Niagara College Canada

All employees (full- and part-time) engaged in the delivery and support of teaching or student success at Niagara College are eligible to apply or be nominated for this award. Lead applicant must be an NC staff member.

Individuals or teams may apply. Teams may be comprised of two or more collaborators within or across units at the college who have contributed meaningfully to the innovation. The Lead applicant for any team submission must be an NC staff member.

Teams can also include non-staff partners, such as students, employers, and community members where those partners have made essential contributions to the innovation.

If you were a student who recently became a staff member of Niagara College, the innovation should be connected to your work as an employee.

For more information, please review the Award Application Guide (PDF).

Yes and yes! If you are a Niagara College staff member who has affected student engagement, learning, or success in remarkable ways by innovating aspects of your work or by creating new opportunities, you can nominate yourself or your team for this award.  You should communicate the intent to nominate and have support from your/their direct supervisor.

If you are aware of an impactful innovation, but didn’t directly contribute to it, you can also nominate a peer or peers for this award.  The intent to nominate should be shared with and support gained from the direct supervisor(s) of the nominee(s). In both circumstances, you will indicate this has been done within the application itself.

In short, any employee at Niagara College can nominate an individual or a team by completing and submitting an Award Application. Visit the Award Application page for more information.

Yes! You should let the individual(s) that you are nominating know and seek their support before submitting the application. Because winners will be required to share their innovation with the broader college community, it is essential that nominees are aware that they are being nominated and confirm their willingness to share their innovation with others should they be selected as an award recipient.

To apply for the award, you must complete and submit the Award Application. Visit the Award Application page for more information. The Award Application requires that you respond to a series of questions in an online survey format and attach a detailed description of the innovation and its impacts. The description can be submitted in either written (PDF, doc or docx) or video (mp4) format. The Application Guide (PDF document) outlines key application questions and complete formatting details.

Please visit the Timelines and Due Dates page for the current application due date.

There are three $2500 prizes awarded each year to be used in one of two ways:

1. To enable one or more innovators to attend a conference or another professional development opportunity where they can share their innovation, or;
2. To advance their innovation in a meaningful way.

The college will feature and catalogue winning innovations in InsideNC.

Winning individuals or groups will be asked to provide a detailed plan for the use of up to $2500 in funding. Awards will be announced in October annually and recipients should plan to spend the funds within the fiscal year that the award is presented. Plans will be centrally approved before funds are released. Funds will only be released for approved purposes.

One of the central aims of The President’s Award for Innovation in Student Learning and Success is to promote the sharing of effective practices across Niagara College. For that reason, the college will feature and catalogue winning innovations in InsideNC. Awardees will also be expected to present their innovation to the Niagara College community at a college-wide event, such as offerings/events offered through the Centre for Academic Excellence (CAE).

Award recipients receive $2500 to be used in one of two ways:

1. To enable one or more innovators to attend a conference or another professional development opportunity where they can share their innovation, or;
2. To advance their innovation in a meaningful way.

Please visit the Timelines and Due Dates page for more information about the winning innovation announcement date.

Feel free to reach out to [email protected] with your questions. Please include ‘Innovation Award’ in the subject line.

The award formally recognizes employees of Niagara College however, external organizations will likely be mentioned in communications related to the award recipients.