Graduate Student of the Year
This award recognizes an exemplary graduate student for their outstanding contributions to their fields and academic achievements. Nominees must be graduate students in good standing (full- or part-time) and have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Students nominated for this award should be able to demonstrate involvement in professional organizations; contributions to UNK through research, teaching and service; and positive characteristics such as adaptability, creativity, curiosity, integrity, professionalism, reliability, and responsibility.
Faculty are able to nominate students for this award by emailing the student's name to unkgradoffice@unk.edu.
Nominations for the 2022-23 school year are due March 1, 2024.
Nominees will be contacted for instructions on how to submit their portfolio for the committee to review. The application is also available here. These materials are due March 22, 2024.
3MT (3-Minute Thesis)
The 3-Minute Thesis is a short, oral communication video of a student’s research for a non-specialized audience summarized in 3 minutes.
To participate in UNK’s competition, graduate students are asked to condense their research into a video presentation of three minutes or less. Students will upload the video, and a panel of judges will watch the entries to determine the top three 3MTs and a single entry that will have their video submitted to the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools’ (MAGS’) 3MT Competition to be held during the 2023 Annual Meeting, March 29-31, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.
Students may submit their 3MT entries or review requirements here.
The deadline to submit is February 28, 2023. Notification of winning projects will be announced March 1, 2023. Competition in the MAGS’ 3MT will be held March 31, 2023.
MAGS Graduate Teaching Excellence Award
The Midwest Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Teaching Award recognizes the importance of teaching and mentoring in preparation for future service.
Nominations of UNK faculty members will be reviewed by the Department of Graduate Studies and Academic Innovation. The entire application must be submitted to Janna Shanno at shannojj@unkedu.
Nominations for the 2022-23 school year are due January 20, 2023.
View the award and evaluation criteria here.
Please note the entire application must be submitted as a single PDF – no exceptions. Excluding the nomination form, letter of nomination and support, and curriculum vitae, the nominee’s Teaching Portfolio is limited to six (6) pages double spaced, in 12-point font with one-inch margins. Applications which do not adhere to submission requirements, including deadlines, page limits, formatting, and video length, will not be considered.
See the Awards page of the MAGS website for additional guidance regarding eligibility, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions.
The Reichenbach Scholarship is awarded by the Office of Graduate Studies & Academic Innovation, utilizing resources from the Reichenbach fund of the University of Nebraska Foundation. Reichenbach Scholarships are intended to provide financial assistance to graduate students who demonstrate potential as meritable scholars. These scholarships are awarded for one academic year, although a recipient may reapply for a second award. Interested students should contact the Graduate Program Committee Chair of their respective department. Nominations of new and returning students are forwarded by the Graduate Program Committee (GPC) of each department to the Graduate Council for consideration. The Graduate Council will then evaluate all candidates and make their recommendation to the Dean of Graduate Studies & Academic Innovation.
Eligibility for this award is limited to full-time graduate students. These students must adhere to the following:
- Award recipients who are also graduate assistants must complete a minimum of six (6) graduate credit hours per semester.
- Award recipients not serving as graduate assistants must complete a minimum of nine (9) graduate credit hours per semester.
- Recipients must achieve a minimum GPA of 3.00.
The nomination Form for New Students can be found here.
The nomination Form for Returning Students can be found here.
The deadline to nominate students for the upcoming 2023-24 academic year is April 1, 2023.
This grant will provide support for student travel to present at professional conferences as well as student travel for work directly related to their dissertation/thesis projects. The award assists advanced Nebraska graduate students in sharing their scholarly and creative work beyond our state lines.
Students should apply for funding at least six (6) weeks prior to the proposed trip.
Instructions to apply through NU Ramp can be found here.
Additional information about conference and research funding available to graduate students can be found here.
Faculty Mentor of the Year Award
The Faculty Research/Creative Activity Mentor of the Year award is given annually to UNK faculty members who have demonstrated success mentoring students through research projects that result in students earning opportunities to present, publish, or otherwise disseminate their research.
Each winner will receive $250 in professional development funds. A mentor from each of the three colleges (College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Technology, and College of Education) and one graduate student mentor will be awarded each year.
View the Faculty Mentor of the Year application.
All application materials should be submitted in person to the Office of Graduate Studies & Academic Innovation or by email to unkgradoffice@unk.edu. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2024.
Outstanding Innovation in Online Teaching Award
This award honors one faculty member a year from the University of Nebraska at Kearney who has contributed significantly to transformative teaching approaches within the online setting to increase student learning and engagement.
Nominations may be made by a student, faculty, or administration. No self-nominations will be accepted. This award is open to full-time faculty who are currently teaching and have taught at least two years of blended or fully online courses at the graduate or undergraduate level, including tenured professors, tenure track professors, lecturers, or senior lecturers.
Nominations for the 2022-23 academic year are due May 4, 2023. Click here to nominate a faculty member for this award.
View the full award description, criteria, award process and requirements for nominated faculty here.
Online Innovation Research Fellow Program
The UNK Online Innovation Research Fellow opportunity was created to foster a culture of scholarship in online learning among faculty engaged in blended/online teaching, and innovative practices. The program brings together faculty from multiple disciplines to investigate best practices of online teaching and learning, provide research-based professional development to the UNK campus and beyond, and assist with an online teaching centered initiative sponsored by the Office of Graduate Studies and Academic Innovation.
Applications for the 2023-24 academic year are due May 4, 2023. Click here to submit an application.
View the full criteria, timeline, and additional information about the program here.
New breakthroughs
The power of imagination
Rich tradition. Bright future.
Taking care of business
