The GSEE Graduate Excellence Award (GEA) is a three-quarter merit-based research assistantship that will be awarded to individual departments based on departmental diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) efforts. This award aims to assist departments in recruiting, developing and supporting a diverse community of graduate scholars across graduate programs at the University of Washington with emphasis on promoting rich, culturally responsive educational opportunities.
This award is not open for student applications. If you are a student and have questions about this award, please reach out to your department.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, December 15, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PST. ***Please note: This application is now closed for the 2024-2025 academic year. It will reopen again for new applications for the 2025-2026 academic year during Fall quarter 2024.
Award Details
- It is an expectation that this state-funded award is used to recruit historically underrepresented graduate students to University of Washington master’s and doctoral programs.
- Departments must provide a match of comparable funding for the second year of graduate studies. The matching funds cannot come from other Graduate School funding resources.
- In total, this award will offer at minimum two years/six quarters of guaranteed funding to incoming historically underrepresented graduate students.
Eligibility
Departments with state-based master’s and/or doctoral programs are eligible to apply.
The following are ineligible:
- Professional degree programs (Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy)
- Self-sustaining/fee-based programs (evening degree or extension programs)
- Study abroad programs
- Students who hold a temporary or student visa (F-1 or J-1)
Application
All materials must be submitted electronically using MyGrad Program. No exceptions will be made. If all application materials are not submitted via MGP, the application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.
Please ensure the person submitting the application has the correct MGP access at least a week before the deadline.
The following questions should be answered with input from faculty, staff and/or relevant departmental committee members.
DEI Professional Development (2,000 character limit for each question)
- How does your department promote dialoguing across difference (e.g. workshops, discussions, series)?
- Does your department take advantage of Graduate School programming and/or field-specific programming and resources to further diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) efforts? If so, describe how.
Mentorship of Underrepresented Graduate Students (2,000 character limit for each question)
- Describe if, and how, faculty are encouraged, supported and/or measured in mentoring underrepresented graduate students.
- How are faculty/staff being prepared to best meet the needs of all students as demographics change? How is this preparation and its efficacy being measured?
Departmental Funding Match (2,000 character limit)
- Please describe your department’s plan for a comparable funding match for the second year of graduate studies.
Statement from the School/College Dean or the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) (maximum two pages, double-spaced, 12-point font)
- The purpose of this statement is to reflect on how your department’s approach to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) efforts are built into departmental structures and systems, as well as how your department works to address inequities within your field. You may use the following guiding questions as you see fit: How does your department move beyond dialogue into meaningful change? Include how efforts are measured and assessed. If they are not being measured, please share that information and how progress is being made in those efforts.
- How does your department use DEIJ principles to inform policies impacting graduate students? If policies are not yet informed by DEIJ principles, please share that information and how policies may begin to reflect DEIJ principles.
- Please also lay out a plan for meeting the funding match requirement of this award in the statement.
- At the end of the statement, please include contact information (department, name, title, email, and phone number) of the person(s) completing the application.
Questions?
Please email Fernando Puga, GSEE’s Fellowships & Awards Specialist at fernp21@uw.edu or uwgsee@uw.edu or call 206.543.9016 with any questions.
Please note:
- GSEE funding is allocated mostly based on departmental nominations. Please contact your department’s Graduate Program Advisor (GPA) for more information on the nomination process and for additional departmental funding opportunities.
- Due to the state-based funding GSEE receives, students in fee-based programs are only eligible to be nominated for the GSEE Graduate Supplemental Awards. They can also individually apply for the Latinx Scholars Graduate School Fellowship if they meet eligibility requirements. To check if you were admitted or are enrolled in a fee-based program, please contact your department or review the Fee-Based Degree Programs List.
- DACAmented students are eligible for GSEE funding opportunities. Undocumented students (without DACA status) are eligible for the GSEE Graduate Supplemental Award, GSEE Graduate Tuition Award, and Latinx Scholars Graduate School Fellowship. If you are DACAmented or undocumented and would like more information, please connect with GSEE (gomap@uw.edu).
- International students and students enrolled in professional programs (School of Dentistry, School of Law, School of Medicine, and School of Pharmacy) are ineligible for most GSEE funding, with a few exceptions.