Graduate Mentoring Awards

Graduate programs self-nominate for this award. Nominated directors of graduate studies (DGS) may not have won the any iteration of the GMA in the five prior years. The nominated DGS must be in the position for the entire academic year of the competition year (August 16-May 15).

Given the immense academic diversity on campus, there will be no single set of criteria appropriate to all nominees. Nominators are encouraged to think creatively about the many and diverse ways in which the director of graduate studies contributes to the development and support of graduate students. Examples of the kinds of contributions that might be rewarded with a Graduate Mentoring Award include, but are not limited to:

• Promoting intellectual growth through programming, innovation, graduate teaching, and transparency.
• Fostering the development of graduate students’ oral and written communication skills.
• Effective direction of dissertations, including timely evaluation, guidance, and feedback.
• Being accessible to students for discussion of intellectual or professional questions and concerns, communicating with them effectively and respectfully, and encouraging such interactions.
• Educating students in the culture of the discipline and helping them to network with other professionals.
• Providing career counseling and placement assistance, especially possibilities outside of the academy.
• Actively helping students to progress to degree in a timely fashion.
• Excellence and innovation, e.g., in developing interdisciplinary or non-traditional initiatives.
• Promoting a climate of respect and collegiality that enhance the graduate experience and increase chances of success.

Each department may nominate (or self-nominate) one candidate. The nomination can be prepared by the DGS, the head/chair, and/or the graduate staff member. Departments are submitted to the Graduate College via secure Box link. The documents should be submitted as a single PDF file in the following order:

• The Mentoring Award Cover Sheet
• The DGS nominee’s CV.  NIH/NSF or personal CV limited to FIVE (5) pages
• A statement (not more than 1,200 words) written by the nominee describing how they have improved their graduate program with changes to process, procedures, programming, and/or structure;
• Data on the program’s graduate students over the past four years. Perhaps displayed by a table(s) or graph(s). Required information: the number of master’s and doctoral students enrolled each fall (10^th day census), which can be found in Graduate College data resources. Suggested information: demonstration of degree progress, completion, and attrition.
• A letter of support from the department head/chair.

• GC Mentoring Award Form
• Biosketches

Nomination packets will be reviewed by the Graduate College Awards Committee.

Deadlines and Announcement of Awards

• Mentoring Awards Nomination PDF file upload due to the Graduate College: March 1st
• Announcement of Recipients: mid-April

Recipients of the award for the 2023-2024 academic year:

Marisha Humphries, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology (Behavioral and Social Sciences)

Marina Mogilner, Professor and Edward and Marianna Thaden Chair in Russian and East European History (Arts and Humanities)

Pamela Martyn-Nemeth, Professor and Director of the PhD Program of Nursing (Life and Health Sciences)

Ian Papautsky, Professor of Biomedical Engineering (Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences)

Recipients of the award for the 2022-2023 academic year:

Philip Clifford, Associate Dean for Research, College of Applied Health Sciences; Professor of Kinesiology and Nutrition; and Director of Mentoring CCTS (Life and Health Sciences)

Salman Khetani, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Biomedical Engineering (Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences)

Sudip Mazumder, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences)

Elizabeth Papautsky, Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences; Member of the UIC Cancer Center (Life and Health Sciences)

Recipients for the 2021-2022 academic year:

• Daniel Groves, Professor, Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science (Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences division)
• Nathan Phillips, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction (Behavioral and Social Sciences division)

Recipients for the 2020-2021 academic year:

• Ashley Hughes, Assistant Professor / Research Health Scientist, Health Informatics / Edward Hines VA Medical Center (Life Sciences)
• Anna Kornbluh, Professor, English (Arts & Humanities)
• P. Zitlali Morales, Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction (Behavioral and Social Sciences)
• Jie Yang, Professor, Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science (Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences)

Recipients for the 2019-2020 academic year:

• Heidi Schlipphacke, Associate Professor, Department of Germanic Studies (Arts & Humanities)
• Michelle Parker-Katz, Clinical Professor, Department of Special Education (Behavioral & Social Sciences)
• Lev Reyzin, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science (Engineering, Mathematics, & Physical Sciences)
• Tanvi Bhatt, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, (Life Sciences)

Recipients for the 2018-2019 academic year:

• Jennifer Cabrelli, Assistant Professor, Hispanic and Italian Studies
• Richard Gemeinhart, Research Integrity Officer and Professor Biopharmaceutical Sciences
• Chris Kanich, Assistant Professor, Computer Science
• Rebecca Woodard, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction

• Save the forms/documents listed above as one single PDF per nominee.
• The PDF files should be saved using the following naming convention:

GMA_YearofAward_DepartmentNameAbbreviation_NomineeLastNameFirstInitial.pdf 
Example – AY 2025-2026 nominee from History named Charlotte Baudelaire:
GMA_2026_Hist_BaudelaireC.pdf

• Do not leave spaces in the file name.  There is a 2GB size limit on each individual file.
• When you are ready to upload PDF file to the Graduate College, use the correct Box email address below.  Unsure of your division? See the list: https://grad.uic.edu/faculty-staff-resources/academic-divisions/
• The file is secure and only the owners of the Box account (i.e. Graduate College staff) have access to the contents of the file.