CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The Graduate Student Senate proudly announces the ninth annual Outstanding Faculty Mentor awards. These awards are designed to honor faculty members whose dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate training have made a significant contribution to the quality of life and professional development of graduate students in arts and sciences at Washington University.

All graduate students and alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) are invited to nominate candidates for these special honors. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion and recognize a faculty member who, in your judgment, is an exemplary mentor and deserves acknowledgment.

From your nominations, the Faculty Mentor Awards Committee selects mentors to receive Special Recognition. From among these recognized mentors, a limited number of truly outstanding nominations are awarded the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. All awards will be determined based on the nominee’s specific qualities, actions, and abilities that distinguish him or her as a model of mentoring.

All award recipients, as well as all graduate students, alumni, fellow faculty, and staff members, will be invited to attend the award ceremony and reception on April 23, 2008.

See GSS Calendar for Nomination Deadline

WHO IS AN ELIGIBLE MENTOR?

All arts and sciences faculty who have mentored a graduate student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are eligible. Please note: there is a period of ineligibility for past recipients of the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. Any mentor honored with the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award will not be eligible for the award for the following two years. This does not affect their eligibility for Special Recognition and should not deter you from nominating such mentors. Please refer to the past winners portion of this website for a list of past winners.

MENTORING AWARDS CRITERIA

The sole requirement for these awards is the outstanding mentoring of a graduate student, and outstanding mentoring comes in many forms. The following are examples of qualities and practices which can contribute to good mentoring. These characteristics are listed in no particular order of importance, and a mentor need not display all of these qualities:

1. Cultivates the long-term development from student to colleague.
2. Encourages students to develop individual talents and strengths by acting as an advisor and guide in research.
3. Facilitates students in acquiring the skills and resources needed to succeed as scholars and as professionals.
4. Sponsors students and their work in and beyond the campus community, including supporting student attendance and participation at conferences.
5. Acts as an advocate and leader in administrative and professional matters, such as publishing, grant writing, presentation of research findings, post-doctoral options and job placement.
6. Demonstrates respect and a sincere and active interest in the well-being of students.
7. Cultivates understanding and appreciation of diversity in mentoring to the individual student.
8. Fosters understanding and appreciation of diversity in mentoring the individual student

The faculty nominee must have mentored one or more GSAS students. The nominator must have been mentored by the nominee (although it is not necessary that the nominee be the nominator’s principal research advisor).

HOW TO NOMINATE A CANDIDATE

• Fill out a nomination form via the web or print a paper form (PDF) and send it to the Mentoring Awards Committee (see address below). You may also email your nomination to the committee.
• In nominating your mentor, the committee suggests you address at least three of these characteristics in a document no longer than 600 words (approximately 200 words per qualification). While you are certainly encouraged to keep your comments brief, make sure you address clearly and fully each qualification by providing appropriate and relevant details about your chosen mentor. Finally, as you write, please indicate which qualification you are specifically addressing.
• If you choose, you may forward the nomination form on to other students or alumni who have also been mentored by the nominee (though this is optional).
• Submit the completed nominations by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 7th, 2008. If you are submitting a paper nomination, send it through regular or campus mail to:
  Mentoring Awards Committee
  c/o Graduate Student Senate
  Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
  Campus Box 1187;
  or fax it to (314) 935-4887.

Please send any questions or comments about the Faculty Mentor Awards to gss@artsci.wustl.edu with FMAC QUESTION in the subject line. Thanks!