In this post, Callum Paterson introduces the Edinburgh University Students’ Association’s annual Teaching Awards for 2024. Callum is the Academic Engagement & Policy Coordinator at Edinburgh University Students’ Association. This post belongs to the Hot Topic: EUSA Teaching Awards 2024↗️.
How do the awards work?
Edinburgh University Students’ Association was the first in the UK to create student-led Teaching Awards. Now in our 15th year, we continue to receive nominations for staff across the breadth of the University.
Every member of staff across the University plays a role in developing and enhancing the student experience here. Whether that’s the things we think of as obvious, like lecturers and supervisors, or the many (many!) staff members who work in the background to make sure everything runs smoothly across this huge institution, they are all vitally important.
The Teaching Awards were created to give our students an opportunity to celebrate and thank staff for their hard work throughout the year. Across a period of three months, students submitted almost 2,000 nominations in ten categories this year, recognising 1,000 members of staff from every corner of Edinburgh. Throughout the nomination process, we share students’ nominations with the member of staff, so they know exactly how much their efforts are valued.
To recognise staff, we supply digital artwork for them to use on email signatures, on social media, or in newsletters. We also have some nifty Teaching Awards badges that all nominees can pick up from our Potterrow office. When requested, we also regularly provide records of a staff members’ nominations over the years, sometimes just for their own interest but often because they are using their nominations as evidence in performance reviews or for promotions.
2024 TEACHING AWARD WINNERS
This year, there were over 100 students involved in our longlisting, shortlisting, and decision-making panels. Most of these took place in early April, a busy time for many students with assessments and exams on the horizon. We’re so grateful to every student who took time to review nominations, meet with us, and decide on their winners.
Our shortlist was announced↗️ in early April. We then celebrated our winners as well as all our nominees, alongside guests including Heads of School and Directors of Teaching, at our Teaching Awards ceremony, which took place in late April.
Here are our shortlists and winners in the Teaching Awards 2024:
Cohort Lead of the Year
Darrick Evensen (School of Social and Political Science)
Claire Haggett (School of Social and Political Science) WINNER
Justine Maclean (Moray House School of Education and Sport)
Outstanding Commitment to Social Justice and Sustainability
Inga Ackermann (Edinburgh Global) WINNER
Simone Ferracina (Edinburgh College of Art)
Lindsey Horner (Moray House School of Education and Sport)
Outstanding Course
Immunology 3 (Organised by Jenny Regan and Alan Hayes – School of Biological Sciences)
Music in the Community 4 (Organised by Dee Isaacs – Edinburgh College of Art)
Radical Harvest (Organised by Simone Ferracina – Edinburgh College of Art) WINNER
Student Tutor of the Year
Marifatul Amalia (School of Social and Political Science)
Estee Lu (School of Economics)
Rosie Wu (Edinburgh College of Art) WINNER
Supervisor of the Year
Aliandra Barlete (Moray House School of Education and Sport) WINNER
Glen Cousquer (Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies)
Leah Macaden (School of Health in Social Sciences)
Support Staff of the Year
Ray Finlayson (School of Informatics)
Aletta Ritchie (Disability and Learning Support Service) WINNER
Rosa Ross (Business School)
Teacher of the Year (College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences)
Sakie Chiba-Mooney (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures)
Mariya Levitanus (School of Health in Social Science)
Inma Sánchez-García (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures) WINNER
Hannah Simpson (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures)
Teacher of the Year (College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine)
Gurå Bergkvist (Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies)
Dawn Livingstone (Deanery of Biomedical Sciences) WINNER
Paula Smith (Deanery of Clinical Sciences)
Teacher of the Year (College of Science & Engineering)
Dimitrios Gerogiorgis (School of Engineering) WINNER
Carole Morrison (School of Chemistry)
Dan Swanton (School of Geosciences)
You can find descriptions of all of these categories on our website↗️.
Congratulations to every single nominee for your achievements, and for the continuous effort you put in all year.
Join me later in this series to hear more about our winners this year.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please contact us and the Students’ Association team at teaching.awards@eusa.ed.ac.uk↗️.
Callum Paterson
Callum Paterson is the Academic Engagement & Policy Coordinator within the Student Voice team at the Students’ Association. Alongside coordinating the Teaching Awards, he works with Programme and School Representatives as well as the Vice President Education, supporting and empowering them to make their voices heard on the issues that matter most to them.
