20 June 2002

Inaugural Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards To Be Presented On Monday

The winners of the inaugural Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards will be announced at an awards ceremony being held at Parliament on Monday evening, 24 June 2002.

The awards recognise excellence in tertiary teaching, promote good teaching practice and enhance career development for tertiary teachers. There are nine awards across three categories, as well as a supreme Prime Ministers’ award. Forty-four nominations for the awards were received from tertiary institutions ranging from universities, polytechnics and private training establishments.

Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey said he has now endorsed the award winners on the recommendation of the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards Committee chaired by Professor Graham Fraser, Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Massey University.

Steve Maharey and Professor Fraser will present the awards at a dinner on Monday evening.

“The nominations we received for these inaugural awards were outstanding and many were worthy of recognition.

“Excellence is alive and well in our tertiary institutions. We have many teachers who strive to inspire their students through innovative and outstanding teaching methods.”

“Ground-breaking research by academic staff in our tertiary institutions has been recognised – but until now cutting-edge teaching has not been acknowledged nationally,” Steve Maharey said.

The awards continue the Government’s work to place the tertiary sector at the forefront of our development as a knowledge society.

“Tertiary education has a key contribution to make to the economic and social development of New Zealand as the Prime Minister’s growth and innovation framework explicitly recognised. I am looking forward to this award becoming an annual and prestigious addition to the tertiary calendar,” Steve Maharey said.

The award categories are Sustained Excellence, Excellence in Innovation and Excellence in Collaboration. The recipients of the excellence awards will receive $20,000 and the winner of the Prime Minister’s award will receive $30,000. The prize money is to be spent enhancing their teaching career and promoting best practice.

The ceremony is being held in the Grand Hall at Parliament on Monday, June 24th between 6pm and 9pm.

Recipients of the awards will be announced after dinner. This is expected to take place from 7.30pm.

Copies of speeches and the list of awardees will be available at the ceremony.

The awardees will not be named until the award ceremony.

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