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YSGPS Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Awards

The Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (YSGPS) Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education Awards recognize individuals whose exceptional contributions strengthen and enrich graduate education at 91看片网. Together, these four awards celebrate the many ways faculty and staff support graduate students and our postdoctoral fellows, advance graduate studies, and contribute to a thriving graduate education community. These awards celebrate the people whose dedication and leadership make a meaningful difference to the graduate student and postdoctoral fellow experience and to the broader culture and quality of graduate studies at 91看片网.

The awards recognize excellence in four areas: 

  • Graduate and postdoctoral supervision
  • Graduate teaching
  • Graduate studies leadership
  • Graduate studies administration

Whether through mentorship and guidance, inclusive and engaging teaching, leadership and advocacy, or outstanding administrative support, recipients of these awards will have demonstrated a commitment to creating an environment in which graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can learn, grow, and succeed. Award recipient(s) will receive a certificate of recognition and a monetary award of $2,000 as a one-time payment (subject to applicable deductions).

Key criteria: Mentorship of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, graduate student teaching, leadership and administration in graduate studies.

Nomination guidelines

Category

Eligibility

Graduate and postdoctoral supervision

For this award, nominees can be Full or Associate members of the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and actively involved in supervision of graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows.聽

Graduate teaching

For this award, nominees can be TFA faculty members or contract lecturers who are directly involved in graduate teaching.聽

Graduate studies leadership

For this award, nominees can be any faculty member who has demonstrated leadership in graduate studies, and includes Graduate Program Directors, Associate Deans, Deans, and Senior Administrators.

Graduate studies administration

Staff employees (including MAC, CUPE 233 or OPSEU Unit 1) with at least two years of service as of the nomination deadline, employed on a career or term basis.聽

  • Employees must have active status at the time of award presentation. 
  • Participation in the competition is by nomination only.
  • The nomination is valid only for the year in which it is made.
  • Any recipient who receives this award may not receive the same award for the following two years (e.g. 2025-2026 recipients receiving the award in Winter 2026 would not be eligible to be nominated for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 awards).

  • Any member of the 91看片网 Community (faculty, student or staff) can nominate someone for the YSGPS Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education Award. 
  • Self-nominations are allowed.

This award recognizes excellence across the following four (4) categories:

Award 

Criteria

Examples

Excellence in Supervision of Graduate Students or Postdoctoral Fellows

Recognizes a 91看片网 faculty member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to supporting and mentoring graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows as a faculty supervisor. This award celebrates excellence in supervision as demonstrated through meaningful mentorship, intellectual guidance, professional development, and work to foster an inclusive and supportive environment in which graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can thrive.
  • Consistently creating an inclusive environment in which graduate students and postdoctoral fellows feel valued, respected and supported.
  • Providing transformative, individualized mentorship that responds to students鈥� academic and professional needs.
  • Providing extraordinary support to enable graduate students or postdoctoral fellows to overcome obstacles or barriers, and succeed.
  • Creating collaborations, resources or opportunities that substantially expand what graduate students or postdoctoral fellows can accomplish.
  • Consistently and proactively advocates for graduate students or postdoctoral fellows by creating opportunities, removing barriers, and championing interests that contribute to success.
  • Building a culture of exceptional mentorship, through sharing best practices with colleagues, programs and research communities to create benefits that extend beyond their own students. 

Excellence in Graduate Teaching

Recognizes a 91看片网 faculty member or a contact lecturer who demonstrates outstanding commitment to graduate-level teaching. This award celebrates engaging and inclusive teaching practices that serve to inspire and challenge graduate students, encourage critical thinking, and contribute meaningfully to their academic and professional development.
  • Designing and/or delivering exceptionally engaging, rigorous and intellectually stimulating graduate courses. 
  • Fostering an inclusive graduate classroom that encourages critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, respectful debate and independent creation.
  • Exceptional ability to connect coursework with current research and scholarship, professional practice, emerging issues and students鈥� research interests. 
  • Inspiring students to explore new avenues of scholarly inquiry or engage more deeply with the discipline or specific areas of focus.
  • Outstanding responsiveness to students鈥� needs, providing high-quality and constructive feedback that allows students to improve their scholarly work. 
  • Creating meaningful opportunities for students to develop specific skills and competencies, in areas such as giving presentations, writing, leadership or other professional skills 

Excellence in Graduate Studies Leadership

Recognizes a 91看片网 faculty member who has made an exceptional contribution to graduate education through leadership, advocacy, and/or service. The award celebrates individuals whose work advances the quality, accessibility, and experience of graduate studies; fosters inclusive and supportive environments for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; and/or leads positive change within their graduate program, Faculty, or the broader graduate studies community.
  • Leading changes to policies, guidelines or processes to significantly improve students鈥� experiences and/or outcomes
  • Developing innovative program- or Faculty-level initiatives that facilitate student engagement in research or professional activities
  • Initiating changes to program- or Faculty-level processes that facilitate more equitable access to graduate education by identifying and removing barriers, and/or by expanding access to opportunities and resources
  • Thoughtfully and proactively engaging the program community in initiatives to improve a program鈥檚 curriculum to address emerging needs, challenges, or feedback

