Excellence in Mentoring Award

The NARST Excellence in Mentoring Award (EMA) recognizes an exceptional mentor from the NARST community who has impacted graduate student growth both professionally and personally. We are seeking nominations that highlight mentors who have supported graduate students with the technical aspects of graduate school such as entering academia, supporting the development of the graduate students research, and scholarly repertoire. Along with professional development, this award recognizes the importance of socioemotional mentoring and the personal challenges faced while working to obtain an advanced degree.

Past Awardees include:

2026: Dr. Angela Chapman, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
2025: Dr. Ron Blonder, Weitzmann Institute
2024: Dr. Janet Carlson, Stanford University

Nominations

Mentees who choose to nominate a mentor must be a current graduate student or have graduated within the past academic year AND a member of NARST. The mentor they nominate should also be a member of NARST. All application materials should be submitted in the following Google Form as either Word documents or PDFs: https://forms.gle/B1XzTX8dcQo9FMMn8

Nominations should include the following:

The mentee nominator must write a two-page letter of nomination addressing the exceptional mentor selection criteria. A mentee nominator can only nominate one mentor per cycle.
The mentor being nominated will provide a statement (max: 1 page) that describes the impact of and types of socioemotional support they provide to their mentees. The statement should be written by the mentor nominee and must include the statement “I am a current and active NARST member. I am not currently an elected NARST Board of Directors member”
Include a 2-3 page abbreviated CV for the mentor nominee; consider highlighting mentorship activities.
One (1) additional letter of support (max: 2 pages) discussing the socioemotional support of the mentor.

Note that all nomination documents should be formatted using 1 inch margins, single-spaced, and using font no smaller than size 11.

In evaluating the applications, the EMA subcommittee of the GSC will consider the following:

Score	3 Very strong	2 Moderately strong	1 Less strong
Assisting with knowledge or skills pertinent to the mentees’ interests This support may be outside of academia, dependent on the mentee's interests	Mentor assists with multiple experiences: research writing, reading, grants, practitioner-related activities or others.	Mentor assists with two experiences: research, writing, reading activities, grants, practitioner-related activities or other.	Mentor assists with one experience: research, writing, reading activity, grants, practitioner-related activities, or other.
Providing opportunities for collaboration on research or teaching	Mentor provides multiple opportunities for Co-authoring publications, co-presenting at conferences, co-teaching courses, and co-leading PD. The Mentor involves the mentees in their research and supports them in developing their projects.	Mentor provides some opportunities for teaching courses/PD or presenting at conferences. Mentee is involved in their advisors’ research.	Mentor rarely provides the opportunity for the mentee to lead in classes or engage in research.
Supporting students’ social networking	Mentor provides multiple opportunities for students: Goes out of their way to 1) facilitate networking at conferences, 2) across disciplines, across locations (universities, etc.); 3) encourage students to pursue PD opportunities with peers (i.e., Abell, Basu, etc.) 4) Other (please specify the connection)	Mentor provides connections when convenient 1)at conferences, 2) across disciplines, across locations (universities, etc.); 3) pursuing PD opportunities with peers (i.e., Abell, Basu, etc.)4) Other (please specify the connection)	Mentor rarely provides connections: connections 1) at conferences, 2) across disciplines, across locations (universities, etc.); 3) pursuing PD opportunities with peers (i.e., Abell, Basu, etc.) 4) Other (please specify the connection)
Supporting emotional well-being	Mentor always provides multiple and varied spaces to vent, be listened to, and consider options to move forward; consistently has an asset perspective of the student and their work; supportive to any/all students regardless of race, religion, gender, orientation; connecting to campus resources for counseling; and supporting a sense of belonging among other faculty and graduate students.	Mentor usually, or when prompted, provides space to vent, be listened to, and consider options to move forward; supportive for minoritized students; connecting to campus resources for counseling; and supporting a sense of belonging.	Mentors sometimes, or rarely, provide space to vent, be listened to, and consider options to move forward; supportive of minoritized students, connecting to campus resources for counseling, or supporting a sense of belonging.
Serving as a professional role model	Mentor always demonstrates or models integrity, leadership, respect for ALL individuals (DEI), emotional intelligence, AND a high level of productivity (publishing, research projects, grant funding, and/or teaching) salient to the type of research institution	Mentor often demonstrates or models integrity, leadership, respect for ALL individuals (DEI), emotional intelligence, AND a high level of productivity (publishing, research projects, grant funding, and/or teaching) salient to the type of research institution	Mentor sometimes demonstrates or models integrity, leadership, respect for ALL individuals (DEI), emotional intelligence, AND a high level of productivity (publishing, research projects, grant funding, and/or teaching) salient to the type of research institution
Duration of relationship (not scored criteria)	3-5+ years	1-2 years	<1 year