Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award

Established in 2002 with Professor Peter Stoicheff as its first recipient, the Distinguished Graduate Mentorship Award aims to recognize USask's graduate faculty who have a reputation of being exceptional mentors. Outstanding mentors not only inspire their graduate students to be creative in their thinking, but also encourage their students to reach in new directions and to positively impact and influence the future. 

The recipient will receive a framed certificate and a $1000 one-time graduate funding allocation awarded by the College of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (CGPS) to support their graduate program. A plaque listing past recipients is displayed prominently in the entrance of the Murray Building.

One award is made annually each spring.

All members of the faculty of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies with a minimum of 10 years of graduate mentorship experience are eligible for the award. 

Nominations must be submitted using the nomination template, in addition to the following, and be no more than 20 pages.

• One introductory co-authored student support letter that includes passionate compelling evidence of why the nominee should receive this award.
• A maximum of two supporting letters from academic colleagues.
• The nominee’s abbreviated C.V.

Excellence in graduate student mentorship has many dimensions. Five key criteria include:

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.

The award winners shall be chosen by a selection committee including the Dean of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Director of the Gwenna Moss Teaching and Learning Centre, three past recipients of the award appointed by the Dean, and a representative from the Graduate Student Association.

January 31 annually

• Nomination template