Professional & Student Awards
Awards Open:
October 27, 2025
Awards Close:
February 9, 2026
Questions
If you have questions, email
Brianna Smallman.
The Graduate School offers two awards for mentoring: the Graduate Student Mentoring Award and the Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring Award. These awards honor and celebrate faculty members (tenure track, tenure, and professional track) who demonstrate outstanding mentorship of graduate students or postdoctoral scholars.
Quality mentors foster a culture of trust, mutual respect and open communication with their mentees, enabling them to thrive in their programs, feel a sense of belonging and find their graduate school or postdoctoral experiences positive and rewarding. These awards highlight the importance of faculty contributions to graduate students’ and postdoctoral scholars’ academic and career development and build awareness about the profound benefits of effective mentoring.
Eligibility
Faculty members (tenure track, tenure, and professional track) who demonstrate outstanding mentorship of graduate students or postdoctoral scholars are eligible for nomination for an award.
Nominations
Nominations must be initiated by a graduate student or postdoctoral scholar by submitting a letter to a department chair, graduate adviser or faculty member.
The department chair, graduate adviser or GSC faculty member will be considered the official nominator who submits the documentation below. Please see the Documentation section below for directions.
The Graduate School's Online Awards System
Once a student or postdoc has submit a written nomination, the department chair, Graduate Adviser or faculty member will complete the nomination by accessing the Graduate School’s online awards system from this link.
Criteria
Nominees will be evaluated based on their demonstrated strengths in the following areas:
- Commitment: Fostering the development of mentees’ professional skills and growth by actively listening to understand their needs and goals, being responsive and generous with feedback, providing access to resources and professional networks, and being accessible both during the graduate / postdoctoral program and beyond degree / program completion.
- Support: Supporting mentees’ growth and chosen career paths by providing relevant insights, access to professional networks, and advice on professional practices, work/life balance and responsible practices for conducting the expected work.
- Advocacy: Championing mentees by helping them navigate institutional policies, rules, norms, and, if relevant, conflicts or barriers to success.
- Respect: Affirming mentees as whole individuals, being attentive to power dynamics, and establishing and maintaining healthy mentor-mentee relationships through clear boundaries and mutual respect.
Documentation
The Student Awards System will direct the official nominator to upload the graduate student or postdoctoral scholar’s letter of nomination and their own letter describing the nominee’s accomplishments as a mentor. We ask the official nominator to consider these questions:
How have you observed the nominee’s outstanding performance as a mentor?
In what ways has this nominee been innovative or superior in their performance as a mentor?
Please provide anecdotal evidence that supports the nominee’s excellence in this
position.
Have other colleagues (faculty, students, staff) also commented on the
outstanding performance of this nominee?
If so, what is the nature of those comments? Feel free to give some examples of such comments.
Add additional comments, if any, that you wish to include to support this
nomination.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should the nomination and supporting letters be?
There’s no required length. Please be sure that all requested information is thoroughly included in both the nomination and supporting documentation.
What are the nomination categories for the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis or Report awards?
There are three main areas:
Area A — Humanities and Fine Arts
Includes programs focused on human culture, expression, and historical understanding.
Examples:
- Humanities: English / Literature, History, Philosophy, Linguistics, Religious Studies, Classics, Cultural Studies
- Fine Arts: Studio Art, Art History, Music (Performance, Composition, Theory), Theatre and Dance, Film and Media Studies, Creative Writing
Area B — Social Sciences, Business, and Education
Covers disciplines that study society, human behavior, and organizational systems.
Examples:
- Social Sciences: Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science, Geography, Economics, Public Affairs / Public Policy
- Business: MBA Programs, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, Information Systems
- Education: Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, Special Education, Higher Education Administration, Counseling and Student Services
Area C — Mathematics, Engineering, Physical Sciences, and Biological and Life Sciences
Includes programs focused on scientific inquiry, quantitative analysis, and technological innovation.
Examples:
- Mathematics: Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Computational Science
- Engineering: Mechanical, Electrical and Computer, Civil, Chemical, Biomedical, Aerospace Engineering
- Physical Sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Earth Sciences (Geology, Geophysics), Astronomy, Materials Science
- Biological and Life Sciences: Biology, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Ecology, Genetics, Biomedical Sciences
Can I submit an incomplete dissertation or thesis for the Outstanding Dissertation & Master’s Thesis/Report award?
No. Only completed dissertations and master’s theses/reports will be considered. Incomplete submissions are not eligible but may be submitted the following year once finalized.
Who should nomination letters be addressed to?
All nomination letters should be addressed to the Review Committee.
What is the submission deadline?
All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM CST on the day of the stated deadline on the awards page.
How many nominations can each department submit for the Outstanding Student Employee award?
Each department may submit one nomination per category: one for a Teaching Assistant (TA) and one for an Assistant Instructor (AI).
2025 Award Recipients
Graduate Student Mentoring Award
Fernando Llanos
Assistant Professor
Linguistics
College of Liberal Arts
Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring Award
Patience Epps
Professor
Linguistics, Anthropology
College of Liberal Arts