Lee Cibrowski Faculty Advising and Mentoring Award Guidelines

The Lee Cibrowski Faculty Advising and Mentoring Award was created to recognize outstanding mentoring activities and accomplishments achieved by faculty members. For the purposes of the award, mentorship is defined as any activity in which a faculty member works with students to enhance their knowledge, skills, or career direction through teaching, research, or academic advising activities. A characteristic of strong mentorship is a meaningful pattern of interaction between the faculty member and students that contribute to students’ academic and intellectual growth. The award is $1,000, which will be paid directly to the recipient (via payroll). 

Calendar 

  • March 3, 2025: Applicant submits a complete set of materials* 

*Convert your application to one (1) consolidated PDF file. Applicants must complete an online application at the 2024-25 Lee Cibrowski Faculty Advising and Mentoring Award and be prepared to upload the consolidated PDF file. 

  • All full-time faculty members from programs formerly affiliated with the College of Health and Human Services are eligible to be nominated. 
  • A recipient may not receive the award in consecutive years. 
  • A nominee should be put forth by each academic unit (see below). Nominations are made by the school director/chair. The nominee should be a faculty member who has shown exemplary mentorship qualities, activities, and accomplishments particularly relative to the full calendar year preceding the application. For whatever reason, in any given year, it is possible that a department/school might not put forth a nominee. 
  • The cover page must include:
    • Name of Nominee
    • Department/School
    • College
    • Period of consideration
    • Number of years serving as an advisor/mentor
    • Approximate number of advisees
    • Courses taught (list)

Criteria 

Nominees will be evaluated based on qualities exhibited by Dr. Lee Cibrowski and characterized as follows: 

  • Knowledge: The mentor demonstrates breadth and depth of knowledge about programs and opportunities for students; 
  • Active involvement: The mentor acts to maintain contact with students and to monitor their progress; 
  • Interpersonal skills/sensitivity: The mentor demonstrates the ability to communicate effectively with students and focuses on their individual needs and interests; 
  • Positive and lasting impact: The mentor addresses students’ lives “as a whole,” and has a positive influence on them before and after they leave the University. 

Time Span Relevant to This Award 

The advising/mentoring experiences of the nominee of particular interest to the Award Committee is the full calendar year immediately preceding the application. However, in recognition that mentoring relationships often develop over longer than one year; the committee will consider supplemental materials spanning as long as 4 years immediately preceding this application. 

Selection Committee 

The Lee Cibrowski Award Committee will be an intercollegiate committee comprised of up to eight (8) faculty members representing the eligible programs (listed below). The College of Business, Patton College of Education, and the College of Fine Arts will be invited to identify representatives to serve on the selection committee, while departments/ schools in the College of Health Sciences and Professions will be represented by the College’s Teaching/Learning Committee. If any member of this intercollegiate committee is a nominee for the Lee Cibrowski Faculty Advising and Mentoring Award, a substitute committee member will be selected from that department/school. 

Each program listed below is welcome to have one (1) representative on the award selection committee: 

College of Fine Arts, School of Art: 

  • Interior Architecture College of Business: 
  • Department of Sports Administration Patton College of Education: 
  • Department of Recreation and Sport Pedagogy 
  • Department of Human and Consumer Science Education 

College of Health Sciences and Professions’ Teaching/Learning Committee: 

  • School of Nursing 
  • School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences 
  • School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness 
  • Child and Family Studies, Department of Social and Public Health 

Format

One-inch margins, 11-point, Arial font. 

Required Materials (maximum 6 pages) 

  • Page 1 (provided): Cover page, which includes a number of advisees, years as an advisor, and courses taught. 
  • Page 2: Statement of support from chair/school director 
  • Pages 3-6: A narrative written by the nominee describing: 
    • The nominee’s philosophy of mentoring. 
    • Evidence supporting the applicant’s effective nurturing of the professional and personal growth of students in the following domains:
      • Knowledge: The mentor demonstrates breadth and depth of knowledge about programs and opportunities for students;
      • Active involvement: The mentor acts to maintain contact with students and to monitor their progress; 
      • Interpersonal skills/sensitivity: The mentor demonstrates the ability to communicate effectively with students and focuses on their individual needs and interests; 
      • Positive and lasting impact: The mentor addresses students’ lives “as a whole,” and has a positive influence on them before and after they leave the University. 

Appendices (not counted in the page total) 

Letters of support from current or former students who were mentored and other materials that help substantiate the application. In this section of the application, letters pertaining to the immediately preceding calendar year should be separated from older mentoring letters and materials. 

Award Selection 

The Cibrowski Award Selection Committee will review the applications for evidence of mentorship qualities, activities, and accomplishments. The review committee will review all relevant materials, giving particular emphasis to the full calendar year immediately preceding the application. However, in recognition that mentoring relationships often develop over longer than one year, the committee will consider supplemental materials spanning as long as 4 years immediately preceding this application.