As part of Spring Convocation, the Office of the Provost asks for nominations for the Teaching Innovation Award. The award is designed to honor faculty who have incorporated outstanding innovative teaching practices into their classes at Montana State University. 

Learn more and nominate an individual

2025 - Congratulations Hailey Hancock!

Hailey Hancock

Hailey Hancock, assistant teaching professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Development’s Department of Education, is the recipient of the Teaching Innovation Award. The award recognizes a faculty member who has incorporated novel teaching practices that have a measurable impact on student success and the potential to be applied across disciplines. Read more about Hancock's award

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Click here to see all past recipients

The selection committee evaluates nominees on the following criteria:

  • Evidence of innovative and/or novel teaching practices that have been incorporated within the past three years.
  • Relative comprehensiveness of scope. The innovation must have involved changes in the way a subject is taught. For example, an activity that transpires in the course of one class period does not have the same influence as a pedagogical strategy that evolves over several class periods or an entire course.
  • Measurable impact on teaching effectiveness, student success and/or retention.
  • Potential or realized widespread use within or across disciplines.

Innovative practices will be expected to be grounded in best practices of the college and university teaching profession and/or the particular discipline.

Eligibility: 

To be eligible, individuals must be current tenure track or non-tenure track faculty who have completed a minimum of three years of teaching at MSU-Bozeman. Not eligible are current members of the selection committee and previous winners of the award.

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Past Recipients

2024 Beth Shirley, assistant professor of technical communication in the Department of English in the College of Letters and Science. 

2023 Myleen Leary, an associate professor in theJake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship.  Learn more about Leary's award.
2022  Stephanie Wettstein, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Learn more about Stephanie Wettstein's award.

2021  Hannah DelCurto-Wyffels, College of Agriculture’s Department of Animal and Range Sciences,Learn more about Hannah DelCurto-Wyffels' award.

2020  MacDonald Burgess, Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Learn more about MacDonald's work and all of  the awardees

2019    Megan Wickstrom, Mathematical Sciences Learn more about Megan's work and all of the awardees

2018    Graham Austin, marketing, Meta Newhouse, graphic design, and Mary Stein, sustainable food and
bioenergy systems

2017    Mike Babcock, Psychology

2016    Brent Rosso, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship