Purpose of the Award

The excellence awards serve the following major purposes:

1. To signal the University’s commitment to excellence in undergraduate academic advising and mentoring.
2. To reward faculty excellence in advising and mentoring.
3. To thereby promote excellence in advising and mentoring among other faculty.

Nature and Number of Awards

Up to four awards may be given in any one year for excellence in undergraduate advising and mentoring by faculty. The committee does not give the maximum number of awards unless there are enough truly excellent candidates to justify such action that year.

Faculty each receive $2,500. A brick inscribed with the recipient’s name is also placed in Mentor’s Circle. Funds for the advising awards come from the Offices of the President and Provost.

Criteria of Excellence

Please nominate individuals who demonstrate the following qualities:

Knowledge – the advisor’s breadth and depth of knowledge about programs and opportunities for students

• institutional regulations and programs – knows about regulations and programs at the University, college, and department levels
• institutional support services – knows about academic, physical and mental health, and other support services for students
• graduate programs and career opportunities – knows about appropriate post undergraduate opportunities

Active Involvement – the advisor’s actions to maintain contact with students and monitor their progress

• actively maintains contact – is readily available to students and maintains open lines of communication
• proactive availability – takes the initiative to contact students to facilitate more timely and effective planning
• continual monitoring of progress – follows students’ progress throughout their academic careers

Interpersonal Skills/Sensitivity – the advisor’s ability to effectively communicate with students and to treat then on an individual basis

• develops rapport and gains confidence of students – is able to convey information effectively to students and is seen as a credible source of accurate information
• develops understanding of students’ abilities and goals – views students as individuals and takes their personal characteristics into account in the advising process
• helps students develop appropriate educational plans – customizes advising and planning to the needs, interests, and abilities of individual students

Positive and Lasting Impact – advisor’s efforts to address students’ lives as a whole and his/her impact on their lives before and after they leave the University

• encourages students’ growth fosters overall growth (academic and personal) rather than just assuring that students fulfill minimum academic requirements
• addresses “long-term” plan – adjusts academic planning to address the long-range goals (e.g., career paths or further education) of individual students
• encourages unique opportunities – alerts students to special opportunities (e.g., awards, study trips, internships) for which they are suitable candidates and facilitates their involvement

Rules of Eligibility for the Award

1. Person nominated must be a full-time UD faculty member, where “faculty” means having either a primary or secondary appointment as an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or full professor. The nominee may advise or mentor undergraduate students in either a formal or informal capacity.
2. Person has not won this award in the last ten years.
3. The nominee himself/herself has NOT solicited this nomination in any manner.
4. Your nomination of this particular person is entirely voluntary.That is, you are NOT submitting it because you felt pressure from someone in authority over you to do so (advisor, current instructor or TA, department chair, etc.).

Retention of Nominations

Nominations are not discarded.They are saved for the next year so that evidence can build up for individuals who are re-nominated.

Deadline for Submissions: March 1.

Nominations received after this date will be considered in the following year.

Selection Procedures

Awardees are selected by the University Faculty Senate’s Committee on Student and Faculty Honors.

The Committee compares the evidence provided in the nominations against pre-established criteria for excellence in undergraduate academic advising. It pays particular attention to nominations from current and past students.Number of nominations cannot substitute for evidence of truly outstanding advising.