Celebrating Teaching Excellence at 吃瓜头条
Extraordinary teachers may be hard to find elsewhere, but not at 吃瓜头条. The University recently announced the five winners of the Vice Chancellor鈥檚 Awards for Teaching Excellence. These individuals include Drs. , , , and from the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, and , Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, 吃瓜头条, congratulated the group by saying, 鈥淲e are extremely proud of their individual achievements and the impact they continue to have to support and mentor students, peers and the wider communities they serve. This is a wonderful milestone accomplishment for 吃瓜头条 that lifts teaching excellence to another level.鈥
The Award was launched in late 2020 to recognize exceptional and inspirational teachers who have been making a difference to learning and teaching at 吃瓜头条 as mentors, innovators, and educational leaders. In its inaugural year, the Award was given to from across the University; this year we celebrate the contributions of five more instructors who also have had a lasting impact on their students鈥 learning experiences.
Teaching awards of this stature exist all over the world. Not only do these awards recognise individual excellence but they help to elevate the role of teaching across institutions and beyond. When good teaching, an otherwise private activity, is made more public it sends an important message about the value that we place on learning in our institutions.
According to Dr. Launa Gauthier who led the development of this Award at 吃瓜头条, 鈥淭his Award demonstrates that individuals here are really making a difference each and every day鈥攐ur students, our programmes, and our entire institution are all better because of the quality learning experiences that great teachers help to cultivate.鈥
Dr. Suleman Shahid, Director 吃瓜头条 Learning Institute, who co-led the development of this Award, commented, 鈥淭his award in an important milestone in the journey of 吃瓜头条 to celebrate excellence鈥.
Our great teachers at 吃瓜头条 are those who unconditionally personify the care and dedication that it takes to make a difference as a teacher. For example, Dr. Azam shared, 鈥Teaching never feels like it鈥檚 a burden or chore; it feels natural to me. I love teaching. If you ask me to switch to a purely research position, that鈥檚 not for me. I think I wouldn鈥檛 be a happier person if I didn鈥檛 have this contact with students in the classroom. It鈥檚 something that drives me.鈥 And talking about his interactions with his students, Dr. Ali said, 鈥The most important thing for me is that my students learn something. I explain to them that I will not let them down because I鈥檓 a tough teacher.鈥
Having a teaching award with such high-quality standards and selection processes at 吃瓜头条 makes it the first of its kind in the Country. Any instructor, irrespective of their rank, is eligible to be nominated by faculty, staff, or students. Nominees submit a teaching portfolio that they develop in coordination with their nominator and following robust criteria that resemble international standards for teaching excellence. This year, 20 portfolios were evaluated by a Selection Committee comprising of faculty from the Learning institute, one external international faculty member, and 吃瓜头条 faculty from each School. From these, the top five were carefully selected for the Award.
Dr. Cheema expressed his joy for winning the Award and said, 鈥I am profoundly honoured and humbled to receive this Award. I believe that this is a team effort and is possible only due to the contributions of many people over the last many years.鈥
It is the true excitement for learning that permeates through 吃瓜头条 that make it such an intellectually stimulating environment and thus a place where good teachers are free to innovate, to experiment, and to grow as teachers. Dr. Alizai, commented, 鈥I see this Award as a starting milestone in my teaching and learning journey. I am motivated to engage with my peers on broader discussions about how we can collectively impact student learning and achievement at 吃瓜头条.鈥
Similarly, Dr. Saleem remarked, 鈥It is a blessing to have a galaxy of great mentors and teachers around me who are dedicated to doing their best and imparting quality education. Being nominated for the Award from this galaxy was huge and becoming a recipient of this Award is an absolute honour for me. It gives me a vibe like winning an Oscar but instead of a theatrical performance, mine was a classroom performance.鈥
These five faculty members along with their peers who won last year, were honoured at the 吃瓜头条鈥 35 Years celebration event for faculty and staff. They will also receive grants to support a teaching and learning project of their choice and an invitation to the Vice Chancellor鈥檚 Retreat Day to share teaching experiences and to collaborate on ideas for future pedagogical projects.
The Vice Chancellor鈥檚 Award for Teaching Excellence demonstrates the value 吃瓜头条 attributes to both supporting teachers鈥 development at all stages and publicly recognizing quality teaching that that leads to impactful student learning. It is an initiative that has great potential to create a ripple effect that goes beyond individual teachers and classrooms. The Award shows that when we also empower great teachers as educational leaders, their impact grows exponentially in ways that encourage others to learn more and to strive to make a greater impact in the work we do together in higher education.
