Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education

Honoring Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education

The Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education recognize a Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member school for outstanding contributions to graduate education and are awarded at the annual meeting.

The purpose of the award is to encourage, recognize, and reward excellence and innovation in graduate education at either the graduate school or program level. Applications may relate to any facet of graduate education, including outreach, recruitment through selection and admission, retention, instruction, and degree attainment.

Purpose of the Award

The purpose of the award is to encourage, recognize, and reward excellence and innovation in graduate education at either the graduate school or program level. Applications may relate to all facets of graduate education, including outreach, recruitment through selection and admission, retention, instruction, and degree attainment. In sum, we welcome efforts addressing any aspect of the graduate life cycle.

Eligibility Requirements

Any current Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member institution or graduate program within a Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member institution is eligible for the award. Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member institutions may submit only one application. Any internal institutional selection processes are the responsibility of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member institution. Please plan ahead for internal review so that the institutional submission is identified and forwarded to Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools by the January 15 annual deadline.

Application Guidelines

Review our 2026 Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education Flyer. Applicants must be a Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member in good standing at a program or graduate school level. Application materials must include:

1. Nomination Document (1000 – 2000 words) that:

  • Details the program, project, or initiative that the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member institution has designed—tell us what you have developed;
  • Demonstrates why the pertinent graduate program, project, or innovation is significant;
  • Considers pathways for sustainability (including budget design, grant funding, or other methods considering what “sustainability” might mean for the project);
  • Examines broader lessons for Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools member institutions and shares implications for how Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools institutions could build similar reforms.

2. All application materials must be submitted using this Google Form.

  • Submissions should be received no later than January 15, 2026.

3. Submissions will be reviewed by members of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education Committee.

4. The 2026 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools awards consist of a winner and an honorable mention. Awards will be recognized publicly at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools 2026 Annual Meeting.

5. Questions about the eligibility requirements or award guidelines should be directed to Margaret Nettesheim Hoffmann, Chair of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education (Marquette Edu).

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Winners: Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education Award

The 2026 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education was awarded at the 82nd Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools annual meeting held March 25-27 in Kansas City, MO.

2026 Winner

Wayne State University

“SURGE (Success for Undergraduate Students in Graduate Education”

Success for Undergraduate Students in Graduate Education (SURGE) is a graduate mentorship program at Wayne State University supporting undergraduates, including first-generation college students.

SURGE is a safe space where students prepare for graduate school and grow together with peers and mentors in a supportive community. SURGE trainees are paired with dedicated graduate student mentors who help them think about and prepare for the challenges of being in graduate school. SURGE also provides students with resources and professional development opportunities to support their future. Plus, the program helps students find graduate programs that are cost-effective and require less time to degree.

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2026 Honorable Mention: University of Northern Iowa

“The Graduate Lifecycle Reimagined: Modernizing Graduate Education”

Addressing the national downward trend in graduate enrollment, the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) has modernized its graduate curriculum and overhauled outdated policies to better serve today’s students.

By prioritizing flexibility and affordability, they created a more accessible path to success through four transformative initiatives. Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) promotes equity by recognizing the professional expertise of veterans and working professionals as academic credit, while the Return to UNI (R2UNI) program removes “recency requirement” barriers to help former students finish their degrees after life interruptions. Since announcing R2UNI in summer 2024, UNI has had 117 individuals who confirmed interest in the program, 64 who have enrolled, and 22 who have since earned their graduate degree. To boost career readiness for their graduate students, the Graduate Assistant (GA) Academy was developed and serves as a one-stop shop for workforce competitiveness, complemented by the Graduate Assistant Mentorship Program, which provides the professional development and support network necessary to overcome the non-academic challenges that often lead to attrition. Building on these foundational efforts, UNI has also recognized the importance of expanding learning opportunities beyond traditional frameworks by providing flexible, stackable, skills-focused microcredentials to better serve the citizens of Iowa and fill the gaps in current offerings that increase access to educational opportunities for adult learners and other populations.

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The 2025 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education was awarded at the 81st Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools annual meeting held April 2-4 at Sheraton Indianapolis at Keystone Crossing.

2025 Winner

Miami University

“Community-Engaged Graduate Education: Project Dragonfly”

Project Dragonfly is Miami University’s largest graduate program, known for its pioneering role in online and immersive education and conservation. The program provides students with innovative learning experiences through real-world engagement.

Originating from a National Science Foundation initiative, it has expanded into two unique and large-scale graduate programs that collaborate with 10 zoos and botanical gardens across the United States and with 16 global conservation partners in Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. With approximately 600 part-time master’s students, the program fosters community and student success while maintaining high educational standards. Dragonfly’s community-embedded approach and aligned curriculum provide students with immersive opportunities to effectively learn from and directly address critical socio-ecological issues globally and in their home communities.

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2025 Honorable Mention

University of Michigan, Rackham Graduate School

“Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellowship Program”

The 2024 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education were awarded at the 80th Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools annual meeting held April 3-5, 2024, at the LeMeridien St. Louis Clayton Hotel.

