Outstanding Dissertation Award

To be eligible for the 2024 award, the dissertation must meet one of the following criteria:

• It will be submitted in final form to the Graduate School by April 2024 for a degree to be awarded in May 2024.
• It was submitted for a degree awarded in August 2023 or December 2023.
• It was submitted after April 2023, for a degree awarded in May 2023.

Nominations must be submitted using the Graduate School’s online awards system. Nominators are required to solicit all required documentation from their respective nominees and to upload it on the nominee’s behalf.

To complete the online application, collect the following:

• A nomination letter from the chairperson of the GSC briefly describing why the dissertation was chosen for nomination by the program
• Two letters of support from among the following:
  • The dissertation supervisor
  • The graduate adviser
  • The department chair
  • A committee member
• One copy of the dissertation, including the abstract

The faculty review committees will consider both the methodological and substantive aspects of the dissertations, including the:

• Importance/impact of the subject;
• Originality/creativity of the work;
• Quality of the scholarship;
• Potential for publishing;
• Organization of the dissertation;
• Quality of the writing; and
• Other appropriate factors that denote excellence.

Individuals writing letters of support should be encouraged to keep these criteria in mind as they comment on the significance/major contribution of the dissertation and the particular aspects of the dissertation that distinguish it.