You are invited to nominate your unit’s outstanding graduate students for a 2012-2013 Graduate Assistant Award for a fellowship listed below*. Students may not be nominated for these awards if they will be concurrently receiving a Cooper Sharpless or William Curtis Fellowship. All applications are to be received by the appropriate office by noon on June 15.
TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS:
Milton E. Mohr & Farmers National Fellowships
(Form located at http://casnr.unl.edu/forms)
The purpose of these two teaching fellowships is to enhance the educational experience of our graduate students, giving attention to teaching as well as other competencies. The teaching fellowships will provide a $2,000 award to either a M.S. or a Ph.D. candidate. Guidelines for teaching fellowships are as follows are applicable to both the Milton E. Mohr and Farmers National Awards:
• Students currently on either research or teaching assistantships are eligible (minimum .33 FTE). The fellowship does not require that a student be on a teaching assistantship.
• Only students with documented previous teaching excellence or those with generally high scholastic merit and teaching potential should be nominated. Preference will be given to Ph.D. graduate assistants, although very outstanding M.S. students may also be considered.
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*Students may apply for both a teaching and research fellowship. Students applying for a research award have the option to be considered for more than one award. No student will receive more than one fellowship (except the JM Fellowship, which may be added to another award). In most cases a student will only be competitive for one of these awards; students and units should carefully select which program to target.
• Students must be nominated by their advisor or Departmental Graduate Committee Chair.
• Unit administrators must forward a ranked list of no more than 4 nominations for the CASNR Teaching Fellowships, approved by both the Chair of the Departmental Graduate Committee and the Unit Administrator. Rankings will be considered as informational to the selection committee. All nominees from a unit will be considered by the selection committee, independent of unit ranking.
• The $2,000 stipends will be distributed on an academic-year basis and are to be an additional stipend over and above the regular assistantship rate for the student’s academic unit or department/school. This is not to be used in lieu of other dollars which the department would otherwise allocate to the recipient’s assistantship.
Additional Farmers National Fellowship Requirements
Farmers National Fellowship candidates shall be pursuing one of the following majors:
• Master of Business Administration with a specialization in AgriBusiness in the College of Business Administration.
• Agricultural Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics.
• Bio-Atmospheric Interactions, Crop Physiology and Production, Environmental Studies, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Range and Forage Science, Soil & Water Science or Water Resources Planning and Management.
• Note: Preference shall be given to candidates who have expressed a desire to pursue a career in the area of farm management following graduation.
RESEARCH AWARDS:
We are using a single common application form (located at http://ard.unl.edu/awards) for all research fellowships. All nominations must include two nomination/reference letters plus an advising or formal transcript of all graduate UNL coursework. Students with less than two semesters at UNL should include a transcript showing the last two years of their most recent academic enrollments.
In addition, the student should prepare
a) A one (1) page description of their research work or plan (12 point font, 1 inch margins). This description MUST include relevant information that demonstrates eligibility for particular award(s); and
b) A two (2) page Vita that, as applicable, includes relevant experiences and/or community service applicable to the award type.
Widaman Distinguished Graduate Assistant Award
Shear-Miles Fellowship
You are invited to nominate your unit’s most outstanding graduate students for a 2012-2013 Widaman Trust Distinguished Graduate Assistant Award or Shear-Miles Fellowship. Only students on Graduate Research Assistantships are eligible for consideration; students paid from fellowship funds are not eligible. Students are eligible to receive the Widaman or Shear-Miles Award once during their academic program at the University of Nebraska. Preference will be given to Ph.D. graduate research assistants, although exceptional M.S. students may also be considered; only students with high scholastic merit and research potential should be nominated. The $2,000 stipend will be distributed on an academic-year basis and is to be an additional stipend over and above the regular assistantship rate for the student's department. This is not to be used in lieu of other dollars which the academic unit or department/school would otherwise allocate to the recipient's assistantship.
For the Widaman Award, nominees may be either beginning graduate students or students in progress, but all nominees must have identified a thesis topic that would clearly be considered "basic research in agriculture" as stipulated in the Widaman Trust agreement. The Shear-Miles Fellowship is presented to students conducting either basic or applied research.
Hardin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
This fellowship is made possible through an endowment in the University of Nebraska Foundation honoring Dr. Clifford Hardin. The income earned by the fund is to support research in plant physiology with particular emphasis on genetic mechanisms influencing plant responses to stress conditions. We are able to present up to two fellowships to exceptional students this year. The recipients will receive a $3,000 per year supplement to their graduate assistantship (payable in equal installments during the academic year) plus $2,000 for program enhancement which could include (but is not limited to) travel as approved by the graduate student's unit administrator. Any graduate student doing research in the general area of plant physiology will be eligible for nomination.
Moseman Fellowship
(Open to Agronomy and Horticulture students only)
The Moseman Fellowship will be awarded to an Agronomy and Horticulture graduate student in the amount of $2,500. Graduate students in the Agronomy and Horticulture graduate program with interests in international agriculture and world food development may apply. The founder of this award specified that students must be U.S. citizens to be eligible for this award.
Preference will be given to students who are working in plant breeding or genetics, although candidates from other agronomic disciplines are invited to apply. Students who receive this award are not eligible for the award in subsequent years; this is a one-time award.
Skala Fellowship
The John and Louise Skala Fellowship is available to recruit and recognize exceptional graduate students engaged in research in areas relating to new industrial uses of agricultural products. These funds are to be used to supplement existing assistantships (GRA or GTA) with awards of $3,000 for M.S. and $5,000 for Ph.D. students. Please note that the recipient must have been accepted into either a M.S. or Ph.D. program, and have been offered a graduate assistantship. Fellowships constitute an award based on academic and scholastic achievement or promise, cannot be associated with any service requirement, and will be awarded only to students doing research in the area of industrial uses of agricultural commodities.
A subcommittee of the ARD Advisory Committee plus the Director of IAPC will review the Skala Fellowship nominations. This fellowship is renewable, but students must be nominated annually.
J.M. Fellowship
The J.M. Fellowship is available to recognize exceptional graduate students engaged in research in areas relating to foods, biomass, biomaterials, bioenergy and biomedical research. These funds are to be used to supplement existing assistantships (GRA or GTA-minimum 0.33 FTE) with awards of $500.
A subcommittee of the ARD Advisory Committee plus the Director of IAPC will review the J.M. Fellowship nominations. This fellowship is renewable, but students must be nominated annually.
Only students offered graduate assistantships are eligible; students with generally high scholastic and career potential should be nominated. No service expectations can be made of the recipient as a result of being awarded this fellowship.
Nomination materials/CV should show that:
• Candidates shall be significantly engaged in extracurricular activities (in addition to presentations, etc.) such as in volunteer work with the community and/or professional societies.
• Candidates shall have high professional standards and morals.
• Candidates shall have clear career aspirations.
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/mqc