Call for 2024 Nominations Now Open!

The Dr. Geraldine Thomas Award was established in 2007 to recognize and honor Dr. Geraldine Thomas’ longstanding commitment to teaching, learning and educational leadership.

The Dr. Geraldine Thomas Educational Leadership Award recognizes innovative educational leadership practices on the part of distinguished teachers at Saint Mary’s University. This award recognizes a teacher who demonstrates a sustained commitment to educational leadership, innovative teaching practices and improving post-secondary teaching and learning, with emphasis on institutional contributions that have impact beyond their own discipline or professional role.

The award was established in 2007 by the Senate Committee on Learning and Teaching (previously the Quality of Teaching Committee) with support from the Saint Mary’s University Faculty Union (SMUFU). It is named for Dr. Geraldine Thomas who is a 3M National Teaching Fellow (1993) and founding member of the Quality of Teaching Committee. A former professor of Classics, she spent most of her academic career supporting efforts which improve teaching and learning within the University, the Atlantic region, and nationally.

Award Criteria

Individuals nominated for this award must demonstrate significant, sustained leadership among faculty colleagues in developing institutional structures and processes that extend beyond an individual's department or faculty. They must also pursue activities that help foster teaching and learning excellence at Saint Mary’s University. For example, nominees may have:

• Contributed to Saint Mary’s ongoing efforts to improve quality of instruction

• Mentored colleagues (either formally or informally) to improve their teaching

• Organized or participated actively in workshops, symposia, or conferences on university instruction

• Created innovation in teaching approaches, developing pedagogical materials, learning evaluation and / or developed a scholarly approach to teaching and learning.

• Advocate for policies, processes, structures, or resources that support teaching and learning excellence and enhanced student learning experiences.

• Leader of special teaching and learning programs or initiatives

• Chair or member of committees or working groups with a teaching-related mandate of a general or disciplinary focus

• Contributor to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Award Eligibility

• The award is open to full or part-time faculty members who have completed at least five years of teaching service at Saint Mary’s.

• Chairs of departments are eligible, as are recipients of other awards for teaching.

• Previous candidates must be re-nominated. If the nomination was in the previous 18 months, simply update the originally-submitted documentation

• Previous recipients of the Educational Leadership award are not eligible for nomination. Academic administrators, such as Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Deans are also ineligible.

Nomination Process

Candidates for the award must be nominated by a currently serving faculty colleague (full or part-time) or an academic administrator. Candidates can be co-nominated by faculty colleagues (full or part-time), academic administrators, or members from the community with personal experience of the candidate’s activities. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Complete the Dr. Geraldine Thomas Educational Leadership Award Nomination Form. This should be submitted to The Studio by March 15, 2024. The complete nomination package should be submitted by March 29, 2024.

For further information, contact The Studio at studio@smu.ca.