Association of Former Students Distinguished Graduate Student Awards

Excellence in Teaching (Master’s and Doctoral) Requirements

1. The nominee must have taught on a half time basis for a minimum of two semesters or 10-week summer sessions during his or her graduate enrollment at Texas A&M University or must be completing the second semester of teaching at the time of nomination for the award. 
2. At the time of teaching the courses in item 1, the nominee must have been classified as a Graduate Assistant or a ½ time lecturer/instructor with teaching responsibilities. 
3. The nominee must, at the time of nomination, be enrolled full-time. 
4. The nominee must have a cumulative graduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher. 
5. Previous nominees may be nominated again, but prior awardees are not eligible for re-nomination. 
6. The nominee cannot be a full-time member of the Texas A&M University faculty or staff at the time of nomination for the award. 
7. The nominee must have had independent authority to assign grades for course work or laboratory sections taught. 
8. Individuals who have had more than five years of full-time professional teaching experience are excluded from the competition. 

The InfoReady application will request the following information (separately saved as .pdfs, 6 total files): 

1. A cover sheet (1 page maximum) that includes:
   • Title stating: Nomination for Excellence in Teaching
   • Name of nominator, department, and nominator’s email
   • Student’s biographical information: Full name, email address, current physical address, and phone number  
   • Student’s UIN 
   • Class year for anticipated completion of current program (required by the Association of Former Students) i.e., class of 2026. 
   • Do not include images or photos 

2. A letter of nomination summarizing the student’s qualifications and why this student should be selected for the award. (2 pages maximum) 

3. Personal information about the nominee, such as an academic curriculum vitae. (5 pages maximum) 

4. Evaluations of the nominee’s teaching by faculty members of the nominating department, peers of the nominee, and students previously taught by the nominee at Texas A&M University. No more than two letters of evaluation in each of the preceding categories should be submitted. (2 pages maximum per letter) 

5. Information about grade distributions for each class taught by the nominee. 

6. Information about courses taught, number of students enrolled, and type of preparation required for teaching courses. 

Please ensure that all materials adhere to the stated page limits; documents that exceed these limits or are otherwise incomplete will not be reviewed. 

Excellence in Research (Doctoral) Requirements 

1. Eligible students include those who graduated in August 2025 or December 2025 and those on schedule to graduate no later than May 2026. Students who graduated prior to the August 2025 commencement are not eligible. 

2. Previous nominees may be nominated again, but prior awardees are not eligible for re-nomination. 

3. The student’s approved research proposal must be on file with the Graduate and Professional School. 

4. Please do not submit copies of theses, dissertations, or manuscripts. 

The InfoReady application will request the following information (separately saved as .pdfs, 5 total files): 

1. A cover sheet (1 page maximum) that includes:
   • Title stating: Nomination for Excellence in Research
   • Name of nominator, department, and nominator’s email
   • Student’s biographical information: Full name, email address, current physical address, and phone number 
   • Student’s UIN
   • Class year for anticipated completion of current program (required by the Association of Former Students) i.e., class of 2026. 
   • Do not include images or photos
2. A letter of nomination, summarizing the student’s qualifications and why this student should be selected for the award. (2 pages maximum)
3. The student’s specific research and scholastic achievements. This information should appear as a separate list. (5 pages maximum)
   • Academic awards, scholarships, fellowships, or other scholarly recognition since becoming a graduate student.
   • Presentation at local, state, national, or international meeting of professional societies or topical conference. Please do not include manuscripts (identify meeting or conference, title of presentation, place, date, and role played by student).
   • Reviewed publications. Please do not include manuscripts (document those accepted but not yet published). List a complete bibliographic citation with authors in the published order.
   • Other publications.  Please do not include manuscripts (books, book chapters, conference proceedings, abstracts, etc.).
   • Submitted publications (please do not include manuscripts; document those still in review).
   • Other research-related, scholarly, creative or innovative activities (techniques, devices or concepts developed; grant proposals written, etc.).
4. Letter of support/recommendation from faculty or colleagues (limit to three) who can attest to nominee's research quality and productivity. (2 pages maximum per letter)
5. Student-written “layman’s summary” of research project, its scientific or scholarly significance and the relationship to student’s career goals Faculty are requested to refrain from editing. Append the thesis or dissertation abstract, if available. (2 pages maximum, double spaced).

Please ensure that all materials adhere to the stated page limits; documents that exceed these limits or are otherwise incomplete will not be reviewed. 

Deadline Dates

All nomination materials must be submitted online through the InfoReady submission portal by Friday, February 13, 2026, at 5:00pm CST. There will be NO exceptions to this date or time. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.  

Instructions for Submittal

The applications may be accessed on the Graduate and Professional School website.


For general questions about the Distinguished Graduate Student Award requirements, please email: grad-award-admin@tamu.edu

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