Nominations are open until Friday, March 1 for Camosun College’s third annual Teacher Recognition Awards. The event, which celebrates instructional excellence, happens in April; students are encouraged to nominate instructors who have excelled in promoting student success.
Students from the Lansdowne and Interurban campuses recognized 27 teachers in the event’s first year and 28 in its next.
“I think students appreciate having their voice heard and a chance to celebrate and acknowledge teachers that they have appreciated,” says Camosun Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning education developer Martha McAlister. “Really, our goal is to really hear the student voice.”
During the first round of nominations in 2022, the organizers were unsure of what the student reception of the event would be, but after seeing the reaction they knew it was a success.
“It was such a popular activity that we decided to make it an annual thing,” says McAlister.
Camosun’s Teaching and Learning Council (CTLC), who hold the event, adjusted its nomination guidelines from their first year to better reflect the student response and make it easier for those to engage.
“We’re trying to make it really no barriers for students to be able to participate,” says McAlister.
McAlister says that these awards aren’t only valuable for students—instructors have also been very responsive.
“The words that the students submit get shared directly with the instructor,” she says. “And they have sometimes felt moved to tears. They’re extremely touched that students speak out.”
McAlister believes that this opportunity helps promote an effective way to support useful progression and nurture a positive learning environment at Camosun.
“It really boosts morale for instructors a lot,” she says. “It’s a public event… They’re getting lifted up and acknowledged by the whole college.”
The awards are non-competitive, so all instructors who are nominated and meet the nomination criteria get recognized.
“So the more people that get nominated,” says McAlister, “the better.”
Instructors were recognized in the event’s first and second years for showing tangible support efforts—such as accessible learning methods—and, especially, high levels of compassion and respect for students.
“What we’re seeing in the responses from the students is a real recognition of teachers who have gone above and beyond and really treated them as human beings and reached out and formed a really caring relationship,” says McAlister. “We hear the word ‘caring’ a lot, and ‘supportive,’ and those are the words that really mean something.”
CTLC will be sending out an online registration form to all Camosun students with instructions on how to nominate instructors. The survey requests the student’s basic information, such as name and contact information, as well as the instructor they choose to nominate and the class the student participated in. Additionally, the survey requires a 100- to 250-word description of the student’s reasons for the nomination.