This award recognizes full-time faculty members who are dedicated to teaching and to providing an educational experience that positions students for success in their chosen field of study. Faculty who receive this award support students as they help them turn their potential into career success.  Faculty members are nominated for this award by students, finalists are selected by a group of previous award-winners and administrators, and the winner is selected by the President.  Recipients are selected based on the quality of the student nomination and the faculty member's contributions to the teaching at the college.  One award is given per academic year during the college's commencement ceremony. 

The purpose of the award is to promote and reward teaching effectiveness by current graduate students and to provide award nominees with training on how to present evidence of teaching excellence. The Office of the Provost confers a university-wide Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching at the annual spring Celebration of Teaching Excellence. Each department chair nominates eligible graduate students from their department who will create a teaching portfolio submission.  The portfolio is reviewed by members of the CTE staff along with previous award-winners. (Duquesne CTE)  

The English Department at Duquesne University selects recipients for one-year, renewable teaching fellowships based on the strength of the candidate's application. Teaching fellows are the instructor-of-record for the courses they teach and as such are responsible for all aspects of the courses they are assigned.