The  Graduate School Fellowships are competitive and intended to be used to attract outstanding students to pursue a Ph.D. degree in one of the academic programs in the college. This award provides four (4) years of support if the awardee remains in good academic standing and makes progress in their program. All award recipients will follow the guidelines for accountability as outlined in the CHHP Graduate Assistant Appointment and State Funding Guidelines. All award recipients will have either a teaching and/or research assistantship during the award period.

Coverage
The award is for four years and provides tuition costs for fall, spring and summer. Each recipient must take a minimum of 9 credit hours in the fall and spring, and 6 credit hours in the summer. The recipient will also receive individual health care insurance through the University. The award recipient is responsible for all student fees.

During the four year award, each recipient will be appointed as a teaching assistant for a minimum of one semester, and will be appointed for no less than 6 semesters, including summer, as a research assistant, under the supervision of their faculty mentor/advisor.

Eligibility / Criteria
Students currently enrolled or have been enrolled in a doctoral program at UF are not eligible for consideration.

To be nominated by a department the following are the minimum criteria:

• Baccalaureate degree;
• Admitted into doctoral program;
• Demonstration of academic excellence including competitive scores on the Graduate
  
• Record Exam and undergraduate / graduate GPA’s
• Faculty advisor/mentor identified, approved and willing to serve in this capacity. Faculty must have an active research agenda.
• Candidates and identified mentors are highly encouraged to partake in on campus interviews prior to nomination.

Using a holistic review process the candidate’s packet will be evaluated for excellence in the following areas:

• Evidence of and potential for scholarly productivity: abstracts, presentations, manuscripts, personal statement
• Academic record (GPA, GRE, Institution ranking)
• Professional / Clinical experience

Highly competitive applicants will have demonstrated research aptitude and experience. The review process will be comprehensive in nature with emphasis on nominee’s research experience and desire to conduct research. Priority will be given to students whose mentors have a proven track record of successfully mentoring doctoral students.

Nomination & Review Process:
The following is the process by which award recipients will be selected (see Timeline):

• Each year the college is notified regarding new funds for these awards.
• Once the college has been notified, the College Administrative Committee will determine award amount and announce to Graduate Coordinators.

The nomination packet will include:

• A completed CHHP Graduate School Fellowship Nomination Form
• A nomination letter from the candidate’s potential advisor/mentor. The nomination letter should provide documentation of the candidate’s potential for contribution to the program, to the overall field of study, and to UF by summarizing previous research, publications and scholarly activity.
• A personal statement from the candidate. The personal statement should include previous research and practitioner experiences, what opportunities this award would provide for them, how their work will be aligned with the research agenda of their advisor/mentor, and long term career goals/plans. Personal statement should be specific to this award.
• Doctoral program application.
• A current CV with publications (provide sample), presentations and experiences.
• A minimum of two (2) recommendation letters by outside references noting research and practitioner experiences.
• Departments submit nominations to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A department may submit more than one candidate for consideration. Prior to submitting nominations to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the candidates should be ranked according to the department’s preference and rationale for ranking should be included. The Associate Dean and the GFC Chair will perform a preliminary screening of the applicant pool and will forward the names of the eligible candidates to the Graduate Faculty Committee for full review .
• The nominations will be reviewed by the College Graduate Faculty Committee (GFC) and a recommendation made to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The recommendation will include who is acceptable and not acceptable for the award. Of the candidates who are acceptable a ranking is required.

Award Notification Process:
The following is the process by which award recipients will be notified:

• The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will notify the Graduate Coordinator and Department Chairs who will receive the awards. If a student declines the award, the next student on the ranked list will be offered the award. If there is no student on the ranked list, the process will be repeated but in a more expedited manner.
• The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will notify via email award recipients with copy to Graduate Coordinator, department chairperson, and faculty member. The student will be asked to complete award acceptance form.

Timeline:

Date	Process
January	Notification letter from Provost regarding award amount
February 2	All completed doctoral applications due
5 work days after Feb 2 (Feb 9)	All completed nomination packets for the Alumni Graduate Award submitted to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
7 work days after Feb 2 (Feb 11)	Associate Dean for Academic Affairs compiles nomination packets and provides to College Graduate Faculty Committee for review
8-10 work days after Feb 2 (Feb 12-16)	College Graduate Faculty Committee meet to determine nominees who are acceptable and of those acceptable a ranked list
11 work days after Feb 2 (Feb 17)	Dean, Department Chairs and Graduate Coordinators notified of Graduate Alumni Award recipients
12 work days after Feb 2 (Feb 18)	Nominees are notified via email/telephone of the offer

Nomination Deadline:
The nominations must be received by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs no later than 5 pm on February 9, 2009.

Questions:
If you have any questions please contact Dr. Kelli Brown at 352-392-0578 x1228 or kbrown@hhp.ufl.edu