Course Hero, Woodrow Wilson Foundation Announce New Round Of Higher Ed Teaching Awards

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Course Hero and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation have issued a call for nominations for their awards for excellence in college-level teaching, while expanding the Course Hero–Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching in its second year.

Five Fellows were named in the first round of the competition in summer 2018, with Fellows beginning their experience at Course Hero's annual Education Summit in July. Created by Course Hero and administered by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Course Hero–Woodrow Wilson Fellowships were conceived as "genius grants" for tenure-track faculty who balance scholarly excellence and outstanding undergraduate teaching practices.

"Course Hero-WW Fellows represent the best in undergraduate teaching," Course Hero CEO and Cofounder Andrew Grauer said. "The quality and commitment of our inaugural Fellows exceeded our expectations. As part of that process, we observed an unmet need to recognize and encourage those in non–tenure-track positions. We are committed to supporting excellence in teaching in all corners of higher education, and are excited to recognize both the tenure-track and non–tenure-track instructors essential to undergraduate students' success."

The newly expanded program will provide eight fellowships in the humanities/social sciences, life sciences, math/physical sciences, and business.

• Four fellowships will again be awarded to scholars working toward tenure. Each of these tenure-track Fellows will receive $30,000, including $20,000 to engage a research or teaching assistant and $10,000 toward their own research and travel.
• Four of the fellowships, offering $20,000 each, will go to instructors who are not in tenure-track positions.

Non–tenure-track faculty, by varying estimates, make up one-half to two-thirds of today's faculty workforce in higher education, and they disproportionately teach entry-level undergraduate courses. Many are deeply committed to teaching but have less access to resources and less time to prepare classes. The Course Hero–WW program expansion is intended to acknowledge such instructors' contributions to teaching excellence.

"The Woodrow Wilson Foundation is delighted to support the expansion of the Course Hero–WW Fellowship," said the Foundation's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Stephanie J. Hull. "We know that this program meets a real need: Last year, we received nearly three times as many qualified applications as we expected. Great teaching comes from many different sources, and we are enthusiastic about this broader opportunity to recognize it and to recognize non–tenure-track instructors."

Exceptional candidates for the Course Hero–WW Fellowships teach in ways that:

• Build student confidence and mastery of a subject;
• Encourage critical thinking;
• Explore foundational concepts through the lens of broader themes and global events;
• Promote the power of learning communities beyond the classroom;
• Leverage technology to complement the classroom experience;
• Consider and serve different ways of learning;
• Prepare students for lifelong learning; and
• Can serve as replicable teaching models for other educators.

For the tenure-track award, eligible candidates will be junior faculty in the program's fields of focus who have successfully completed their institutional review at the midpoint of their progress toward tenure. They will provide evidence of outstanding progress in developing a research dossier for tenure and of excellence in undergraduate teaching. Non–tenure-track candidates, working in the same fields, will be teaching at least two courses per term/semester and have three to seven years' experience in their positions.

All Fellows will be invited to engage and collaborate with Course Hero's online learning platform and its growing community of students and educators. Selectors for the program (to date) include faculty from a range of disciplines who embody both leadership in research and scholarship and excellence in teaching.

Applications for the 2019 Course Hero–WW Fellowship competition are due November 9, with selection of Fellows anticipated in April 2019. For more information on the Course Hero–WW Fellowship, please visit www.woodrow.org/fellowships/coursehero.

About Course Hero
Course Hero is an online learning platform where members can access over 20 million course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators. Find practice problems, study guides, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations for every subject students are studying—from economics to literature, biology to history, accounting to psychology, and everything in-between. Course Hero has been recognized as one of the 2017 Technology Fast 500  by Deloitte. Learn more at www.coursehero.com.

About the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
Founded in 1945, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (www.woodrow.org) identifies and develops the nation's best minds to meet its most critical challenges. The Foundation supports its Fellows as the next generation of leaders shaping American society.

Contact:
Grayling PR for Course Hero 
[email protected]

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SOURCE Course Hero