Pitt’s Office of the Provost is instituting a new honor—the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring—to recognize graduate faculty members for excellence in mentoring doctoral students.

Each award will include a $2,500 cash prize. Up to four awards will be made each year, and awardees will be honored publicly.

Graduate faculty members who supervise graduate students pursuing Ph.D. degrees or other research doctoral degrees such as the Ed.D. or the Dr.P.H. are eligible to be nominated.

The deadline for nominations is Feb. 1. Nominations should be sent to Patricia Beeson, vice provost for graduate studies, 809 Cathedral of Learning, or via e-mail to Carrie Sparks at sparks@provost.pitt.edu.

An awards committee appointed by Provost James V. Maher will evaluate nominations and recommend a slate of winners to him. Honorees will be announced before the end of the term.

The awards guidelines, mailed to faculty last month, note that, “Training the next generation of professional scholars is a vital part of the academic mission of the University of Pittsburgh. Fundamental to the success of the enterprise are the faculty members who serve as mentors to our graduate students. Ideally, faculty mentors provide intellectual and personal leadership that helps to support, encourage, and promote the personal and professional development of his or her students. This relationship is expected to provide a foundation for a student’s career long after the degree has been granted.”

For more information on nominating faculty for the awards, call 412-624-0790 or e-mail beeson@pitt.edu.