Undergraduate students are encouraged to nominate faculty members for the Haas and Stiner Early Career Award for Undergraduate Mentorship.  

This prestigious award is given to honor an early career faculty member at GVSU who demonstrates their understanding of their disciplines through writing, research, and active engagement of undergraduate students. Nominated faculty exhibit the highest level of research excellence, mentorship of students, ethics, and commitment to the educational mission of Grand Valley State University.  

Any full-time faculty member who is in their early career at GVSU is eligible for nomination. Nominations must be submitted by a current or past student by Friday, November 13th.

• Materials/packets are due from nominated faculty on Friday, December 4th.
• Nominees will be notified of the award by Wednesday, December 16th.

Students who wish to nominate their mentor will answer five short answer questions on the nomination form, each with a maximum of 100 words. Nominations can be submitted individually or as a group. However, there must be only a single person of contact for each nomination, and group nominations should submit one set of responses. Please use specific examples in your answers. Reviewers want to know what your mentor did and how it made a difference for you.  

1. Your work together (max 100 words): How do you know this faculty member, and what research or scholarly work have you done with them? Include the course, project, or program and about how long you have worked together.
2. Working through a challenge (max 100 words): Describe a time you faced a setback or challenge in your research or scholarship. What did your mentor do, and what happened as a result?
3. Growth as a researcher (max 100 words): Describe a specific way this mentor helped you grow as a researcher or scholar. What can you do now that you could not do before working with them?
4. Impact of mentoring (max 100 words): How has this faculty member supported you beyond your research experience (e.g., academic, professional, or personal development)? Please provide an example.
5. Mentorship of ethical research (max 100 words): How has your mentor shown or taught you what it means to do research responsibly and ethically? Examples might include giving credit fairly, handling data honestly, or treating participants and collaborators with respect.

The awarded faculty member will receive a professional plaque and funding to support their professional development and/or in support of their student researchers. This formal award is intended to be presented at the Faculty Convocation ceremony in February. 

Nomination Form

To be eligible, a faculty mentor must first be nominated by one or more students. Once nominated, the Undergraduate Research Council will confirm eligibility before contacting the faculty member and informing them of the nomination.

Faculty nominees who accept their nomination will submit the following materials for URC review:

1. Statement of mentoring philosophy (500 – 1000 words): This statement should provide specific examples of mentorship of GVSU students.  This should describe how their mentorship is holistic, how they incorporate ethics, and what level of research their mentored students perform.
2. A list of mentored students:  Include student names, current position, project (including whether it was funded as an MS3/S3/Kindschi/URA/Alayont/etc.), and how the project was disseminated.
3. One example of a joint student-faculty dissemination product (ex: a co-authored paper, co-authored poster, co-authored presentation, or appropriate disciplinary equivalent).