Student Excellence Awards

The Graduate School recognizes the important contributions of graduate students to the excellence of the University in teaching, research, and service/outreach; thus, annually, the Graduate School honors our graduate students' outstanding achievements through student awards for Excellence in Teaching, Excellence in Research, and Excellence in Service/Outreach. All nominees for Graduate School Excellence Awards will automatically be considered for the University Awards for Student Excellence.

All nominations for the three excellence awards will automatically be considered for the University and Chancellor Awards for Student Excellence.

Graduate Student Awards for Excellence in Teaching

The Graduate School honors the special achievements of those graduate students who serve as teaching assistants and instructors through a program of awards. Nominations are invited from all graduate programs; recipients of the awards will represent a variety of teaching approaches in diverse subjects.

Teaching Excellence awardees will receive a gift and a certificate of achievement. They will also be recognized in Inside-BU and, if graduating in the academic year, in the commencement program.

Awards are given once a year to ten to fifteen graduate students who have been nominated by their department and selected by a panel consisting of faculty and a representative of the Graduate School.

Nominations will be made by the program's graduate director. Each program may nominate only two graduate student instructors per year. Nominations must contain a current vita of the nominee and other justification for the award. Supporting evidence must include a one-page statement of teaching approach and philosophy written by the nominee, and may also include some or all of the following: letters from faculty who have supervised the graduate student's teaching; sets of teaching evaluations; letters from students or former students of the graduate student; a representative sample of handouts, assignments and exams designed by the instructor as appropriate.

Nominations for this award should be submitted to the Assistant Dean for Degree Process in AD 134 by the annually stated deadlines provided in the Awards Calendar.

Helpful Hints for for Nominating Graduate Students for BU or External Awards


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Graduate Student Awards for Excellence in Research

The Graduate School recognizes Research Excellence by graduate students with a set of awards designed to recognize the wide variety of approaches to the advancement of knowledge on the Binghamton campus and the important role played by graduate students in research at the University.

Research Excellence awardees will receive a gift and a certificate of achievement. They will be recognized in Inside BU and notation in the commencement program.

Awards are given once a year to ten to fifteen graduate students. They are nominated by their department and selected by a panel consisting of faculty and a representative of the Graduate School.

Nominations will be made by the program's graduate director. Each program may nominate only two graduate students per year. Nominations must contain a current vita of the nominee and other justification for the award. Supporting evidence must include some or all of the following: concise statement (from nominee) of research interest including goal and subject of research; letters from faculty who have directed the student's research specifying its original contribution to knowledge in the field or exceptional collaboration with a research team; off-prints of publications or other material illustrating the quality of work and productivity of the student's research/scholarship/creative endeavors; letters from other graduate students regarding departmental presentations, seminars, etc., given by the nominee.

Nominations for this award should be submitted to the Assistant Dean for Degree Process in AD 134 by the annually stated deadlines provided in the Awards Calendar.


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Graduate Student Awards for Excellence in Service/Outreach

The Graduate School honors the special achievements of those graduate students who distinguish themselves in the areas of service to their department/academic program, school, and/or the University. We will also recognize students who have made outstanding contributions through their efforts to reach out to the community beyond the University by applying their skills, knowledge and experiences related to their graduate education. Nominations are invited from all graduate programs; recipients of the awards will represent a variety of service and outreach activities across the University and community.

Service and Outreach Excellence awardees will receive a gift and a certificate of achievement. They will also be recognized in Inside BU and notation in the commencement program.

Awards are given once a year up to ten to fifteen graduate students. They are nominated by their department and selected by a panel consisting of graduate students, faculty and a representative of the Graduate School.

Nominations will be made by the program's graduate director. Each program may nominate only two graduate students per year. Nominations must contain a current vita of the nominee and other justification for the award. Supporting evidence must include a statement of the nature and extent of the service and/or outreach activities. In the case of outreach activities the statement must indicate how this outreach reflects or depends upon the student's knowledge, skills, and abilities that result from their graduate education. While outreach activities of all types represent important contributions to society, the Excellence Awards for Outreach are intended to honor outreach of a professional nature. Supporting materials must also include some or all of the following: letters from students, staff, faculty or others familiar with the nominee's work, statements from those affected by the service/outreach efforts; any other documentation of the impact of the service/outreach efforts.

Nominations for this award should be submitted to the Assistant Dean for Degree Process in AD 134 by the annually stated deadlines provided in the Awards Calendar.


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Distinguished Dissertation Awards

Distinguished Dissertation Awards are awarded annually at commencement. Up to seven awards have been established through the Binghamton University Foundation in recognition of superior work by doctoral students.

Nominations for these awards may be made by directors of graduate programs. The nominations must include letters of support from the Director of Graduate Studies of the program and from the dissertation advisor. These letters should specify the original contribution to the discipline made by the dissertation. At least one complete copy of the dissertation must accompany the nomination. The nomination may precede the defense if the Director of Graduate Studies can certify that the dissertation will be successfully defended before commencement. Other supporting materials (a curriculum vita for the student, written comments from members of the dissertation committee) are welcome.

Each program may nominate only one dissertation. Programs are requested to nominate dissertations of truly superior quality and unusual distinction. A minimal qualification would be that at least part of the dissertation is of publishable quality in its submitted form.

Nominations for this award should be submitted the Assistant Dean for Degree Process in AD 134 by the annually stated deadlines provided in the Awards Calendar.

A campus-wide panel of faculty from Binghamton will serve as the Distinguished Dissertation Awards Committee. Each program that nominates a dissertation must arrange to have a faculty member from their discipline, who was not a member of their nominee's dissertation committee, serve on the campus-wide committee.


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