The Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) hosts multiple awards each year. Selected graduate/professional student recipients are presented certificates and a financial award at the annual GPSS Research Conference. This amount is subject to change on a yearly basis; multiple students are selected for each award/fellowship.

Decision/Grading Criteria 

  • It is up to the discretion of the Awards chair and the Awards committee as to how applications will be assessed and grading criteria each year.
  • Reponses to questions MUST fall within the word limit; reviewers will not read past the allotted word count and the score might be affected.
    • It is in the submitter's best interest to keep responses concise and clear.
  • To prevent bias, those Award committee members who either work with, have a prior opinion on, or know considerably well are recused from scoring this person's application. This means that they will not read, score, or offer comments on the application and the application will be read, scored, and commented on by someone else.
  • Please note that while you may meet eligibility requirements, competitive applications go above and beyond the eligibility criteria.
    • For example, past winners of the Leadership Award demonstrate initiative in creating or expanding leadership roles, and are involved in their department, ISU as a whole, and the wider community.
    • Past Research Award winners have numerous publications at the time of submission and presented at a wide range of conferences. 
    • Past Teaching Award winners often are instructors of courses, may have designed their own courses, or significantly add to existing courses.
    • What is most important is how well you can describe your achievements and provide a concise, concrete application to demonstrate your skills.
  • We strongly encourage any and all candidates to take the time in their nomination form responses and highlight achievements and skills, as this area of the scoring rubric is weighted higher than the CV.
    • Do not just reiterate what is in your CV!
  • It is the responsibility of the applicant to successfully convey the materials in their application. If something is unclear within the application to the Awards Committee, we will not reach back out to individuals to clarify and we will not seek additional material. 
    • All reviews are final.
  • Please see this PDF with the criteria for each of the three awards: CRITERIA
  • Margaret Ellen White Award decisions will be presented at the University Awards Ceremony.
  • Leadership, Teaching, and Leaedership Awards decisions are released at the GPSS Research Conference in a special awards ceremony. 
    • Selected applicants are notified the week prior, so that they may schedule this time and be present to receive a certificate. 
    • Non-selected applicants will be notified after the conference.
    • The GPSS Treasurer handles financial disbursements.