School of Graduate Studies Awards Convocation – Monday, April 19, 5pm to 6:30pm

2010 will be the 21st year of the School of Graduate Studies fellowship program. Last year we gave ten types of awards, presenting more than 50 graduate fellowships with a total value of over $700,000.

Superior Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards:
The School of Graduate Studies gives an award recognizing superior graduate teaching assistants. Faculty and departments are asked to nominate outstanding graduate teaching assistants. There are normally about six recipients each year. They are recognized at our Annual Awards Celebration and receive a small monetary award.

Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award:
One thesis is chosen each year to receive this award. Each academic unit offering the master’s degree with a thesis option may nominate one thesis for the annual competition. There are usually around 60 theses completed each year at UMKC and anywhere from 5 to 10 of those are nominated for the award. The selection is made by a group of faculty representing the Graduate Officers committee and the Graduate Council. The winner receives a $250 award and their thesis is then nominated for consideration in the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Distinguished Thesis competition. This competition is held in the fall to meet the deadlines of the MAGS award. Brittney Scarborough from the department of Criminal Justice and Criminology is the winner for 2009 for "Assessing the Relationship Between Neighborhood Structure, Perceived Disorder and Fear of Crime." Her thesis advisor was Toya Like, Ph.D.

Outstanding Dissertation Award:
One award will be given this year. In some years we have given up to three awards to dissertations representing research in Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and the Humanities. This year there were 36 dissertations eligible for the award and 5 were nominated for the award. The winner of the Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2009 is Dr. Rebecca Seyferth an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. graduate from English and History, for "Experimentation and Transformation: The Dramas of Percy Bysshe Shelley Reconsidered." Her dissertation advisor was Stephen Dilks, Ph.D.

The fellowship categories and their awards are as follows:

Minority Master’s fellowship:
Up to six each year. The award is a 6-hour fee remission for the following Fall and Spring semesters.

Minority Doctoral fellowship:
We give 4 or 5 each year. The award is an 18-hour fee remission for the academic year and a $11,500 stipend.

Chancellor’s Doctoral fellowship:
This is a 2-year award and we give 10 new ones each year. Each unit offering a doctoral degree and each discipline in the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program may nominate one student for this award. Of those nominated, only 10 will be selected. The award is an 18-hour fee remission for the academic year and a $11,500 stipend.

Preparing Future Faculty fellowship:
This is a 3-year award targeted toward exceptional students who aspire to become college or university professors. We give up to 5 new ones each year. The award is an 18-hour fee remission for the academic year and a $11,500 stipend. PFF fellows are paired with a faculty mentor and participate in a wide variety of teaching excellence seminars and mentoring activities throughout their 3-year fellowship tenure. These seminars and activities are also open to all other doctoral students at UMKC.

Arthur Mag Graduate fellowship:
This award was established in the early 1980s through a generous contribution from the Edward Swinney Trust of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. The selection criteria include high academic achievement, evidence of good citizenship and commitment to public service.

These criteria were established to reflect traits possessed by Mr. Mag who was a long-time community leader and benefactor of the University.

There are three new Mag scholars each year. The award is open to doctoral students from the College of Arts and Sciences, law students in the LLM program, and master’s and doctoral students in the Bloch School of Business and Public Administration.
Recipients receive a $15,000 stipend and up to 18 hours of fee remissions.

Dissertation Research fellowship:
Between 5 and 10 of these awards are given each year to students who are the final stages of their doctoral programs. These fellowships carry a stipend of $15,500 and up to 18 hours of fee remissions.