Awards Policy

PAC-TE AWARDS POLICY

(Adopted by the PAC-TE Board of Directors on June 5, 2025)

Awards Committee

The Awards Committee is an ad hoc committee chaired by the Past President with two additional members of the Board of Directors nominated by the President and appointed by the Board of Directors at its annual summer retreat.

Guidelines for the Awards Committee:

Awards are not necessarily bestowed annually; they are only conferred when a qualified candidate is identified.
Nominations will be due no later than September 30th to the Past President. Each year, the Executive Director may adjust the due date within the window of September 15^th – September 30^th.
The identity of nominees will not be shared other than among the committee and the Executive Director.
The process of ranking nominees and the ranking of nominees will not be shared other than among the committee.
Those who are nominated but not selected will be encouraged to apply again in the future, without any sharing of rankings, or suggestions for improvement of the application.
The Past President will inform the President and Executive Director of the awardee no later than one week after the due date for nominations.
The Teacher Educator of the Year Award will be a surprise to all except the president, committee, executive director, and colleagues of the awardee who it is necessary to contact in order to have the awardee present when the award is presented. Dissertation, Research, and Service award winners will be informed of their selection and offered the opportunity to present at the Fall conference.
Awards will be presented in the form of a plaque/certificate at the Awards Banquet at the fall Teacher Education Assembly Award to be announced to all members and an announcement released to the press by the Executive Director.

Executive Director’s Scholarship The PAC-TE Executive Directors’ Scholarship is an annual scholarship honoring all past PAC-TE Executive Directors. The scholarship is to be awarded to a deserving Undergraduate or Graduate Student pursuing initial teacher certification at a college or university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who has a GPA of 3.5 or higher. The monetary amount of the scholarship depends on an endowment and is currently anticipated to be $1,000.00.

The PAC-TE Teacher Educator of the Year (TEOY) Award is conferred upon an individual who has directly participated in and contributed to the preparation of candidates for teacher certification in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Candidates are nominated by PAC-TE members or are self-nominated with an attached letter of endorsement from a PAC-TE member. Candidates must be currently employed in a teacher education capacity in Pennsylvania and must be current members of PAC-TE.

Professional Achievement Awards

Outstanding Dissertation Award recognizes excellence in doctoral dissertation research that contributes to the field of educator preparation or professional teaching practice. The research must follow accepted empirical guidelines and be relevant to PAC-TE's mission.

Distinguished Research Award recognizes empirical research completed within Pennsylvania that has implications for theory and practice. The research must follow accepted empirical research guidelines and be relevant to PAC-TE's mission.

Exemplary Service/Partnership Award recognizes the development of partnership programs that connect IHEs with basic education and community partners and recognizes activities that provide service to the field of education.

The PAC-TE Friend of Education (FOE) Award is conferred upon an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to educator preparation through collaboration with PAC-TE. FOE candidates may be members of PAC-TE, but will typically make their contributions through affiliated work such as PK-12 education, government, or public policy. Nominations are made by the Board of Directors before the September meeting, at which directors will select an awardee via majority vote.

Service Awards are conferred upon departing members of the Board of Directors, including those on the Executive Committee, at the annual Teacher Education Assembly immediately following the awardees’ departure from the Board. Service Award recipients will receive a plaque/certificate in recognition of their service to PAC-TE.

Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) unit awards dossiers are co-authored by the PAC-TE Executive Director and one member of the Board of Directors; the dossier is introduced by a letter from the PAC-TE President. Applications for ATE unit awards will typically be prepared each fall by the co-authors and submitted electronically to ATE for review in December.