CNS students can be nominated (or can self nominate) to be awarded one of the following Distinctions at graduation. The nomination form linked below asks for a very brief (a paragraph is plenty!) description of the student's accomplishments and impact, it also offers the option to upload a letter of recommendation in lieu of filling in the text boxes.
Each area asks the same three questions:
- How has the student exhibited excellence in that area?
- What was the impact of the student's efforts?
- Has the student shown strength of character, courage to overcome obsticles, or demonstrated growth and development?
We highly recommend composing your answers in a Word document then copying and pasting them into the nomination form.
While only graduating seniors can win distinctions, please nominate a deserving student at any point in their undergraduate career; the College will hold on to their nomination until their graduating year and evaluate it then.
Selections will be made by a commitee comprised of faculty and staff who are leaders in these particular areas. Honorees will be notified by mid-March.
Please note: this is a separate award from Dean's Honored Graduates (DHG), and students can earn both awards. The DHG nomination process will open in early March.
If you have any questions about the distinctions, please contact Becky Kester (kester@austin.utexas.edu).
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
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CNS is dedicated to making sure the college is a welcoming place that celebrates diversity in all its forms, while effecting change beyond our college and university. Students earning this distinction have demonstrated excellence in the area of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. Excellence can look like:
- Leadership or innovation within the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Concentration
- Leadership or innovation within CNS around Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion topics
- Advocating and working for change around Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in CNS
- Presenting or publishing scholarly work related to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
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Entrepreneurship
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Entrepreneurs are essential to progress—the ability to see potential and make it a reality drives everything from creation of job opportunities to promoting research and development to social change. CNS defines entrepreneurship in terms of the ability to recognize the potential in an idea and organize people and resources to bring it to fruition. This broader definition includes entrepreneurs who are driving social change, advancing research, as well as those who are starting up new businesses.
Students earning this distinction have demonstrated excellence in the area of Entrepreneurship. Excellence can look like:
- Engaging with investors
- Launching a start-up
- Securing funding
- Leadership & advancement within the field of entrepreneurship
- Winning an award related to entrepreneurship
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Service & Leadership
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One of the core principles of UT is Leadership: “The will to excel with integrity and the spirit that nothing is impossible.” Too often leadership skills are mistaken for management, and often people only see leadership as a position. But leadership is a verb, an action, and it is inextricably linked with service to others rather than management of others. And science is at its very core teamwork.
Students earning this distinction have demonstrated excellence in the area of Service & Leadership. Excellence can look like:
- Recognizing and actively filling a need within the College
- Leadership of peers
- Creating new opportunities within the College
- Advocating for and working toward needed changes within the College
- Continued service to the College
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Research
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Zora Neale Hurston famously said, “Research is formalized curiosity.” Being in higher education affords us the great privilege of engaging in a world where we get to pursue our curiosity and turn it into a career, hopefully for the betterment of humankind.
Commonly, when people think of research they think of a wet lab, but it is so much broader than that. Our textiles majors engage in fiber-based materials research and fashion research and design. Our math majors prove new theorems and model scientific problems using the beautiful language of mathematics. In fact, any time you try something, and either it doesn’t work or you want to improve it, you engage in research.
Students earning this distinction have demonstrated excellence in the area of Research. Excellence can look like:
- Publishing a paper or conference proceeding
- Presenting at a research conference outside of UT
- Winning an award in your field of research
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THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION IS Friday, February 14, 2020 at 5PM
