Staff Awards
President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching 2023
President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching
University College Cork is committed to excellence in education and the Teaching Excellence Awards scheme at UCC is the longest-established scheme of its kind in Ireland. These awards recognise and celebrate staff who have made an outstanding contribution in the pursuit of teaching excellence, and who demonstrate innovative and creative forms of teaching, learning and assessment that enhances student learning and student outcomes. Teaching can include course design and implementation and/or research and enquiry into teaching, learning and assessment.
Excellence in teaching can be demonstrated in many ways, and there are very many examples of excellent teaching in University College Cork. A variety of criteria are used to assess excellence in teaching including ability to engage students and improve student learning, the use of innovative pedagogies and technologies, research into teaching and assessment approaches and dissemination of good practice in teaching.
The awards ceremony for 2022/2023 took place in December 2023.
The following individuals and teams were awarded for excellence in teaching at a ceremony in the Aula Maxima in UCC.
| Award | Awardee | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifetime Contribtion | Dr Frank Burke, School of Dentistry |  |
| Postgraduate Tutor/ Demonstrator | Daniel O’Callaghan, PhD, Applied Psychology |
 |
| Postgraduate Tutor/ Demonstrator | Noreen Kane, PhD, Italian |  |
| Early Career Teaching Staff (0-5 years teaching in HE) | Cathal McCarthy SL, Medicine/Pharmacology |
 |
| Early Career Teaching Staff (0-5 years teaching in HE) | Theresa O’Donovan CL, Medicine/Medical Imaging & Radiation |
 |
| Early Career Teaching Staff (0-5 years teaching in HE) | Stephen McCarthy, CL, BIS |
 |
| Established Teaching Staff (5+ years teaching in HE ) | Carol Condon CL, Nursing & Midwifery |
 |
| Established Teaching Staff (5+ years teaching in HE ) | Marie Ryan CL, Economics |
 |
| Established Teaching Staff (5+ years teaching in HE ) | Siobhán Mortell Language Teacher, German |
|
| Established Teaching Staff (5+ years teaching in HE ) | Team: (all CLs) - Dave Alton, Helen McGrath, Conor Drummond, Sean Tanner (Management & Marketing |
|
| Established Teaching Staff (5+ years teaching in HE ) | Team/pair: (SL & CL, Frank van Pelt & Gerardene Meade-Murphy, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Medicine |  |
| Established Teaching Staff (5+ years teaching in HE ) | Team: Guangbo Hao (SL), Briony Supple (SL), Alex Pentek (artist & visiting lecturer at UCC), Nico Lorenzutti (RSO) (School of Engineering SEFS and School of Education |  |
| Professional Services/Student Support/Technical Staff or equivalent |
James Northridge Manager of Inclusive UCC, ODPR |
 |
| Professional Services/Student Support/Technical Staff or equivalent | Laura Lee Learning Enhancement Project Manager, CIRTL/OVPLT |
 |
| Professional Services/Student Support/Technical Staff or equivalent | Team: Library’s Academic Technology Team – Martin O’Driscoll, Stephanie Chen, William Ruane, Declan Synott, David Hackett (Library, OVPLT) |
 |
Who can be considered for the award?
The award scheme is open to all UCC staff who teach or support teaching including academic staff, support staff, administrative staff, research staff, technical staff, postgraduate tutors and demonstrators. Staff may be nominated for an award through self-nomination or nomination by students, colleagues/peers or alumni.
Nominees who have won a President's Award for Excellence in Teaching in the last five years are not eligible. Individuals who have won a President's Award in the last five years are eligible to be nominated and to apply as a member of a team.
List of previous Teaching Award recipients
Award Categories
This year the awards are being expanded to create specific categories reflective of different career stages and the diversity of staff that support student learning. Ordinarily one recipient will be recognised from each category. The selection panel may decide to award more than one recipient in each category or not to award in a category.
The award categories are as follows:
- Postgraduate Tutor and Demonstrator
- Early-Career Teaching Staff (0-5 years teaching in Higher Education)
- Professional Services/ Student Support/ Technical Staff / Library Staff or equivalent
- Mid to Late Career Teaching Staff
- Lifetime Contribution
Individual or team nominations are welcome. For team nominations, the category choice should reflect most of the team members.
Award Criteria
- Quality of Teaching
- Curriculum Design
- Impact on Student Learning
- Collegiality/Leadership*
- Scholarly and Evidence-based approach to Teaching
*In the case of postgraduate tutors/demonstrators this can relate to the academic mentoring of students