2024 Outstanding Educator Award

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: JAN. 15, 2024

Entries must include a nominating letter and up to three items of support, to include but not limited to letters of recommendation, resumes, personal statements of philosophy,  course materials, journal articles and news stories. The nominating letter may be accepted by itself without supporting materials. All items must be in electronic format, and can include emails and PDFs.

Submit entries for the 2024 award to:

Dorren Robinson: dorren.robinson@belmont.edu

HISTORY OF THE AWARD/GUIDELINES

The official name of the award is the Byron St. Dizier/David Sloan Award for the SEJC Outstanding Educator. The two individuals were the founding president and secretary-treasurer of the SEJC in 1986 and put together the first convention and competition in 1987 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Rules for the award were established in 1993 and revised in 2004.

The award selection committee is made up of the most recent three winners of the award, and the chair of the committee is that committee member with the longest record of service on the committee.

Only one entrant from each university is allowed. Nominations can be submitted by anyone associated with a member school, including students, faculty members and administrators. If a school submits  more than one entry, however, the faculty delegate from each school will determine which one is to be the school’s entrant in the contest. A nomination can be submitted by a person not associated with the school, but the nominee must be from an SEJC member school.

Nominees must have served in a capacity in which they were charged officially by the school with supervision of students on a full-time basis either as a classroom instructor or faculty adviser. Adjuncts, volunteers, honorary or part-time staff or instructors are not eligible for the award.

Nominations of persons who have been retired for up to one school year may be accepted, but nominations for persons retired for more than one school year will not be accepted, and nominations for persons who have left the nominating school to work at a non-SEJC member school will not be accepted.

The coordinator of the Best of the South contest has the responsibility to notify the members of the SEJC Outstanding Educator Award committee and charge them with their duties. If any members of the committee indicate that they cannot serve on the committee or do not respond to notifications, the coordinator of the Best of the South contest can appoint any past winner of the award to the committee to replace members who could not serve.

At the completion of each school year, the person who served as the chair is removed from the committee. The winner of the award then joins the committee, and the person who would have the longest record of service to the committee would become the chair.

The award is not required every year. If the committee feels no entrant deserves the award, the committee can choose to not present the award.

Only one award is given per year. There are no co-winners, and there are no second places, third places, etc.

No individual can win the award more than once.

PAST WINNERS & CURRENT COMMITTEE

2023 – Elizabeth Clarke, Louisiana College

2022 – Dorren Robinson, Belmont

2021 – not awarded

PAST WINNERS

2020 – Pat Thompson, University of Mississippi

2019 – Amber Narro, Southeastern Louisiana University

2018 – Bruce Swain, University of West Florida