Nomination Procedures for College Awards
Awards
Dr. Marion D. “Soc” Socolofsky Award for Teaching Excellence
Dr. Marion D. “Soc” Socolofsky Award for Teaching Excellence recognizes outstanding teaching.
Nomination Procedure: Nomination packet should include a one to two page letter summarizing why the nominee should be selected. Links to any active website pages or CV may be included. Nomination may be submitted by any faculty or staff member or student.
The nominee must be a faculty member (broadly defined) in the College of Science; need not be tenured or tenure-track, but must be involved with teaching. The nominee should not already hold an honorific such as an endowed chair, professorship, or other esteemed award. Additionally, they should embody the pedagogic qualities Dr. Socolofsky was known for, i.e. strong mentoring, student involvement, going above and beyond the classroom, passion for the student experience, and public outreach and also should embody the personal qualities Dr. Socolofsky was known for, i.e. genial, engaging with students, and seen as a resource/advocate.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 17, 2025.
Distinguished Dissertation Award
Distinguished Dissertation Award recognizes a graduate student who has submitted an exceptional PhD dissertation.
Award: $500 cash reward and plaque
Nomination Procedure: Department chairs or department award representatives may submit one nominee for the Distinguished Dissertation Awards to the College. A committee of one faculty member from each department, and chaired by the Associate Dean for Research, selects three nominees that it will forward to the Graduate School as nominations for the LSU Alumni Association Distinguished Dissertation Award. Of these three, one will be selected as the recipient of the College of Science Distinguished Dissertation Award.
Nomination packet must include the nomination form (completed by major professor), dissertation, assessment of scholarly importance from major professor, and a letter from the chair or departmental representative stating their support for the application.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, January 13, 2025.
Download the Distinguished Dissertation Nomination Form
Non-Tenured Faculty Research Award
Non-Tenured Faculty Research Award recognizes outstanding research accomplishment.
Award: $1,000 cash award and plaque
Nomination Procedure: Nomination packet must include the nominee’s CV, at least two external letters, and a letter of recommendation from the department chair. If a P&T letter is used, written consent from the author of the P&T letter must be submitted. The nominee should be a non-tenured faculty member in the College of Science. Nominations are limited to one per department and may be initiated by any member of the department other than a member of the College award committee. A committee consisting of one faculty member from each department, and chaired by the Associate Dean for Research, selects the winner.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 17, 2025.
Undergraduate Teaching Award
Undergraduate Teaching Award recognizes superior teaching in undergraduate courses.
Award: $1,000 cash award and plaque
Nomination Procedure: Nomination packet must include the nominee's resume, numerical student evaluations of teaching for the most recent three years, and a letter of nomination from the department chair. Any other information supporting the nominee's credentials, such as syllabuses, a teaching portfolio, reports (no more than two) of peer evaluation of teaching, or support letters (no more than two) from former students, may also be included. Nominations should be in the form of a single PDF file, addressed to the Associate Dean for Student Services. To be eligible, nominees should not have received this award in the previous 3 years.
Note: We recommend that the student evaluation of teaching results be submitted as the PDF versions that can be downloaded from the “Blue” (“Course Eval” in myLSU) teaching evaluation software. Although all materials received will be transmitted to the selection committee, we recommend that only the most recent three years of available student evaluation of teaching results be submitted.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 17, 2025.
Graduate Teaching Award
Graduate Teaching Award recognizes superior teaching in graduate courses.
Award: $1,000 cash award and plaque
Nomination Procedure: Nomination packet must include the nominee's resume, numerical student evaluations of teaching for the most recent three years, and a letter of nomination from the department chair. Any other information supporting the nominee's credentials, such as syllabuses, a teaching portfolio, reports (no more than two) of peer evaluation of teaching, or support letters (no more than two) from former students, may also be included. Nominations should be in the form of a single PDF file, addressed to the Associate Dean for Student Services. To be eligible, nominees should not have received this award in the previous 3 years.
Note: We recommend that the student evaluation of teaching results be submitted as the PDF versions that can be downloaded from the “Blue” (“Course Eval” in myLSU) teaching evaluation software. Although all materials received will be transmitted to the selection committee, we recommend that only the most recent three years of available student evaluation of teaching results be submitted.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 17, 2025.
LSU College of Science Staff Excellence Award
LSU College of Science Staff Excellence Award recognizes outstanding administrative service.
Award: $1,000 cash award and plaque
Nomination Procedure: Nominations must be received from a full-time staff or faculty member within the College of Science unit. The nomination packet must include the required nomination form, nomination letter, employee's official job description, and a statement of support from the employee's direct supervisor (if the supervisor is not the nominator).
Eligibility & Selection Criteria: The recipient must be a full-time (40 hours/week) staff (non-faculty) member in the LSU College of Science or any of its units. The staff member must have been employed in the College of Science for at least 1 full year (12 months) by April 1 of the award year and may not have received this award within 3 years prior. The recipient must possess qualities that exemplify outstanding employees. They should lead by example and be dedicated, passionate, detail-oriented, positive, supportive, and collaborative.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Justin Ragains, jragains@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 24, 2025.
Download the Staff Excellence Award Nomination Form
College of Science Awards for Excellence in Mentoring
Awards for Excellence in Mentoring recognize faculty members for outstanding mentoring of individuals from underrepresented groups. Two awards are offered each year: one for tenured/tenure-track faculty, and one for non-tenure-track faculty.
Award: $1,500 cash and plaque (for each award)
Nomination Procedure: Eligibility and nomination procedure are described in the document below.
Submission Deadline: E-submission to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 24, 2025.
Download Excellence in Mentoring Award Requirements
Doctoral Student Award
Troy H. Middleton Graduate Scholarships
This scholarship is to support professional development for doctoral students who plan to pursue a career as a college or university teacher of Science. The Graduate School extends 2-3 $1,500 awards each year to College of Science students which should be used to help pay for the student to attend a professional workshop or conference that is designed to enhance teaching skills. The Dean of the College of Science selects the recipients. Once the Dean selects the recipients, we notify the Graduate School of the recipients and the Graduate School extends the award.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Candidate must have passed their General Examination for doctoral candidacy
- Candidate must have produced a formal statement of intent to pursue a career as a college or university teacher of science
- Candidate must identify a professional workshop or conference that is primarily designed
to enhance teaching skills
Application Requirements:
- Nomination form
- Formal statement of intent to pursue a career as a college or university teacher of science. In the statement, the candidate should propose a professional workshop or conference that is primarily designed to enhance teaching skills, which might require up to $1,500 for travel, housing, and registration.
- Candidate's CV
- Letter of recommendation from the Chair, the Director of Graduate Studies, or the candidate’s research advisor
- The application packet should be submitted via email as a single pdf to Megan Klingler, mklingler@lsu.edu, and Gretchen Stein, gstein@lsu.edu, by Monday, February 24, 2025. The packet should include items 1-3 above in that particular order.