The Common Core Teaching Excellence Award is established to recognize outstanding common core course instructors who have made substantial contribution to the design and/or the teaching of exemplary common core courses, and to promote these courses to the students in the University community.
The 2025 Award
Any instructor or team of instructors who has designed and/or taught a common core course or common core courses of the 36-credit or 30-credit Common Core Program between 1 January and 31 December 2025 is eligible to be nominated for the award. Each instructor or team of instructors can only be nominated once in an award year. An instructor or a team of instructors who has received the Teaching Award cannot be nominated for the same course again indefinitely. Recipients of the Honorary Mention are eligible for nomination with the same course again without any exclusion years while they will be considered solely for the Teaching Award but not the Honorary Mention. In the case of team-teaching, any changes to the instructor(s) of the teaching team are considered as a new team, and are eligible for nominations in the year following the year the previous team received the Teaching Award or Honorary Mention.
Nomination can be made by one or more members of the University community, including at least one student. Only students who have enrolled in the nominated courses during the award period are eligible to submit nominations for those courses. Each nominator should submit a statement explaining why the instructor or the team of instructors is nominated. This statement can be submitted separately by each individual nominator, or as a joint statement by all nominators.
All nominations must be submitted using the prescribed nomination form, which requires the necessary signatures or declaration emails to validate the authenticity of the nomination from the nominators. The nominator should specify one common core course or common core courses of the 36-credit or 30-credit Common Core Program that is designed, and/or taught by the nominated instructor or team of instructors, during the award year. The nominee(s) are expected to be responsible for designing the specified course(s) and/or teaching one complete section or all sections of the specified course(s).
The nomination should have the consent of the instructor(s) concerned, and be endorsed by the Head of the course offering department/unit. The completed form should be submitted to Undergraduate Core Education Team on or before 19 January 2026 (Monday). Any submission lacking the necessary signatures or declaration emails will be disregarded.
Nominations will be evaluated with regard to three broad criteria: (a) Excellence in course design (including the development of a new course, or the refinement or redevelopment of an existing course) and teaching innovation; (b) Delivery of an exemplary common core course; and (c) Innovative and/or diversified assessment of student learning. Click here for full details of these criteria.
Upon acceptance of the nomination, the nominee(s) will be asked to provide a teaching portfolio not exceeding six A4-sized pages to the Selection Committee for consideration. Click here for the guidelines for preparing the teaching portfolio.
A Selection Committee comprising faculty representatives from the Schools and with student and alumni representation will be established after the close of the nomination period. The Selection Committee will be responsible for reviewing the Teaching Award and the Common Core Student Recognition Award (“Student Award”). Any instructor nominated for the Teaching Award, faculty member involved in the design/teaching of a nominated course, nominator of any course, and any person who has a potential conflict of interest with any Student Award applicant must not serve on the Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee will consider the nominations with regard to the selection criteria and the teaching portfolios. It will take into consideration the information relating to the specified course(s) and sections as indicated on the nomination form.
The Selection Committee will recommend one Teaching Award, and a maximum of three Honorary Mentions if called for, to the Committee on Undergraduate Core Education (CUCE) for confirmation.
The Teaching Award and Honorary Mention(s) will be presented in the name of CUCE to the instructor(s) and the course(s) as shown on the nomination form at the 2025 Common Core Awards presentation ceremony in May 2026.
The award-winning instructor or team of instructors will receive a cash prize of $20,000. Each individual instructor will also be presented a plaque engraved with the name of the instructor(s) and the course(s).
For each Honorary Mention, the instructor or team of instructors will receive a cash prize of $10,000. Each individual instructor will also be presented a certificate printed with the name of the instructor(s) and the course(s).
The cash award presented to a team of instructors will be shared equally among the instructors. They may also agree collectively on alternative way of allocation among themselves. Instructors receiving the cash award will decide on its use at their own discretion.
19 January 2026 (Monday)
Ms Jessica Lai
Undergraduate Core Education Team
Tel: 2358 6310
Email: ucoreaward@ust.hk
