Emerging SoTL Scholar

The Georgia Southern University Emerging SoTL Scholar is sponsored by the Faculty Center and recognizes Georgia Southern faculty members for their emergent contributions to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Each year a competitive selection process determines one Emerging SoTL Scholar.

Eligibility

All current full-time members of the teaching faculty and teaching academic staff at Georgia Southern University who have held a teaching position at Georgia Southern University for a minimum of two years may apply for the award. Previous recipients are not eligible to apply.

Expectation

The scholar will present a workshop on implementing insights from their SoTL research to Georgia Southern faculty and graduate student instructors in the following Fall semester. Faculty Center staff will provide support in developing the workshop.

The scholar will be encouraged to submit a presentation proposal to the SoTL Commons Conference. 

Benefits

• The scholar will receive $1,000 in professional development funds from the Faculty Center after the fulfillment of expectations.
• The scholar will receive free registration to the SoTL Commons Conference if their presentation based upon this work is accepted.

Required Documentation

Nomination portfolios are limited to 14 pages (1” margins, minimum 12-point font, spacing: 1.5 or double spaced). All materials need to be combined into a single PDF file. Portfolios that exceed 14 pages or do not meet formatting requirements will not be accepted. Each portfolio submission must include the following components:

• A Table of Contents for the portfolio. NOTE: The TOC does not count toward the maximum of 14 pages.
• A teaching philosophy statement.
• Narrative that outlines primary research questions and related goals, theories, and methods of SoTL scholarship activities (3-5 pages)
• Data/evidence of the impact of their teaching techniques/pedagogies on student learning and its potential impact on teaching and learning in the discipline. (3-5 pages)
• Condensed curriculum vitae that highlights relevant SoTL presentations, articles and/or publications. (2-3 pages)
• Optional: Copies of 1-2 representative SoTL articles, chapters, essays, etc. may be included as an appendix that will not be counted as part of the maximum page number.

Applicants must submit their application online. Portfolios that exceed 14 pages or do not meet formatting requirements will not be accepted.

Review of Applications

The review committee is composed of the SoTL Advisory Board and Faculty Center staff. The director of the Faculty Center, or a delegated member of the Faculty Center staff, will work with the committee’s chair to facilitate the review and selection process. Once the committee has reviewed all portfolios, one Emerging SoTL Scholar will be selected.

Criteria

The committee will consider the complete body of SoTL work produced by the recipient with special emphasis placed on research completed during the past three years and will look for persuasive evidence that nominees have:

• Engaged in an ongoing, systematic examination of issues about student learning and instructional conditions. (Volume of SoTL work)
• Produced high quality scholarly work, which contributes new questions and knowledge about teaching and learning. (Quality and Significance of SoTL work)
• Documented the use of strategies for investigating and evaluating the impact of teaching practice on student learning, anchored in the research literature. (Application to student learning)
• Engaged in a scholarship that is public, peer-reviewed, and critiqued. (Public dissemination

Deadline

Last updated: 4/4/2024