We are in the midst of selecting the recipients for the teaching awards we give annually, and I have the great privilege of telling the recipients they are receiving an award. What do you think the typical reaction is?

The teaching activities of a professor are mostly done in isolation. Apart from an occasional guest lecturer or observer, faculty are alone with their students in a classroom where the students dutifully show up on time, take notes and participate in class, then go home. Some students drop by office hours, but this is a minority of all the students taught in a semester and these are seldom just for conversation. Teaching evaluations come to a professor anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months after a course is over, and the professor gets a numeric ranking that looks good in most cases, a few helpful suggestions like “too much reading, but it was all good,” and maybe an occasional “thanks for the help preparing for the final.” Pretty close to zero feedback and not much recognition for a job well done.

In my experience, faculty who receive the recognition of a teaching award are almost always shocked. When they are called to see the dean, they are worried (which is dismaying, because the only person I know of who has ever been yelled at in my office is me). For most people, the response is emotionally overwhelming and they tear up. I tear up, too, because it is emotionally overwhelming for me to see how moved the recipient is by the award.

Most days, these seem like cynical times. In the world of business, we seem to hear story after story about leaders taking advantage of their position for personal gain, whether it is backdated options, insider trading, or swapping favors with cronies. Sports heroes too often lack the humility to realize the team made them — although there are some outstanding exceptions — political leaders seem to be more worried about winning the game of politics than finding the path to justice, and too many arenas of social life seem overly focused on exorbitance over effectiveness. To sit with someone who is moved by an honor is an experience that profoundly touches anyone who plays a part in the recognition.

Great teachers are moved because they care deeply, which is a large part of why they are ultimately recognized by the students who pass through their classes and move on to rewarding careers. It is overwhelmingly the case that the chicks do not write home once they flee the nest, so most faculty do not know how much they impact the students who study with them. One of the great privileges of my service as dean is I do get to talk to alumni and hear the stories they have about their professors, and I try to make sure the professors know the stories, too. But it is still pretty much a zero feedback job.

What is interesting given the little feedback most faculty get on teaching performance — because teaching awards at best will happen 3 or 4 times in a 40 year career — is how dedicated faculty are to excellence in the classroom. We have easily 30 professors who could receive a teaching award every year, but we only give 4 a year, one for undergraduate teaching, one for graduate teaching, one for PhD teaching, and the Brady Superior Teaching Award where the recipient is selected by the University of Utah Business Alumni Association. Four awards, another couple of dozen deserving faculty, and another couple of dozen who are doing teaching service in roles such as advising that should also be recognized. And every one of them will do a great job year after year.

Because they believe in what they do, know it is important, and because doing it well is the only acceptable standard. Because they are great teachers regardless of the rewards.

If you are in school and have a teacher who is doing a great job, let the person know. If a teacher made a great difference in your life, drop a note and let the person know. You cannot imagine how much it will mean to a dedicated professional who gives her/his all to classes of students year after year.

Later.