Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award

The Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award (EGSMA) is given on an annual basis, to a member of the UB Graduate Faculty.

Excellence may be demonstrated by advising and mentoring that encourages the best possible performance from students; assisting unlikely or superficially unpromising students through to successful degree completion and subsequent career placement; supporting students in publishing their research and scholarships; and exemplary efforts and success with student placements. These criteria are not meant to be exhaustive, but instead to suggest activities that might be demonstrated in a  nomination package.

To be eligible, nominees should be members of the UB Graduate Faculty and have held faculty appointment at UB for at least five years.

The award winner will be chosen by a selection committee comprised of faculty appointed by the vice provost for academic affairs. The recipient of this award will be nominated by the Graduate School for the “Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award,” administered by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools. 

A nomination package must be submitted as a single, integrated PDF that includes the following documents:

• A cover sheet with the nominee's name and department.
• A substantial letter of nomination from the department chair or academic dean that clearly describes the basis for the nomination.
• Two letters of support from other faculty who can speak first-hand to the mentoring performance of the nominee, and at least five descriptive letters of support from former graduate students who have direct knowledge of the nominee's mentoring quality and impact.
• The nominee's CV.

Supporting letters and evaluative statements should not be mere testimonials; they should provide specific examples of the nominee’s mentoring and its impact or outcomes. A personal statement from the nominee is neither needed nor encouraged.