Objective
Experience within faculties shows that teaching awards are seen as less important than prizes won for research. This attitude needs to be counteracted by means of transparent and unambiguous procedures and the use of strategies to increase their internal and external impact. University-wide, uniform frameworks for awarding teaching awards and publicity are essential.
New teaching award procedure
The Senate of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Teaching Award worth €1,000 has been available on a rotating basis to the various university faculties since 2009.
The winners are selected autonomously by their faculties. The evaluations undertaken by the Center for Quality Assurance and Development every three semesters could be used as a basis for selecting the award winners. Since it is not intended to undertake comprehensive evaluations of all subjects in future, we recommend the use of a two-stage procedure starting in the winter semester 2011/2012:
- The first stage involves the nomination of the lecturers eligible for the award by faculties and student councils. No faculty should nominate more than four lecturers for the teaching award. In other procedures, it has been found advisable to have lecturers nominated by the student representatives of the student council as well as by the faculty council.
- Subsequently, the courses taught by the teaching award nominees are to be assessed by the Center for Quality Assurance and Development. This means that it is necessary for the nominated members of the teaching staff to offer courses in the semester in question. The award is still to be assigned in a three-semester frequency:
| faculties | semester |
| 02: Social Sciences, Media, and Sports | winter semester 09/10, summer semester 11 |
| 06: Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies | winter semester 09/10, summer semester 11 |
| 08: Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science | winter semester 09/10, summer semester 11 |
| 03: Law, Management and Economics | summer semester 10, winter semester 11/12 |
| 09: Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Geosciences | summer semester 10, winter semester 11/12 |
| 10: Biology | summer semester 10, winter semester 11/12 |
| 01: Catholic Theology and Protestant Theology | winter semester 10/11, summer semester 12 |
| 04: Medicine | winter semester 10/11, summer semester 12 |
| 05: Philosophy and Philology | winter semester 10/11, summer semester 12 |
| 07: History and Cultural Studies | winter semester 10/11, summer semester 12 |
| 11: Mainz School of Music and Mainz Academy of Arts | winter semester 10/11, summer semester 12 |
The faculties are each sent a notification in which they are asked to submit proposals on the basis of which the subsequent evaluations would be carried out.
Two awards, each worth €1,000, are available to all members of the teaching staff of each faculty evaluated. To receive the award, the winners will need to complete the Teaching Award Payment form and send it to the Center for Quality Assurance and Development, which will arrange payment. Winners should not forget to enter their faculty’s cost center details.
The winners can freely decide how to use their prize money.
A member of the teaching staff may not be nominated for the teaching award in two consecutive competitions. It is recommenced that faculty and student councils nominate the winners of the University Teaching Award for the competition for the State Teaching Award, which employs a similar procedure. In addition to the JGU Teaching Award, the individual faculties can still present their own teaching awards.
Broad impact
The prizes will be awarded during the annual DIES LEGENDI in the presence of the university management board. The Office of Press and Public Relations will ensure that this event is appropriately promoted.