Graduate Student Honors
In addition to Fellowships and Scholarships and Research/Creative Activity Awards, graduate students may be honored through nomination to the Cratis D. Williams Society, Alpha Epsilon Lambda or Who's Who. Read about each of these organizations below.
Please note: Graduate students must maintain a 3.0 just to stay in school, so there are no latin honors (cum laude, etc.) for graduate students.
The Cratis D. Williams Society
Each year in the fall (deadline October 28), the Graduate School seeks nominations for students to induct into the Cratis D. Williams Society for 2009-10. This society is designed to include the top graduates of the Graduate School each year. Five to ten students will be chosen from among the nominees based upon their academic performance, their engagement in their discipline, and their potential for leadership.
Specifically, nominees will:
- be on track to graduate with a graduate degree (master's, specialist, doctoral) in December, May or August;
- be outstanding academically, with a graduate GPA of 3.8 or higher;
- have engaged in or completed a project related to research, creative activities, practical professional experiences, OR service as a significant part of their program of study;
- have shown clear potential to be leaders in academic, workforce or community life.
Nominations should include:
- A letter from the nominating department chair or graduate program director;
- A letter from the faculty mentor that addresses specifically how the nominee's performance in the program and on the project was outstanding, as well as evidence for the nominee's leadership potential;
- A vita for the nominee;
- A 2-3 page summary by the nominee that describes the project and its relevance to the discipline or to society. The audience should be considered educated, but not more than generally familiar with the discipline.
The inductees will be honored with a medallion presented at the Spring Student Awards Reception and will be featured in the commencement video shown at the May ceremony. Video taping will be arranged between
November 1 and February 15.
The nominees will be limited to four from each college or school.
Selection will be made without regard to or quota for program, department or college. It is anticipated that inductees will include: 1 STEM, 2 Education, 1 Arts/Humanities, 1 Business/Social Sciences, 1 Health-related.
Complete nominations should be received in the Graduate School no later than 5 pm on Wednesday, October 28. If more than 4 nominations are received from any one college, we will work with the Academic Dean to choose the 4 from that college.
Alpha Epsilon Lambda
The honor society of graduate and professional school students.
The AEL honor society’s primary goal is to recognize the academic and leadership accomplishments of graduate and professional school students. The mission of Alpha Epsilon Lambda is to:
- Confer distinction for high achievement
- Promote leadership development
- Promote scholarship and encourage intellectual development
- Enrich the intellectual environment of graduate education institutions
- Encourage high standards of ethical behavior
Nominations are accepted each Spring semester, and are due by March 1. To be considered for AEL students should contact their program directors for application information, application criteria and application forms.
Criteria for consideration for AEL are:
- You must be unconditionally admitted to a degree program, currently enrolled, and must not have completed the current degree program.
- A graduate G.P.A. of at least 3.9 having at least one semester as a full time graduate student (minimum 9 graduate program hours), and substantial evidence of outstanding academic scholarly performance (publications, presentations at professional meetings, membership in other graduate honor societies, scholarships, fellowships, research grants).
- Outstanding leadership as demonstrated through involvement in on-campus and off-campus activities during the student's graduate career.
Students are considered for induction each Spring (deadline March 1). You may obtain a packet from your program director. Incomplete packets will not be considered.
The web site for the AEL organization is: http://www.gradschools.org/
Who’s Who Among Graduate Students in American Universities and Colleges
Who’s Who is a national honors organization that recognizes out standing students each year for their academic achievements. To learn more about Who’s Who visit their web site at www.whoswhoamongstudents.com
Nominations to Who’s Who are conducted one time during the spring semester of each year, and are due on March 1. Once the deadline has passed nominations will not be conducted again until the following spring semester. Students should contact their program directors for more information on how to be nominated.
Nominations from departments and programs are based on students’ scholarship, participation and leadership in academic and extracurricular activities, citizenship, service to the University, and potential for future achievement. Only scholarship and activities during a student’s graduate career will be considered relevant to the final decision. First semester students are not eligible.
