ASU Graduate College announces 2019-20 Outstanding Faculty Mentors


January 28, 2020

For 32 years, the Graduate College has asked Arizona State University graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to nominate their mentors for what has become a prestigious and time-honored award.

“What we’re looking for in nominees are faculty members that can demonstrate a long-standing commitment to mentoring excellence,” said Zachary Reeves-Blurton, program manager of mentoring initiatives and professional development engagement at the Graduate College. outstanding_faculty_mentor_award_winners 2019-20 Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award winners Gregory Dawson, Mirka Koro, Tess Neal and Yang Weng. Download Full Image

Kathleen Oakes nominated Gregory Dawson, her mentor at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

“I know if not for him, I would not be a graduate student, pursuing my passion and my dreams. Like Greg's parents, my parents did not go to college. If not for someone like him to help mentor me throughout this process, I would have been lost. His mentorship at the graduate level is the continuation of a long relationship.”

“To me," Dawson said, "our highest calling as educators is to help our students become successful in life and in their chosen fields. As such, this is, to me, the highest honor that the university can bestow, and I am humbled and honored to receive it.”

The Graduate College is hosting the 2019-2020 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 24. Attendees can RSVP here.

The ceremony is not only a way to recognize deserving mentors, it’s also a way for professors and faculty to connect and learn from each other about mentoring philosophies and practices.

“This event demonstrates that ASU places an extremely high value on mentorship,” said Gabriel Shaibi, an associate professor and Southwest Borderlands Scholar at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, and the winner of last year’s Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor award.

The Outstanding Faculty Mentors for 2019-20 are:

• Outstanding Doctoral Mentor, Mirka Koro, professor and director, doctoral programs, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

• Outstanding Master's Mentor, Tess Neal, assistant professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

• Outstanding Instructional Faculty Mentor, Gregory Dawson, clinical associate professor, School of Accountancy, W. P. Carey School of Business.

• Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor, Yang Weng, assistant professor, School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

The Graduate College is dedicated to professional development, of which mentoring is a central pillar. A good mentor is essential to the success of students in their transition to a career, their ability to be a leader and their pursuit of knowledge mobilization.  

A faculty mentor invests a significant amount of time and effort in their mentees. Not only do they help students navigate their academic colleges and scholarly communities, they also typically offer personal support. If students are struggling emotionally or with work/life/school balance, mentors can serve as a support and guide.

“Through these awards we are recognizing faculty mentors that take a much more holistic approach to the mentoring relationship, to the personal, to the career and to the long term,” Reeves-Blurton said.

Faculty mentors include all levels of faculty, including tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure-track clinical and instructional faculty and postdoctoral advisers.

“This year’s nominations are the strongest we’ve had yet — the quality and depth of the student testimonials are very impressive,” Reeves-Blurton said.

Tracy Viselli

Director of Communications and Marketing, Graduate College

480-727-0769

Graduate College Fellows Program: Call for applications

ASU faculty should apply for the Graduate College Fellows Program.


January 28, 2020

The Graduate College is accepting applications for the 2020-21 Graduate College Fellows Program. The purpose of this initiative is to foster interdisciplinary curriculum innovations in graduate education that will benefit graduate students across Arizona State University.

The principal focus of the yearlong fellowship period is to design and develop innovative graduate learning experiences that satisfy core curricular or other kinds of program requirements, including electives, research training, field experiences or culminating experiences, as well as other key areas of graduate education such as professional and career preparation and development. These innovations should have an interdisciplinary nature and emphasize impact. Professor Hamid Marvi works with graduate students Professor Hamid Marvi speaks with mechanical engineering graduate student Hailey Burch and mechanical engineering senior Clayton Brenner. Download Full Image

The program is open to ASU faculty members of the Academic Assembly who work with graduate students and have an interest in designing programs or curricula for them. Two fellows will be selected and collaborations between them welcomed as appropriate. Fellows will spend the fall semester in collaborative design and consultation with Graduate College faculty and staff. In the spring semester, fellows will pilot their curricular innovations. Fellows are also expected to participate in the life of the Graduate College enough to become familiar with its values and strategic initiatives.

Benefits of the yearlong fellowship include:

• The opportunity to conceptualize new interdisciplinary curriculum innovations that will be made available to all graduate students.

• A deeper experience of the Graduate College culture, strategic initiatives and resources that can benefit your home graduate students.

• For serving as Graduate College Faculty Fellow you will receive supplemental pay in the amount of $10,000 ($5,000 each if jointly applied) paid over the period, August 2020 through May 2021. This appointment is in addition to your other faculty and administrative appointments at Arizona State University. 

To apply:

Prospective fellows should apply (individually or in teams of no more than two) submitting the following:

1. A two-page (single-spaced, 12-point font) proposal narrative describing the problem that the interdisciplinary graduate curriculum innovation will address and the rationale for its selection, including a description of how the fellows’ innovation will enrich graduate learning. Priority will be given to proposals that leverage ASU existing resources; focus on bringing together knowledge from more than one distinct discipline or approach; and attend to ASU’s charter priorities of inclusion relative to applicant experience base, student access and public value.

2. A 500-word description of the pedagogical approach to be used in the proposed curriculum innovation.

3. Background on the applicant(s): (a) Three-page CV, (b) 300-word history or experiences with proposed innovation.

4. A letter of support from the appropriate unit director(s).

Deadline to apply: Friday, March 20Submit application materialsCreate one document for your application and include your name in the title of the submitted document.

Tracy Viselli

Director of Communications and Marketing, Graduate College

480-727-0769