The purpose of the Faculty Excellence Awards is to recognize the extraordinary contributions and quality service of full and part-time faculty members supporting the mission of Golden West College. Each month a designated constituency will have the opportunity to honor faculty who are committed to excellence in the areas of faculty performance:
Monthly nominations will be collected as follows:
| MONTH | CATEGORY | NOMINATING GROUP |
| SPRING | ||
| February | General | Classified Professionals |
| March | Innovation | Faculty, Department Chairs, Deans, Managers |
| April | ELSA (Excellence in Leadership & Service) | Faculty & Committee Chairs |
| May | General | ASGWC - students |
| FALL | ||
| September | Peer Excellence in Teaching | Faculty (full and part-time) |
| October | ELSA (Excellence in Leadership & Service) | Deans, Department Chairs, Managers, & Classfied Professionals |
| November | General | ASGWC - students |
| December | Final GWC Teacher of the Year | The final winner will be selected from these monthly Faculty Excellence Award recipients |