Nominations for Student Awards

SBS faculty members and departments can nominate students for several awards each fall and spring semester.

Nomination Deadline for Fall 2023: Thursday, November 2nd at 11:59pm

About the Awards

The College of SBS sponsors five (5) different recognition awards to celebrate the diverse accomplishments of our outstanding undergraduates. SBS student awardees are recognized at the Fall SBS Convocation Recognition Ceremony, and they will be given a certificate and $250 award.

Award Categories

SBS Outstanding Senior Award

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences recognizes one outstanding senior graduating from the College. This award is given to our "best all-around" graduating senior with a record of outstanding academic achievement, a history of active citizenship on campus or in the local Tucson community, and demonstrated capacity for leadership. To be eligible, students must be undergraduates graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 in a major offered by one of the instructional units within SBS. The Outstanding Senior will be invited to give a brief address to the graduating class.

Eligibility:

  1. Record of academic excellence.
  2. Record of active citizenship on and/or off campus.
  3. Demonstrated capacity for leadership.
  4. Must be an undergraduate major in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. AZOnline majors are also eligible.
  5. Must be graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 or graduated in Summer 2023.

SBS Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award

This award recognizes a graduating senior in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences who has demonstrated academic achievement, originality, and creativity in an independent, undergraduate research project. A faculty member must nominate this person. This award is by faculty nomination only. To nominate a student for this award, please write a letter explaining why you feel the nominee should receive this award, including a description of the research project and findings as well as the candidate’s ability to engage in original research. 

Eligibility:

  1. A 500-word statement.
  2. Must be an undergraduate major in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. AZOnline majors are also eligible.
  3. Must be graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 or graduated in Summer 2023.

SBS Excellence in Leadership and Community Engagement Award

This award recognizes a graduating senior who has demonstrated exemplary leadership through their involvement on and off campus and their impact on the lives of others. Faculty or staff may nominate candidates for this award. To nominate a graduating student for this award, please write a letter explaining why you feel the nominee should receive this award, including a description of the candidate’s community impact. 

Eligibility:

  1. Demonstrated community engagement through involvement in student and community clubs and organizations.
  2. Demonstrated leadership skills (i.e., holds leadership positions in UA and community organizations/clubs).
  3. Demonstrated community.
  4. Must be an undergraduate major in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. AZOnline majors are also eligible.
  5. Must be graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 or graduated in Summer 2023.

SBS Tenacity Award

This award recognizes a graduating senior in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences who has persevered in the face of significant adverse circumstances to earn his or her university degree. Either faculty or staff may nominate for this award. As the circumstances of the nomination are of a personal nature, please obtain the nominee’s approval prior to submitting the nomination packet and do not share any information about a student’s medical situation. To nominate a graduating student for this award, please write a letter explaining why you feel the nominee should receive this award.  Please include specific details and examples of the adversities the nominee has overcome. 

Eligibility:

  1. Demonstrated ability to persevere academically in the face of adversity. 
  2. Must be an undergraduate major in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. AZOnline majors are also eligible.
  3. Must be graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 or graduated in Summer 2023.

SBS Student Success Award

This award is given to a graduating senior who is a first-generation college student. Either faculty or staff may nominate for this award. To nominate a graduating student for this award, please write a letter explaining why you feel the nominee should receive this award.  Please include specific details of this student’s academic growth.

Eligibility:

  1. Student is a first-generation college student.
  2. Demonstrated perseverance and success in their coursework.
  3. Must be an undergraduate major in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. AZOnline majors are also eligible.
  4. Must be graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 or graduated in Summer 2023.

Outstanding GTA Award 

SBS sponsors the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant/Associate Award which acknowledges the teaching contribution of our under-recognized GTAs. The award also serves to inform the larger community about GTAs’ invaluable contributions to the College’s instructional mission. To nominate a graduating student for this award, please write a letter that highlights the nominee’s achievements in teaching. Such evidence may include, but is not limited to, efforts to engage students in high-impact teaching practices; measures taken to ensure the quality of student learning experiences; possession of high scholarly standards for both rigor and currency of course content; contributions that have energized and enhanced teaching; and innovative approaches to pedagogy or course design.

Eligibility:

  1. Completed one full term of teaching.
  2. Had major responsibility for teaching a lecture or laboratory class.
  3. Graduate Teaching Assistant/Associate in SBS.

Nomination Process

After a department has determined student nominees for each award, nominations can be submitted through Arizona Cultivate using the links below.

SBS Outstanding Senior Award

SBS Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award

SBS Excellence in Leadership & Community Engagement Award

SBS Tenacity Award

SBS Student Success Award

With the support of SBSRI, we will be using Arizona Cultivate to collect the nomination materials and the nomination portal for departmental submissions will be open until Thursday, November 2ndStudents will have until Wednesday, November 8th to submit their supporting materials. We require a student CV/resume for all five awards, and for the research award, a brief 500-word research summary.

As in prior years, each academic department may nominate only one student per award category. You may nominate one student for multiple awards, but that can still be the only student your unit nominates for those individual awards. Faculty can co-author or co-sign a letter of nomination, but please include only one letter per nomination.

The student must be graduating at the end of the Fall semester 2023 or graduated in Summer 2023 to be eligible for nomination.

Detailed instructions for each award are included in the links above.

Questions?

Email Molly Leiker (mleiker@arizona.edu) and Rachel Small (rachelsmall@arizona.edu) if you have questions or need help navigating Arizona Cultivate.