Strong mentoring support is a key factor in graduate student success both during and after graduate study. Training the next generation of researchers is a vital part of the academic mission of the University of Vermont. Fundamental to such success are the faculty members who serve as mentors to our Ph.D. students. Students who enjoy effective mentoring tend to be more productive as well as more involved in their programs. Faculty mentors offer intellectual and personal leadership to support, encourage, and promote students’ academic, professional, and professional development. Effective mentoring provides a foundation for a student’s career long after the degree has been granted.
Each academic year, the Graduate College and the Provost will recognize colleagues who exemplify the considerable efforts and accomplishments of members of the graduate faculty who serve as effective mentors of Ph.D. students. These awards are integral to the Graduate College’s continuing efforts to cultivate a culture of excellence in mentoring. With these awards, the Graduate College and the Provost seek to reinforce and highlight practices that enhance the overall quality of graduate education.
There are two awards each year. Each award carries a cash prize of $2,000 and the winners will be honored publicly.
The AY 2024-2025 award recipients are:
Professor Kelly J. Rohan, Ph.D.
Professor Kelly J. Rohan, Ph.D., Department of Psychological Science, College of Arts and Sciences
Kelly Rohan is the Heinz and Rowena Ansbacher Green and Gold Professor in Psychology. Since joining UVM in 2005, she has secured $5.5M in NIMH funding for her research on cognitive-behavioral models of depression. Dr. Rohan's mentorship follows the scientist-practitioner model, integrating research and clinical practice training. She mentored 11 Ph.D. students who graduated with three more in progress, maintaining zero attrition. She has also served on 21 additional dissertation committees, evaluated dissertations internationally, assessed teaching for six students outside her lab, and provided clinical supervision to numerous Ph.D. students. She actively involves students in research design, execution, and dissemination while maintaining high scholarly, professional, and ethical standards. Department leadership and students attest to her constructive feedback, support for professional networking, and encouragement of interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Rohan creates an inclusive training environment that respects diverse perspectives and holistically addresses students' well-being and responsibilities. Her mentees achieve impressive outcomes:
- Average of 9 publications and 14 presentations during graduate training
- 6 of 11 former students received NIH funding during graduate school
- All eligible students obtained psychology licensure
- Competitive grant outcomes including three F31, one R36, and two NIMH Diversity Supplement awards
Her students pursue diverse careers including academia, research institutions, private practice, and state health systems. Dr. Rohan's mentorship extends beyond graduation, with one former student noting her continued support 15 years later. From 2013-2022, Dr. Rohan directed UVM's APA-accredited Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program, overseeing first-year advising, guiding student development, and securing maximum 10-year accreditation. As Dr. Rohan reflects: "Training the next generation of clinical psychological science researchers, practitioners, and educators is my favorite, and the most impactful, part of my job. My mentorship style is based on direct communication and positive reinforcement. I strive to create a lab culture where students feel valued for their ideas and supported in their academic progress and professional development."
Associate Professor Nicholas (Nick) A. Cheney, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Nicholas (Nick) A. Cheney, Ph.D., Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
Nick Cheney has been a UVM faculty member since earning his Ph.D. from Cornell in 2017. A highly-funded researcher (PI/Co-PI on 13 awards totaling over $13M, including an NSF CAREER award), Dr. Cheney specializes in bio-inspired optimization algorithms for artificial neural networks. Dr. Cheney's mentorship extends beyond his primary lab, where three of his Ph.D. students have graduated, and currently advises seven more. He serves on 11 Ph.D. dissertation committees across six programs and nine Graduate Studies Committees, while also directing the growing Complex Systems Ph.D. program. Students thrive under his individualized mentorship approach within his collaborative, academically diverse lab. Dr. Cheney encourages his mentees to develop professional networks, present research across campus venues, and participate in outreach activities. His students have secured prestigious recognitions including an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the UVM Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, and research commercialization awards. Former and current students describe Dr. Cheney as responsive and encouraging, valuing how he creates an inclusive environment "grounded in respect, integrity, and intellectual rigor." His department chair confirms his commitment to developing "happy, well-rounded people as well as great scientists." For Dr. Cheney, the Ph.D. is "about the journey" as much as the destination: "Students come to this time with different backgrounds, experiences, and unique aspirations that require specialized attention/emphasis. Yet they all deserve to have an experience they will look back on fondly as a period of self-discovery and improvement, but also a time full of community, purpose, and playfulness. Thus, our lab focuses on four main pillars of a Ph.D.: autonomy, mastery, respect, and joy." Dr. Cheney's impactful, individualized mentorship creates an inclusive environment that embodies Our Common Ground values while fostering "autonomy, mastery, respect, and joy" for his students.
