RATE
The Recognising and Advancing Teaching Excellence (RATE) Award scheme was first introduced by Stirling Students' Union in 2010. RATE was born from the Union's desire to recognise the excellent quality of teaching at the University of Stirling and to provide students with the opportunity to identify areas of good practice within their learning experience.
The awards have continued to grow in success and popularity since their introduction. On average, we recieve over 1,300 nominations, resulting in the nomination of 420 academic and professional staff to be nominated for an award. Those 1,300+ nominations show that our students value the support that they are given by professional and academic staff, as well as the time that they dedicate to students. Engaging students in course material, through innovative lecture styles, was found to be at the heart of good practice for our students.
With our help and support, University of Stirling staff members have been able to go forward for National Learning and Teaching awards: in 2014, May McCreddie (School of Health Sciences) was shortlisted for the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year Award at the Times Higher Education Awards, using the qualitive data we had received from the RATE Awards as their evidence, and 2016 Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year winner, David Lavaelle (School of Sport) went forward for the THES Outstanding Research Supervisor Award.
The RATE awards depend on student nominations. Your nominations are used to inform the University about what you, as a student body, consider to be the best methods of teaching. They are also used to identify any necessary improvements in learning and teaching at the University. RATE is intended to empower students to be co-creators in their learning & teaching experience through feeding back about their learning experience at Stirling.
winners & runners up 2020
You can watch the awards presentation video below or check out the full list of winners and runners up. Congratulations everyone!
Excellence in Teaching in the Faculty of Natural Science
Winner – Tim Whalley
Runner Up – Giuseppe Paladini
Excellence in Teaching in the Faculty of Health Science & Sport
Winner – Fiona Smith
Runner Up – Christopher Hartley
Excellence in Teaching in the Faculty of Social Science
Winner – Kylie Bradfield
Runner Up – Vikki McCall
Excellence in Teaching in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities
Winner – Staci Rowlison
Runner Up – Andrea Baumeister
Excellence in Teaching in the Stirling Management School
Winner – Paul Cowell
Runner Up – Maria Grydaki
Outstanding Admin
Winner – Allison Butler
Runner Up – Susan Bell
Innovation in Postgraduate Teaching Award
Winner – Terrie-Lynn Thompson
Runner Up – Simon McCabe
Research Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year Award
Winner – Tessa Parkes
Runner Up – Mirko Moro
Runner Up – Oliver Mallet
Fantastic Feedback Award
Winner – Christopher Hartley
Runner Up – Jane Robertson
Innovation in Online Module Content
Winner – Edward Moran
Runner Up – Keri Davies
Outstanding Support Award
Winner – Damyan Kachulski
Runner Up – David Battersby
Dedication to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Winner – Peter Matthews
Runner Up – Roger Watt
Dedication to Sustainability
Winner – Colin Dey
Runner Up – Hannes Stephan
Best Tutor Award
Winner – Damyan Kachulski
Runner Up – Thomas Collins
Lifetime Achievement Award (will onwards be known as the Kate Howie Lifetime Achievement Award)
Kate Howie
Faculty Officer of the Year
Winner – Ryan McMillan
Runner Up – Linda Axelsson
Student Service of the Year
Winner – Accommodation Services
Runner Up – Library and Information Services
Faculty of the Year
Winner – Natural Sciences
Runner Up – Stirling Management School
This project was partially funded thanks to the philanthropic support of staff, alumni and friends via the Stirling Fund.
RATE Awards 2019
Congratulations to all those nominated during the RATE nominations! Find out all those who won Awards by accessing the 2019 RATE Award presentation here.
To see photographs, from the event, click here.
You can also view our final report from the RATE Awards 2019 by clicking the image below.
If you have any questions about the awards, please direct them to Rosamund Vickers, Democracy & Representation Coordinator, at rosamund.vickers@stir.ac.uk