Margaret Ellen White Award Guidelines

Margaret Ellen White Graduate Faculty Award

2007/08 Award Deadlines: Nominations due to the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) by the November 2007 meeting from graduate students who submit their nominations through their department senators.

Winner(s) notified by end of April 2008

Award presented: At the Fall 2008 University Awards Convocation in September.

Contact person: Amy Rogers , Graduate College: 294-5645 or alrogers@iastate.edu

Nomination Form: click here

This award was established in 1985 by Margaret Ellen White to show her appreciation for excellent guidance and encouragement of graduate students. Miss White, now deceased, graduated from Iowa State's College of Home Economics and served as an administrative assistant in the Graduate College for thirty-seven years.

Purpose: The purpose of this award is to recognize superior performance by a member of The Graduate Faculty each year at the University Awards Convocation held during the fall semester.with a prize for $1,500 and a plaque. The award recognizes the effectiveness of major professors who serve as mentors; who enrich the student-professor relationship by support and attention to detail which enables students to finish their work in a timely and scholarly manner. Major professors considered for this award are also expected to provide professional assistance to their students beyond graduation.

Procedure: The Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) has the responsibility of providing nominations to the Dean of the Graduate College by January 1 each year. Each department is entitled to one nomination per GPSS senator, which will be submitted by the GPSS senator(s) from that department. In the case of departments with no GPSS representation, GPSS will accept nominations from any graduate student from those departments. In addition, the GPSS may nominate two others at large. Nominations will be collected and screened by the GPSS which will then forward the top six nominations to the Dean of the Graduate College for further review.

Nominations are restricted to members of The Graduate Faculty who have chaired at least six graduate student committees. The Dean of the Graduate College appoints an evaluation panel of graduate faculty and 2 members of GPSS to select the successful awardee each year. The panel solicits endorsements from former and current graduate students of the nominees. The replies and other corroborative information will be used in the final decision. The process of selection is generally completed by early April and the winner(s) notified by the end of April. The award is presented at The Fall University Awards Convocation.

A list of former MEW recipients is also available.

Click here to read the MEW award frequently asked questions.

If you have questions, please contact Amy Rogers at: 294-5645 or alrogers@iastate.edu.

 The Fountain of the Four Seasons with the Campanile in the background.

The Fountain of the Four Seasons, one of many pieces on campus created by Christian Petersen, has graced the front of the Memorial Union since 1941.