The Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD) has established the W.W. Wood Awards for “Excellence in Dental Education” to commemorate Dr. Bill Wood whose academic career exemplified dedication to research, teaching and service.
The Award
One ACFD “W.W. Wood Award for Excellence in Dental Education” will be awarded each year, in each Canadian Faculty of Dentistry, to a full or part-time faculty member who has completed at least three years of teaching in a Canadian Faculty of Dentistry. The award will consist of a permanent plaque engraved with the winners’ name to be displayed in a prominent place in each of the Faculties of Dentistry. In addition, each recipient will receive a certificate from the ACFD.
Nomination and Procedures
- Requests for nomination will be solicited in January of each year by the appropriate selection committee for each dental school.
- Nominations can be made by students, alumni or other faculty members. Nomination should include at least three independent letters of support referring to the criteria outlined below. In addition, where available, student course evaluations, peer and expert evaluations and any related course or teaching documents should be submitted with the application.
- Each School will determine the selection process for their award.
- The appropriate individual dental school selection committee may gather additional information such as:
- auditing classes of each of the finalists;
- interviewing students of the nominees;
- interviewing Department Chairs or Deans about the nominees;
- having external experts audit classes of nominees;
- surveying alumni feedback on the nominees
- The Schools selection committee will review the nomination(s) and forward the name of the Institution’s award winner to the Dean or equivalent, and to the ACFD administrator for publication on the website, as well as request for the certificate.
- An award will be presented at each school annually, if a candidate is selected.
- A Faculty member may win this award only once in any ten year period.
- Awardees should be reported to the ACFD central office as soon as possible each year.
Criteria:
Candidates should demonstrate excellence in teaching through course instructional evaluation results, letters of reference and other documentation. Some or all of the following criteria shall apply.
The faculty member should:
- demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of his/her subject area;
- be habitually well prepared for teaching sessions, be they lectures, laboratories, seminars, tutorials or clinics;
- demonstrate enthusiasm for the subject and the capacity to arouse interest in it among the students;
- encourage student participation in the teaching/learning process;
- set high standards of student involvement and performance and successfully motivate students to attain such standards;
- communicate effectively with students at appropriate levels;
- utilize methods of evaluation of student performance which assess the higher levels of knowledge acquisition;
- be accessible to students outside of class hours and provide for reasonable access by all;
- be recognized as a superior teacher by students and colleagues;
and,
Candidates should demonstrate Leadership in Dental Education.
Some or all of the following criteria shall apply.
The faculty members should have:
- completed teaching improvement courses or other activities to enhance teaching skills;
- participated at the Department or Faculty level on education or teaching/learning committees.
Announcement of Award Recipients
This shall be published in the ACFD web site.
Presentation of Awards
The presentation of the award will be left to the discretion of the individual institutions.