Glossary+of+Terms


 * < **Convocation** || [|Latin] 'calling together', translating the [|Greek] //[|ecclesia]//) is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose. ||
 * **NISOD Excellence Award** || Since its inception in 1978, the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) has emphasized the importance of teaching and leadership excellence in institutions of higher education. NISOD has worked to serve, engage, and inspire teachers and leaders through our conferences, publications, web services, partnerships, programs, and more.

In 1989, in connection with a University of Texas national study of teaching excellence, NISOD hosted its first ceremony, held in conjunction with our annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, honoring and naming the individuals featured in this study as recipients of the NISOD Excellence Award. The response to that ceremony was so positive that we decided to begin what has become a celebratory tradition. We are indebted to NISOD institutions for their continuing support of this annual celebration. The Excellence Awards tradition allows us the distinct privilege of honoring so many of the world's best in higher education. Del Mar College will be selecting Excellence Award recipients for the academic year whose names are then submitted and recognized in a special ceremony at the annual NISOD conference, featuring a video presentation to honor the recipients. All recipients are featured in the awards booklet and presented with a medallion that has been specially cast in their honor.All full-time tenured Del Mar College employees are eligible for Excellence Awards. || Begun in 1958, with eight awards, the roster of Piper Professors includes outstanding professors from two and four-year colleges and universities, public and private. Participation is by invitation only. To be eligible, candidates must be nominated through college/university President's Office. Guidelines regarding the number of nominations an institution may make, as well as eligibility based on full-time equivalent student body enrollment are outlined in the letter of invitation sent to the President. || ** TED ** (short for **Technology, Entertainment, Design**) is a [|U.S.] private [|non-profit] foundation[|[1]] that is best known for its [|conferences], now held in Europe and Asia as well as the U.S., devoted to what it calls "ideas worth spreading."[|[2]] Its lectures or **TED Talks**, widely disseminated on the [|Internet], are subject to an eighteen-minute time limit. ||
 * **Piper Professor** || Fifteen awards of $5,000 each are made annually to professors for superior teaching at the college level. Selection is made on the basis of nominations submitted by each college or university in the State of Texas.
 * **Aileen Creighton Teaching Excellence** || This award for teaching excellence pays tribute to an outstanding and beloved educator—Dr. Aileen Creighton. The purpose of the Aileen Creighton Award for Teaching Excellence is to recognize an individual's teaching accomplishments at Del Mar College. The award can be presented to an individual in an academic discipline only once in that individual's Del Mar career. The recipient is selected by committees at both the divisional level and at the college level. Individuals who are nominated but are not awarded are eligible for re-nomination. ||
 * **TED** ||