University of Adelaide Learning & Teaching Awards

Excellence in Education Award

The University of Adelaide Excellence in Education Awards are presented annually. They are designed to recognise and reward academic staff who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the excellence of the educational experiences provided by the University.

Five awards of $2000 each are available, one award for each Faculty. Each winner will also receive a Certificate of Achievement.

Stephen Cole the Elder Awards for Excellence in Teaching

The Stephen Cole the Elder Awards (formerly Prizes) were established through a bequest to the University by Mrs Isabella Cole Weinberg who was born at Kingston, South Australia in July 1895. Isabella left SA at the age of 20, eventually marrying and settling in Sweden. Stephen Cole the Elder, a South Australian pioneer, was her maternal grandfather and Isabella was his last living descendant; and she chose to honour him and her SA connection by leaving a bequest to the University upon her death.

The Stephen Cole the Elder Awards were first presented in 1991. Educators, either individuals or teams, winning these awards represent some of the most talented and dedicated individuals working at the University.

The Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Teaching

The Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Teaching is the University's premier teaching award. The winner is selected each year from the winners of the Stephen Cole the Elder Awards.

Award for Excellence in the Support of the Student Experience

The University of Adelaide will confer up to two awards annually to recognise supporting activities or services that make an outstanding contribution to the quality of student learning and the quality of the student experience at the University of Adelaide. Individual professional staff or teams of staff are eligible. The activities or services that receive these awards must have demonstrated their effectiveness through rigorous evaluation.

The types of activities or services that would be eligible for the awards include:

• The first-year experience (transition to higher education)
• Postgraduate education other than research degree supervision (activities or services that focus on postgraduate coursework)
• Services supporting student learning (including novel approaches to assist students in all aspects of their learning and university experience, including the use of new and emerging technologies, support for specific groups of students, information access, career or course advising, language and learning support, counselling and disability support)
• Partnerships and collaborations with other organisations in support of student learning
  (collaborative approaches across the sector that demonstrably enhance the student experience )

Prize winners will be presented with a certificate and a grant of $8,000. The grants are to be paid through administrative units and used by the winners to help them with the further development of their service or student support activities. Each winner will be required to agree with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President (Academic) on an appropriate form of dissemination of their achievements (which might include a presentation to Academic Board or an article on the Centre for Learning and Professional Development's website).

Applicants of a sufficiently high standard will be considered for nomination by the University for one of the ALTC Awards for Australian University Teaching, such as a Citation for Contributions to the Student Experience or an Award for Programs that Enhance Learning. 

Award for Excellence for Higher Degree by Research Supervision

Each year the University calls for nominations for at least one award to recognise and encourage sustained excellence in the supervision and support of Higher Degree by Research students. This award is administered by the Adelaide Graduate Centre.