MSU’s Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President is pleased to announce an increase in the number of university-wide teaching awards, effective immediately.

Sufficient funds are now available to make up to three John Grisham Master Teacher Awards, which was the original intent of the program. The Mississippi State University Alumni Association has agreed to fund up to two awards for Outstanding Graduate Teaching. Finally, the Donald W. Zacharias Endowment will fund three to four awards for Early Career Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching.

Criteria for these awards have not changed, and all current nominees will be considered for the available awards this year. The annual award cycle will continue, with nominations sought campus-wide in the fall semester and awards announced during the spring semester.

Recipients are selected by the University Instructional Improvement Committee, with representation from all colleges of the university and from the Holland Faculty Senate. The UIIC reports jointly to the Office of the Provost and the Holland Faculty Senate.

“Mississippi State University is blessed with an abundance of genuinely outstanding teachers among our faculty,” said MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw. “We welcome this opportunity to formally recognize more of them. While we are a nationally ranked research university, our teaching mission at all levels remains of paramount importance to us.”