E. N. Skakun Award for Service to Education

This award is named in honour of Dr. Ernest N. Skakun, a leader in psychometrics and medical education in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, whose achievements model the behaviors we seek to recognize in this award.

Purpose

The peer-adjudicated award is designed to recognize the achievements of an individual, who has made a major and long-term contribution to the educational leadership and scholarship in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.


Eligibility

The Award will be presented to an individual who meets the requirements listed below. If a highly suitable candidate emerges who fails to meet one or more of these requirements, the selection committee may at their discretion, waive one or more of these requirements, but will exercise this prerogative only under very special circumstances. If no suitable nomination is made, the Selection Committee may, at their discretion decide that no award will be given in that year.

  • The nominee will be a Full Professor or senior Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
  • The nominee will have made a significant contribution to educational leadership and scholarship over a period of at least ten years.
  • The nominee will be an excellent instructor as determined by student ratings and peer assessment.
  • The nominee will be an excellent administrator of one or more components of the educational programs of the Faculty.
  • The individual will have had major responsibilities within Faculty for some aspects of education.
  • Nominations may be for an individual whose major educational roles have been in the undergraduate or postgraduate programs or both.
  • Clinical or Basic Science staff may be nominated.
  • Leadership may be assessed using examples and language ladders found in the Faculty Evaluation Council Guidelines (2007). Scholarship will be assessed using any of the expanded domains of Boyer (instructional or teaching, integration or innovation, application or discovery). It is expected that the individuals will have contributed to the broad field of education through oral presentations or written papers describing the advances they have developed, although this is not to be seen as a research award in education.
  • The Skakun Award may be won once only.

Procedure

Nomination documents must be received by the Office of Education on or before the announced deadline. The documentation must include the following:

  • A letter of nomination explaining the suitability of the individual for the Award. Nominations may be made by staff or students of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The letter of nomination should not exceed five pages.
  • An up-to-date teaching dossier written by the nominee.
  • At least three but no more than six letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a student/resident that describes their teaching skills, and at least one of which must be from a senior educational administrator in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry that will attest to their administrative contributions.

Complete nomination dossiers including the documents listed above should normally be 20-25 pages in length and under no circumstances may exceed 40 pages, including the teaching dossier. All nominations will be considered by the Selection Committee, which will receive the materials in advance of the meeting at which the winner is decided. Nominees for whom the documentation is incomplete will not be considered.


Decision

The decision of the Selection Committee will be final. The successful nominee will receive notification soon after the decision has been made. Those who were unsuccessful will also be informed. The Selection Committee is not required to provide reasons for their decision.


The Award

The Awardee will be invited to make a special presentation to the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry on a topic of their choice but related to medical or dental education. The Presentation may be arranged at the convenience of the award winner. The Award comprises a plaque and a cheque for $500.00. The Office of Education will be responsible for underwriting the costs of the Award and/or finding a suitable sponsor. The name of each year's winner will be engraved on a plaque to be kept in a prominent position in the Office of Education.

The nomination documents should be submitted to the attention of:

Jocelyn Plemel, Executive Assistant
Office of the Vice Dean, Education
2J2.00, WC Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre
Email: jplemel@ualberta.ca

Deadline: December 15, 2023