Send in Your Nominations for the GSG Excellence Awards
Written by Chris Pasion, graduate assistant to The Graduate School.
Looking for greater recognition in your research and graduate endeavors? Want something that will boost both your confidence and your resume? Graduate Student Government is providing amazing opportunities for you through their Excellence Awards, which are now receiving nominations in full swing.
The Excellence Awards have undergone some changes, expansions, and new additions this year, with subcategories being added to a few of the awards. Speaking to this, Chan, the GSG’s vice president, says, “Supporting our graduate students and providing community and resources to them is our driving force. The awards are a big part of this, and we are very proud of how they've been developed and how flexible we all try to be in support of our graduate students. We hope to see plenty of applicants this year.”
This year, the Excellence Awards include:
Graduate Student Association of the Year Award
This award honors a departmental and/or college-level GSA that has been particularly active in helping its students through workshops and/or community-building activities. This award is offered as a way to encourage community-building across the entire campus. The winning GSA will receive $300 to add to their budget.
Exemplary Service Award
This award category honors students who accomplish compelling and outstanding acts of community building, global engagement, collaboration, and service. Students should have worked hard in serving their department, UC, or the Cincinnati community. Examples include non-profit work and other volunteer efforts. The GSG hopes to honor the many different ways that students choose to help others by volunteering their time. The recipient of this award receives $300.
Exemplary Scholarship Awards
There are three awards in this category that recognize students in (1) STEM, (2) Humanities, Social Sciences, and Human Services, and (3) Fine and Performing Arts. These awards recognize students who have reached high academic achievement either in the classroom or in their research. The GSG wishes to encourage students to attain high scholarly standards and honors their achievements with this award. Each recipient will receive $300.
Exemplary Initiative Award
This award is bestowed upon the student who exhibits the guiding principles of leadership, citizenship, and partnership. It is meant for students who come up with new ideas implemented to better their department, UC, or the Cincinnati community. An example would be starting a new program or activity at UC that has been extremely helpful for other students. By offering this award, the GSG wishes to promote leadership initiatives and encourage students to develop leadership skills. This award grants the recipient $300.
Outstanding International Graduate Student Award
This award recognizes students who have demonstrated the unique ability to excel in graduate school while adjusting to a different culture. The recipient of this award not only excels academically, but also demonstrates exceptional leadership capabilities, global citizenship, stewardship, and partnership in the community. The recipient of this award, which is sponsored by UC International, is granted $400.
Award for Advancement of Diversity and Inclusion in Academia
This award is new to the Excellence Awards lineup and is granted to individuals whose efforts exhibit the principles of innovation, inclusion, and impact. The award, which grants the recipient $400, is for those that champion acts that challenge existing paradigms, engage people with diverse ideas, and transform our society for the good of all people.
Risk Management Awareness Award
The award with the highest monetary value is the Risk Management Awareness Award. The winner of this award will receive $1000, and the runner up will receive $200. This award, which is sponsored by the UC Department of Enterprise Risk Management, is meant to recognize students who effectively manage the risk involved when doing their research and projects. The award guidelines for this award are different than the other Excellence Awards, so be sure to read the criteria that are specific to this one when filling out your nomination.
For each award, the nominee is expected to write a narrative cover letter explaining why they would be a good candidate for the award. Additionally, each nominee is required to submit two letters of recommendation (for all awards other than the Risk Management Award) and a CV. Visit the Excellence Awards page for more information.
The deadline to apply for these awards is January 29th, 2021 by 5pm. Please follow application instructions carefully and submit your nominations through the online nomination form found here.