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Mentor Award

Eastern Connecticut State University has established the Undergraduate Research/Creative Activity Mentor Award. Faculty are nominated by students who are making a significant impact in their field by supporting and mentoring undergraduate students in research and/or scholarship endeavors. The nomination form will also be supported by the Chair of the nominated faculty members department or another tenured department member.

These awards will be granted to faculty members who mentor undergraduates outside of the classroom, and who are committed to undergraduate research and creative activity, beyond a coursework. Faculty members who have mentored and worked one-on-one with students resulting in work that has resulted in presentation/publication or exhibition are eligible for nomination.

This one-time award of funds (TBA) can be used to further the award winner's research (travel , equipment, professional organization membership) for the following academic year. The awards will be presented at the CREATE Conference (Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern) in April during the opening ceremony.

Nominations for this award must include specific evidence that the nominees have made significant contributions to advancing undergraduate research and scholarship at Eastern Connecticut State University beyond work done as part of a course. The faculty selected for the award will be done by committee. The strongest nominations will demonstrate a commitment to undergraduate research through specific examples such as exhibitions, presentations or peer-reviewed publications. The committee will examine the skills learned by the student as well as the significance of the outcome of the project (regional vs. national conferences). Support from the corresponding department chair/tenured faculty member will also be evaluated by the committee. Those faculty who have demonstrated an established record of successful student mentoring, in addition to mentoring the individual project of this year's nominating student, will receive the highest evaluation.

Mentor Award Nomination

Below is a list of past recipients:

2023

Dr. Steve Michiri (Economics and Finance)

Dr. Allison Speicher (English)

2022

Dr. Vijaykumar Veerappan (Biology)

2021

Dr. Fatma Pakdil (Business)

Dr. Thomas Balcerski (History)

2019

Dr. Scott Moore (History)

Dr. Amy Groth (Biology)

2018

Dr. Courtney Broscious (Political Science)

Dr. Niti Pandey (Business)

2017

Dr. Ari de Wilde (Kinesiology & Physical Education)

Dr. Patty Szczys (Biology)

2016

Dr. Jennifer Brown (Economics)

Dr. James Diller (Psychology)

2015

Dr. Miriam Chirico (English) Dr. Meredith Metcalf (Environmental Earth Science)

Dr. Meredith Metcalf (Environmental Earth Science)

2014

Dr. Mizan Khan (Mathematics) Jeff Trawick-Smith (Education)

Dr. Jeff Trawick-Smith (Education)