Excellence in Graduate Studies Administration

Recognizes a 91看片网 staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to supporting graduate education through outstanding administrative service. This award celebrates individuals whose demonstrated expertise, initiative, responsiveness, and dedication enhance the experience of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and programs, and contribute to the effective delivery and continuous improvement of graduate education.
  • Providing exceptional levels of support to members of a program community through clear and responsive communication 
  • Introducing new processes, tools or resources that address existing challenges and/or facilitate a more positive student experience 
  • Proactively identifying recurring challenges, inefficiencies, gaps or barriers and taking action to address them
  • Leading initiatives across programs or Faculties to share ideas and/or work collaboratively to improve administrative processes within graduate programs

The nomination process for the YSGPS Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education Awards follows a two-stage process. If the nominator is a student, they are encouraged to contact the nominee鈥檚 Associate Dean and/or the Faculty Awards Committee (FAC) via the Dean's Office to obtain assistance from a faculty advisor in compiling the nomination brief and the full nomination file. This is to ensure that the nomination reflects a full scope of the nominee鈥檚 activities.

Stage 1 - Nomination Brief

  1. The nominator will obtain the nominee鈥檚 permission (verbal).
  2. Prepare, in collaboration with the nominee, a Nomination Brief (maximum one page). The Nomination Brief should clearly address the nominee鈥檚 achievements according to each of the awards criteria. Should the nomination advance to Stage 2, this Brief will serve as an executive summary of the full awards package.
  3. Submit the Nomination Brief in the Online Nomination Portal by the specified deadline for consideration (Nov 10). The YSGPS Selection Committee will inform the nominators who have been selected to move forward to the second stage of the nomination process. 

Stage 2 - Full Nomination Package

  1. Once notified that their nominee has been selected to move forward, the nominator will compile a Full Nomination package detailing the nominee鈥檚 record of accomplishments, including letters of support.
  2. Nominees will be prompted by email to log in to the Online Nomination Portal to provide their consent and accept the nomination.  Nominators and the YSGPS Selection Committee are strongly encouraged to confirm that nominees have received the email prompt and have provided their consent before the deadline.
  3. The nominator will complete the nomination package as described below. 
  4. The nominator will submit the nomination package via the Online Nomination Portal on the Recognition website. The Nomination brief also serves as part of the package and can be updated at this stage, if the nominator wishes. 

A completed stage 1 nomination includes:

  • A Nomination Brief (one page maximum) prepared by the nominator, submitted in Stage 1 of the nomination process. Once the nomination is approved to  proceed to Stage 2,  the nominator will have the opportunity to revise the nomination brief. Please be clear which category your nomination is for  (i.e., Graduate and postdoctoral supervision, Graduate teaching, Graduate studies leadership, Graduate studies administration). 

A completed stage 2 nomination includes:

  • A Nomination Brief (one page maximum) prepared by the nominator, submitted in Stage 2 of the nomination process. At this stage, the nominator will have the opportunity to revise the Stage 1 nomination brief. The revised nomination brief should serve to summarize and contextualize the evidence included and provide references that help direct the committee鈥檚 attention. 
  • Citation (100 word maximum). Highlight why the nominee deserves this award and any notable achievements. This citation will be included in related university communications should the nominee or team be selected.
  • Supporting Statement (two-page maximum). Describe the nominee鈥檚 achievements and impact, keeping in mind that outstanding contributions to graduate education can be demonstrated through sustained positive behaviour, advancement of graduate opportunities and success of graduate students.
  • Two letters of support (one page maximum each). Letters of support can be written by anyone who can speak to the nominee's achievements and contributions relevant to the award, such as faculty members, staff members, graduate students, or postdoctoral fellows. Provide examples related to the criteria of why the nominee should receive the award. Those writing letters should disclose their relationship to the nominee (e.g., individual who has team-taught with the nominee, current student, research assistant, working under nominee鈥檚 supervision).

The YSGPS Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education Award recipient is selected by the YSGPS Selection Committee. The YSGPS Selection Committee has an overarching goal of advancing excellence in graduate studies at 91看片网 by ensuring that high-quality candidates whose achievements meet or exceed the award criteria are selected for available awards.

The YSGPS Selection Committee will recommend the awardee to the vice-provost and dean, YSGPS.

The vice-provost and dean, YSGPS, will write congratulatory letters to all recipients.

An award will not be given if, in the committee's opinion, there is no suitable candidate who meets the criteria.

November 10 by noon: All Nomination Briefs are to be submitted online.

November 20: Deadline for the YPGPS committee to notify nominators and nominees which packages are advancing to Stage 2.  All nominees/nominators not moving forward must be informed by this date.

By noon on December 9, all completed nomination files must be submitted online. Nominees must accept nomination by this deadline to be considered. 

January 18: Deadline for the YSGPS committee to complete their deliberations. The Committee reserves the right not to confer any category of the YSGPS Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education Awards in any given year if no suitable candidate is identified. 

January 29: The results are communicated to the recipient, their nominator, and all unsuccessful nominees and their nominators.

Award presentation: Toronto Met Awards Gala

Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Natasha Mills
Coordinator, Graduate Scholarships and Awards
natasha.mills@torontomu.ca

Celebration details

This award is celebrated at the Toronto Met Awards Gala.