The Distinguished Graduate Mentorship Award honours USask graduate faculty who have demonstrated exceptional mentorship. These outstanding mentors inspire creativity in their students, encourage innovative research, and guide them toward making a meaningful impact on the future. Their influence is vital to the success of graduate students, both in academic settings and beyond.

The Award

The recipient will receive a certificate awarded at USask’s annual Staff & Faculty Awards event and a $1000 monetary award. A plaque listing past award recipients is displayed prominently at the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Eligibility

Faculty members of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies with at least 10 years of supervisory experience are eligible for the award. The term "supervision" is broadly defined to encompass oversight of both artistic and written works, including projects, theses, and dissertations.

Criteria

Excellence in graduate student mentorship encompasses many dimensions. The selection committee evaluates the following criteria, while also considering the nominee's broader impact on the graduate community.

  1. Ability to interest, stimulate and excite students to develop and achieve academic and research success in a timely fashion.
  2. Evidence of supporting students as individuals and fostering inclusion.
  3. Ability to support students enabling dissemination of research, scholarly and artistic work in academic and non-academic venues.
  4. Facilitate students' transition to careers beyond graduate studies.
  5. Evidence of leadership in fostering best practices in graduate mentorship among colleagues.

Each year, the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (CGPS) nominates successful candidates for the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) mentorship award, known as The Dr. Suning Wang Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship. Nominators are encouraged to review the CAGS award criteria when preparing their nominations.

Submit a Nomination

A nomination package must be no more than 20 pages and include:

  1. The nomination cover page.
  2. Compelling and concise letter of nomination outlining the rationale for the nomination.
  3. The nominee's self-study statement regarding their graduate student teaching philosophy.
  4. The nominee’s abbreviated CV (no more than 8 pages)
  5. A list of graduate students supervised by the nominee.
  6. One co-authored letter from current/former students if not included in the letter of nomination.
  7. Two supporting letters from the nominee’s colleagues.

Complete nomination packages can be submitted electronically in a single file to cgps.eo@usask.ca no later than 4:00 PM by January 31, 2025

Selection Committee

  • the Dean of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
  • the Associate Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning
  • three past recipients of the award appointed by the Dean
  • a representative from the Graduate Student Association

Application Deadline | January 31