Starting in February will enable more students and faculty to participate in the nomination process and usually produces a stronger package. Cast a wide net to solicit supporting letters from students. Successful nomination packages have contained either several detailed letters or as many as 50 e-mail responses. You may want to e-mail either all of the undergraduates in the department or all of a TA's former students to invite letters. The Associate Department Head or the Director of Undergraduate Programs in the department may be able to help you obtain d-lists and class lists.
Some departments poll the students for suggested nominees.
They instruct students to state why someone is a good candidate for the award and then use these comments in the nomination package. Invite as many faculty members as possible to write supporting letters. If a graduate student has worked in a variety of courses, letters from the different faculty members involved can vividly portray a wide range of effective teaching skills. If a graduate student has taught mainly in one course, then number of student recommendations and nature of the course materials will carry more weight. Whenever possible, include materials produced by the nominee.