Senate Committee Awards

Last Updated:  8/28/23

The Academic Standing and Honors committee is responsible for the creation of a member sub-committee who will send out the call and determine the UDAA winner. The most recent call for nominations is found below.

Academic Standing and Honors

Call for nominations, 2023
Undergraduate Distinguished Achievement AwardDear Colleagues:

It is time again for nominations for the Undergraduate Distinguished Achievement Award. Each year at the December Commencement exercises, we provide a financial stipend and present a citation to a student who has done something above and beyond the call of normal course and degree requirements to bring distinction to him/herself and to Oakland University. These activities might include authorship or co-authorship of published articles, presentations at professional meetings, literary works, artistic performances, design or construction of an instrument or device, etc. 

Our previous recipients have included students in Anthropology, Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Dance, Electronics and Computer Engineering, English, Education, Health Sciences, History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Music, Physics, and Psychology. All undergraduate students are eligible. There is also no restriction regarding class standing; the recipient does NOT need to be a graduating senior. We are totally dependent on you for identifying these outstanding students and urge you to submit nominations by Friday, October 6 at 11:59pm.

Attached you will also find the eligibility and criteria statements. Please use this Google Form to submit your nomination and supporting documents. Remember to sign in with your Oakland University email account to access the Google Form. Thank you in advance for your attention and assistance!

Sincerely,

The UDAA Committee
Hong Qian (SBA)
Laurel Stevenson (SHS)
Stephanie J. Lee (Provost Office)

Eligibility and Criteria

1. Eligibility:
   
   Any regularly enrolled undergraduate student is eligible upon nomination by a faculty member or staff member.
   
   
2. Format:
   
   Nominations minimally should consist of a a 250-word nomination rational and a supporting documentation of the specific effort that is being recognized. Materials must be submitted electronically on this Google Form. Remember to sign in with your Oakland University email account to access the Google Form.
   
   
   
3. Criteria:
   
   The purpose of these awards is to recognize extraordinary academic achievement beyond that required for good grades. Thus for instance a student-originated publication in the arts or sciences, a publication with major student input, presentation of research or creative endeavor at a professional conference, a literary work, an exceptional research report, the creation or performance of an artistic work, or the construction of a device or instrument could all be the basis for this award. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the nominations:
   
   
   1. Originality
   2. Extent of effort
   3. Scholarly significance
   4. Artistic merit/significance
      
      
   Obviously only some of these criteria will apply to any given nomination.
   
   
4. Procedures:
   
   Upon receipt of a letter of nomination, the chair of the committee will distribute copies of the letter and supporting information to the committee members. Additional requests for back-up information and documentation will be made promptly.
   
   All members of the committee will read the letters of nomination and supporting materials. The committee will meet no later than two weeks after the deadline for nominations to discuss its decision. The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Office of Academic Affairs. Upon approval of the Academic Affairs office, the committee will notify the recipient of the award and the nominating faculty member. The committee chair will write a commendation to be read to the student at the graduation ceremony and printed on the award certificate.
   
   
5. The awards will be presented at the Fall Commencement exercises.