By Lin Lofley

The UT System Board of Regents has honored six faculty members at UT Southwestern Medical Center among the 60 UT System educators who received 2016 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards (ROTA).

Top educators at the UT System’s 14 institutions are recognized annually for their dedication to the more than 221,000 students they teach, and to the learning process. The 2016 honorees were recognized Aug. 24 at an awards ceremony in Austin.

The six UT Southwestern faculty members honored this year are:

• Dr. Dennis Burns, Professor of Pathology;
• Dr. Robert Haley, Professor of Internal Medicine;
• Dr. Judith Head, Adjunct Associate Professor of Cell Biology, and Obstetrics and Gynecology;
• Susan Kapp, Associate Professor of Health Care Sciences;
• Dr. Scott Smith, Assistant Dean for Research of the UT Southwestern School of Health Professions, and Professor of Health Care Sciences – Education and Research; and
• Dr. Steven Vernino, Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, and Integrative Biology.

“UT Southwestern and the students educated here are fortunate to have these outstanding teachers as members of our faculty,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of the Medical Center. “Their effectiveness in this core mission of our institution is essential, and we are delighted to see their dedication and skills recognized. We also are enormously proud that with these newest colleagues honored, fully 41 members of our faculty have now received these awards in the five years since the program was extended to include the UT Health-related institutions.”

Paul L. Foster, Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said, “UT educators provide invaluable mentorship and deliver high-quality instruction and innovation while enhancing the minds of the nation’s next leaders. Their deep commitment to outstanding education ensures student success across the System. The Board of Regents is honored to recognize our dedicated faculty members through the ROTA program.”

Honorees each received at received a check for $25,000, for a 2016 total of $1.5 million awarded. Since 2008, when the ROTA program was established, faculty members have been awarded nearly $17 million in one of the largest financial teaching awards programs in the country.

Faculty may receive ROTA consideration for their work in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the field, or online.

The Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards recognizes tenured, tenure-track as well as other instructional faculty for their outstanding teaching, mentoring and personal commitment to students and the learning process, according to UT System’s announcement of the awards.

Nominated candidates are vetted by their peer colleagues, students and UT Presidents before advancing to competition at the System level.

In evaluating each candidate’s teaching performance, members of the review panel consider a range of activities and criteria, including classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development, and student learning outcomes, the UT System release noted.