Innovate Awards

FACET's Annual Innovate Awards

The FACET Innovate Awards serve two important purposes that promote FACET’s mission. The awards recognize faculty who bring passion, innovation, and creativity to the classroom to promote student success. It also helps FACET share and disseminate best practices in teaching for the benefit of the entire IU community. 

The call for applications for Innovate 2026 will be announced in December. Last year's categories were as follows:

  • Collaborative activities: Do you have an effective collaborative classroom activity? What does this activity look like, and how does it promote peer-to-peer engagement in addition to student learning?
  • Community engagement: Do you have an effective community engagement activity? What does this activity look like, and how does it promote community engagement in addition to student learning?
  • Creative uses of online tools: Do you have a particularly effective method or activity that uses online tools (applications, programs, or Canvas tools) to promote student learning? What does this activity look like, how does it work, and how does it impact student learning?
  • Skills across the curriculum: Do you have an activity that empowers students by teaching them how to learn skills across the curriculum, such as reading, writing, speaking, critical thinking or others?

Eligibility

Anyone with responsibility of teaching an undergraduate or graduate class at an IU campus or FACET Fort Wayne, regardless of status or rank, is eligible to apply. Applicants are not restricted to FACET members. Finalists should be available to attend the award ceremony at the Annual FACET Retreat or send a proxy to attend in their place.

Application Process

Please submit an application by completing and submitting the form linked above. Only one person per application, co-applicants are not eligible starting in 2026. The application includes:

• The name, email, phone number, and campus 
• The category for the application
• Details outlining the specific activity or assignment that forms the basis of the nomination (title of the activity, courses where the activity can be used, learning outcomes (150 words), description of the activity (300 words), rationale (150 words)
• A reflection on the effectiveness or impact of the activity or assignment (300 words)

 

Selection Process

The FACET Retreat Planning Committee will vote to select three finalists for each category. Finalists will be notified in March 2025, at which point they will be asked to produce a multimedia presentation of their activity prior for the final voting process.

The winners will be determined by online voting. FACET members and affliate members will be invited to view the presentations and to cast a vote to determine the winner for each category. Any full-time faculty member or Friend of FACET who is attending the retreat is eligible to vote as well.

The winner will be recognized at the annual FACET retreat.

FACET will provide each finalist a $50 off promo code to attend the ceremony or the full retreat. As finalists and category winners will be recognized at the ceremony, finalists should attend the Innovate Awards ceremony at the Annual Retreat.

Expectations for Finalists' Multimedia Presentations

The presentations will:
• Be under 5 minutes long
• Include information about the activity, its rationale, and reflection on effectiveness or impact
• Include a narrative with visuals
• Be adapted for web presentation and not require file downloading, that is play with one click

Samples of previous finalists’ presentations can be viewed here. Direct questions about applications, awards, or presentations facet@iu.edu.

Our award categories have included the following:

  • Collaborative activities (2017-Current): Do you or your colleague(s) have an effective collaborative classroom activity?  What does this activity look like, and how does it promote peer-to-peer engagement in addition to student learning?
  • Community engagement (2017-Current): Do you or your colleague(s) have an effective community engagement activity?  What does this activity look like, and how does it promote community engagement in addition to student learning
  • Learning how to learn (2017-Current): Do you or your colleague(s) have an effective classroom activity that helps students learn how to learn?  What does this activity look like, and how does it improve active learning and student empowerment?
  • Creative uses of online tools (2017-Current): Do you or your colleague(s) have a particularly effective method or activity that uses online tools (applications, programs, or Canvas tools) to promote student learning?  What does this activity look like, how does it work, and how does it impact student learning?
  • Intensive writing assignments (2017-2019): Do you or your colleague(s) have an effective intensive writing assignment?  What does this assignment look like, and how does it lead to effective learning outcomes for intensive writing?
  • DEIJ-informed pedagogy (2021-2024): any activity that centers DEIJ-informed pedagogy, for example, effective revisions of course learning outcomes to center equal access to learning, especially through culturally and socially meaningful course work, assessments that increase sense of belonging, based on micro-affirmations, or re-thinking of course activities or resources that promote or increase understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. 

View Previous Winners and Finalists

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