2024 Winner

University of Wisconsin – Madison

“Bridge to the Chemistry Doctorate”

Started in 2019, the UW-Madison Bridge to the Chemistry Doctorate is a post-baccalaureate program aimed at increasing the number of students from under-represented minority groups who complete the Ph.D. degree in chemistry.

The Bridge Program is a two-year (22-month) research master of science degree program that is specifically designed to provide students with a range of experiences and mentorship that will increase their chances of success in obtaining a Ph.D. in chemistry. The program is targeted at students with a B.S. degree in chemistry or an allied field who are motivated to pursue a Ph.D. degree but who need additional coursework, mentoring, and/or research experience to develop successful applications for Ph.D. study. To date, the Bridge to the Chemistry Doctorate has supported 17 fellows; 3 are currently in the master’s stage, and of those who have moved beyond, 12 have transitioned into the Chemistry Ph.D. program at UW-Madison. One student successfully finished the Bridge program, was offered the option to stay and pursue a Ph.D., yet decided to go into industry to support their family at this time. One fellow was accepted to a Ph.D. program at another school.

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2024 Honorable Mention

Iowa State University

“Academic Communication Practices (AcComP) Track—Pathway to Success Through Support from Admission to Degree Completion”

The 2023 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education was awarded at the 79th Annual Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools meeting in Chicago, IL, on March 29, 2023.

2023 Winner

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Emily Wuchner, Associate Director for Student Experience, Graduate College

“GradMAP: Graduate Student Orientation, Reimagined”

The UIUC Graduate College reimagined the very idea of orientation to develop GradMAP: an innovative program comprised of a suite of resources that provide new graduate students with a comprehensive first-year experience. Further, the tools and resources of GradMAP support departments as well as their students.

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2023 Honorable Mention

South Dakota State University

Nicole Lounsbery, Director, Graduate School

“Expanding the Circle: Increasing Access to Graduate Education for Tribal Colleges and Communities (TCUs)”

The 2022 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education was awarded at the 78th Annual Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools meeting in Milwaukee, WI, on April 7, 2022.

2022 Winner

Marquette University

Maggie Nettesheim Hoffmann

“Marquette University’s Graduate Futures Initiative: The Next Generation of Career Diversity”

Marquette University’s Graduate Futures Initiative (GFI) offers graduate students values-driven career formation programming and extends traditional career diversity efforts to provide students with access to interdisciplinary, partnership-informed, mission-driven support that makes career readiness an organic part of graduate education. Inspired by national career diversity endeavors, including those led by the Council of Graduate Schools’ PhD Career Pathways program, the American Historical Association’s Career Diversity for Historians Initiative, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Next Generation PhD grants, and others, Marquette’s Graduate School launched the GFI in 2018 to meet the needs of doctorial students, as well as those of master’s and professional students. To this end, the objectives of the GFI initiative at Marquette include (1) promoting career readiness as a core value in graduate education; (2) developing curriculum for graduate career development in the Ignatian tradition; (3) implementing and growing internship opportunities for graduate students; (4) integrating career development programming into graduate training; and (5) collaborating with university and Milwaukee community partners.

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2022 Honorable Mention

University of Iowa

Heidi Arbisi-Kelm

“An Unexpected Outcome: The Promise of the Remote Thesis Defense”

Other Past Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education Award Recipients

2016 – University of Kansas

Hall Center for the Humanities

“Applied Humanities”

This innovative program was selected because of its development of opportunities for graduate students in the humanities to explore career pathways outside the traditional tenure track academic positions.

This program includes a bootcamp, a series of panel discussions, networking opportunities, and internships for its students. In addition, student outcomes are tracked during and after their degree programs, along with strong evaluation and review processes.

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2015 (sponsored by ETS) – University of Minnesota

Henning Schroeder, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education

“Resilient Communities Project (RCP)”

The Resilient Communities Project (RCP) is a cross-disciplinary program that supports one-year partnerships between a selected community and the University of Minnesota.

It offers an innovative collaborative model of community-university engagement, focused on building a long-term relationship with one partner community each year. The program goes beyond simply providing community projects for graduate and professional students and advanced undergraduates; it promotes the development of knowledge and innovation around community sustainability. Students participate in RCP by enrolling in an RCP-affiliated course or by connecting an individual thesis, capstone, or independent study to a faculty-supervised RCP project. The program trains future practitioners, builds capacity among faculty to advance applied sustainability learning and engagement, and develops practical sustainability projects that can serve as models for other communities. RCP offers capacity related to water, energy, social equity, planning, design, recreation, management, economics, evaluations, and other topics that can complement local staff expertise as cities work toward becoming more sustainable and resilient communities. In its first two years, RCP partnered with two communities on over 30 projects, with over 45 course matches in dozens of academic departments from 11 colleges on two University of Minnesota campuses, and has engaged over 400 students to work on these projects. The collaboration among community staff, faculty, and students results in on-the-ground impact and momentum for a community working toward a more sustainable and livable future.

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