College seeks nominations for Senior Awards

The College of Sciences is accepting nominations for three outstanding graduating senior awards: Outstanding Scholarship, Outstanding Research and Outstanding Community Engagement.

Each of the College’s six academic departments may nominate no more than one student for each award. The student should be a Summer/Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 graduate.

The deadline for receiving nominations from departments is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12. All nomination packets must be submitted to Jill Anderson (jill_anderson@ncsu.edu) electronically or in person to 2712 Bostian Hall by the due date.

Interested students and faculty should contact their departments’ undergraduate coordinators for additional information.

About the Awards

The award for Outstanding Scholarship honors a graduating senior who exemplifies extraordinary academic engagement. As a college, we strive to inspire students to not just perform well in their major classes, but show an ability to make connections between diverse concepts, see issues from various perspectives, and think creatively and critically. While nominees in this category must have a cumulative 3.75 GPA at the time of nomination, a high overall GPA is not the main criteria. Nominees should display evidence of multidisciplinary approaches to thinking and problem-solving. We are looking for creative integration of knowledge in more than one discipline (can both be STEM disciplines) and a passion for learning.

The award for Outstanding Research honors a graduating senior who has achieved significant accomplishments in the realm of research. As a college, we strive to inspire students to be innovative, creative, critical thinkers and want to honor students who use these skills to add to the body of knowledge in their disciplines. Nominees for this award should display initiative and independence in research, positive contributions to an active lab/research program, knowledge of the field, and an understanding of current trends in their disciplines. The nomination should include what the student accomplished, how it furthered the research project in which the student was involved, and the role the student played in communicating the findings to the larger scientific community. To qualify, students must have at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average at the time of nomination.

The award for Outstanding Community Engagement honors a graduating senior who has achieved significant accomplishments in the realm of service to their community. As a college, we strive to inspire and encourage students to use their time, talents, energy, and intellect to improve the human condition. Nominees for this award should display a passion for making their community a better place. The nomination should include what the student accomplished, what specific community was impacted by this accomplishment, and the scope of the impact including long-term effects. The best nominations will reflect initiative, creative problem-solving, and leadership. Students must have at least a B- (2.67) minimum cumulative GPA to be nominated.