Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Awards

For more than five decades, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has been the national voice for the graduate dean community. CGS is the only national organization in the United States that is dedicated solely to the advancement of graduate education and research. CGS accomplishes its mission through advocacy in the policy arena, innovative research, and the development and dissemination of best practices.

As a benefit of institutional membership, CGS presents annual awards at the council’s annual meeting to young scholars in recognition of their work and also to member institutions in recognition of innovative programmatic efforts that benefit their graduate communities.

The annual CGS awards include:

• ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education
• CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards
• CGS Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities
• Debra W. Stewart Award for Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education

ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education

This award program recognizes promising efforts in initiating or scaling up innovations in graduate education that occur from admission through successful completion of a degree program, focusing especially on innovations that promise success of a diverse and inclusive student population.

The program is designed to link innovative admissions practices with other institutional practices (including, but not limited to, mentoring, support programs, intellectual enrichment, and social support) that will improve student success once students are enrolled in their graduate programs.

For more information about this award, including eligibility, nomination, and submission details as well as FAQs and past winners, please visit the ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education page.  The Graduate School will seek one nomination for each award from college assistant/associate deans for graduate education during the Spring semester.

CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards

These awards are made annually to individuals nominated by a member institution who have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline. Two awards are given annually in two different broad areas each year, with the areas changing each year. These areas include:

• Social sciences
• Mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering
• Biological sciences
• Humanities and fine arts

Individuals must be nominated for these awards by a CGS member institution.

For more information about this award, including eligibility, nomination, and submission details as well as FAQs and past winners, please visit the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards page.  The Graduate School will seek one nomination for each award from college assistant/associate deans for graduate education during the Spring semester.

CGS Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities

This award, established in 1972, is presented annually to a scholar-teacher in the humanities. The award and the fields of competition are determined each year.

The recipient must be teaching in a North American university, must have earned a doctorate within seven years of the award date, and must have written a book of scholarly importance. Subjects fields are selected annually. Awards have been made in literature, history, linguistics, foreign languages, philosophy, archaeology, and musicology.

For more information about this award, including eligibility, nomination, and submission details as well as FAQs and past winners, please visit the CGS Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities page.

Debra W. Stewart Award for Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education

Created by the CGS Board of Directors to recognize outstanding leadership in graduate education, this award is given annually to a full graduate dean who exemplifies the leadership qualities of the council’s fifth president, Debra W. Stewart.

The selection committee gives serious consideration to nominees with a strong reputation for ethics and integrity, a history of active participation in the graduate community, and a record of strategic vision and actions resulting in meaningful impacts in areas such as, but not limited to:

• Evidence-based innovation
• Program development
• Diversity and inclusion
• Student learning and career outcomes
• Personnel management
• Policy advocacy in support of graduate education and research
• Fiscal responsibility

For more information about this award, including eligibility, nomination, and submission details as well as FAQs and past winners, please visit the Debra W. Stewart Award for Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education page.