a department chair, division head, or dean of education. The review panel will use the letter of recommendation to confirm that each selected candidates is a “good citizen” of the CUMC community with a solid reputation of ethical/professional behavior.

To be eligible for review, individuals must have a Columbia uni

¹ Simpson D, Fincher RM, Hafler JP, Irby DM, Richards BF, Rosenfeld GC, Vigggiano TR. Advancing educators and education by defining the components and evidence of educational scholarship. Medical Education 2007; 41: 1002–1009,  2007.