Procedures for Awarding The Mary and Charles C. Cooper/Emma I. Sharpless Fellowship For Recruiting Graduate Assistants
Mary and Charles C. Cooper/Emma I. Sharpless Fellowships are available to recruit exceptional graduate students capable of benefiting from further education into the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. These funds are to be used to supplement an existing assistantship (GRA or GTA) with offers of $3000 for M.S. and $5000 for Ph.D. students. Fellowships constitute an award based on academic and scholastic achievement or promise and cannot be associated with any service requirement.
Fellowships will be awarded to graduate students who have been accepted into either an M.S. or Ph.D. program, and have been offered a graduate assistantship. Normally, to be competitive the student’s application file must show evidence of a last degree GPA of 3.5 or greater; excellent scores on the GRE (if required), and excellent letters of recommendation. Nominations must be submitted before the start of the student’s first semester.
Mary and Charles C. Cooper/Emma I. Sharpless Fellowships are generally non-renewable. During the first year of their graduate programs, recipients are encouraged to pursue a national fellowship or other IANR graduate fellowships (e.g., Milton E. Mohr, Widaman, Farmers National, Shear/Miles and Larrick) for succeeding year’s awards. If the recipient is unsuccessful in obtaining other fellowships, it is possible that this award may be renewed with documentation of satisfactory progress toward degree completion.
Guidelines
- Only students offered graduate assistantships are eligible for a Mary and Charles C. Cooper/Emma I. Sharpless Fellowship to supplement the assistantship.
- Only students with generally high scholastic and career potential should be nominated.
- Each CASNR unit is eligible to submit two nominations per year or no more than 5% of the total number of graduate students currently on assistantships in the unit, whichever is larger.
- Nominees should be recommended by the Chairperson of the Unit Graduate Committee or Unit Head, with appropriate supporting data, and submitted to the CASNR Graduate Scholarship Committee. A letter of support from a potential advisor familiar with the student’s academic and research performance must be included with the application materials. Multiple submissions from a department must be prioritized by the Departmental Graduate Committee and endorsed by the Department Head/Chair.
- The stipends will be distributed on an academic year basis and are to be an additional stipend over and above the regular graduate assistantship rate for the department. This is not to be used in lieu of other dollars which the department would otherwise allocate to the recipient’s assistantship. No service expectations can be made of the recipients as a result of being awarded this fellowship.
- The fellowship offer becomes void if it has not been accepted by the student within one month of the date of offer.
Application
The nominator is required to submit an online application for the Mary and Charles C. Cooper/Emma I. Sharpless Fellowship for the student being recruited. he Student and Unit Information sections of the online form.
The application must include (PDFs preferred):
- A completed application (UNL Office of Graduate Studies)
- A letter of reference from the potential advisor supporting the application with a brief description of the student’s expected research topic.
- College transcript(s)
- Nominee’s resume
Attach the files using the Browse Files button towards the bottom of the form. The nominator must sign the form and provide the Unit Head or Graduate Committee Chair’s email address on the form before submitting the form.
The nomination will be forwarded to the Unit Head or Graduate Committee Chair for approval and subsequently transmitted to the CASNR Graduate Fellowship Committee.
CASNR GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP COMMITTEE: The CASNR Graduate Fellowship Committee is comprised of the Dean, Associate Dean(s) and Faculty Fellows of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
CALENDAR: Applications will be accepted throughout the calendar year. Nominees will routinely be considered on a monthly basis. However, CASNR Graduate Fellowship Committee may assemble for a special meeting in the instance where an exceptional nominee requires a more immediate response.