Eligibility/Criteria
Candidates for the awards:
- actively guide students’ research and training
- ensure that their students master the content and skills of their field(s) of study, including the ability to teach and to communicate with professional and non-professional audiences
- work positively in an inclusive and respectful environment for all
- promote their students’ successful and timely completion of degree programs, including by providing clear guidance on expectations and the prevailing norms and criteria used to define quality performance, monitoring progress, and offering honest, constructive feedback on conducting scholarly activities of the highest rigor
- provide guidance for adhering to high ethical standards for conducting scholarly activities
- respect students’ aspirations and goals and help them accomplish them
- create a supportive environment for research by fostering mutual respect and integrity, maintaining open lines of communication, and demonstrating sincere interest in their students’ well-being
- advance students’ professional development, including by assisting with developing professional goals, connecting them with opportunities and resources, integrating them into the broader culture of the discipline, actively involving student in writing grants and publications, and helping them develop their professional networks within and beyond academia
- assist students in career preparation and help them secure post-doctoral employment, whether in academia, government, industry, non-profit, or other career paths
- collaborate with other faculty in team-mentoring approaches
- encourage the effective use of time and help students integrate their academic and professional activities with their broader commitments and plans
Nomination Process
Chairs of Departments with Ph.D. programs, directors of such programs, members of the Graduate Faculty, and groups of two or more current Ph.D. students may nominate eligible member of the Graduate Faculty. Nominations must include:
- A letter of nomination that addresses the particular ways the nominee has exhibited outstanding mentorship (3 page maximum). Effective nominations will show familiarity with the nominee’s mentoring achievements, including mentoring of students who may not be their advisees and contributions to mentoring initiatives at UVM or via academic or professional organizations. The letter should identify specific examples of unique contributions and accomplishments, innovative methods, and/or exceptionally valuable types of mentorship provided by the nominee and demonstrate the outcomes that resulted from such mentorship.
2. Three letters of support (1 page per letter) that provide specific examples of the nominee’s mentoring innovations, accomplishments, and impact. At least one letter must be authored by a former Ph.D. student who successfully completed their degree. (Each letter from former students can only be authored and signed by one former student). Effective letters will come from students directly mentored by the nominee who can describe how their mentor’s support contributed to their achievements in graduate school and beyond. For nominees not nominated by either their Chair of Department or the Ph.D. program director, one support letter must be from their Chair of Department or the Ph.D. program director. The remaining letter(s) can come from either further graduate students (current and/or former), faculty, and/or staff members.
**The letter (of nomination or support) written by the Chair or Ph.D. program director should explain any relevant discipline-specific factors or benchmarking that would help the selection committee better understand the mentoring philosophy of the nominee and the success of the nominee’s mentoring; this might include expected doctoral advising load in the department, typical and high-impact post-doctoral outcomes in the discipline, and the significance of particular awards or grants.
The Office of the Dean of the Graduate College will invite nominees to submit:
- Nominee’s statement: philosophy and practices in the inclusive mentoring of diverse graduate students (2 pages maximum).
- Nominee’s CV (10 pages maximum), to include a list of current and former Ph.D. students whose research the nominee has directed or with whom they worked closely (to include student name; faculty mentor’s role, e.g., dissertation advisor, dissertation committee member, mentor through a professional organization; current status of student and, if graduated, student’s current or recent position; achievements that indicate student success (e.g., publications, fellowships, awards, etc.), especially if the mentor played a role in that success (e.g., by nominating the student for an award).
Nomination material should be submitted with the "Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring Nomination” as the file name no later than 11:59 PM on February 1st (if this date falls on a weekend, the due date is the following Monday).
Award Committee
Nominations will be evaluated by a committee chaired by the Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Dean of the Graduate College and composed of faculty members of the Graduate Executive Committee, Associate Deans, and Graduate Program Directors.
Selection Timeline
- December 1, annually: Call for nominations opens.
- February 1, annually: Nominations due. *(if February 1st falls on a weekend, the due date is the following Monday)
- February 1 - March 30: Nomination reviewed by Awards Committee.
- April 1 - Awards Committee submits list of finalists to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Jokech@uvm.edu. Copy submissions to Jennifer Diaz (she/her) at Jennifer.Diaz@uvm.edu.
- May 1 - The Provost announces award recipient.
For more information contact Holger Hoock at Holger.Hoock@uvm.edu