Students who are awarded this position will be expected to work with the Village Director, and one or more members of the faculty to produce and support co-curricular learning opportunities.
Specifically, the student will coordinate between faculty and other student groups to produce content that can supplement existing course material.
- Content should have a significant academic component, and essentially extend the material of one or more existing courses outside of the class room.
- Content might include a speaker, panel discussion, film series and discussion, performances, ethnic music, food, or dance, etc. Content could also be the development of some resource, like a video, text, etc. Examples:
- a panel discussion on a controversial topic in a political science or ethics class, for which the student identified and contacted various panelists and organized the specifics of the event
- a dinner and musical performance showcasing the culture of a particular nation designed to augment a foreign language or literature class
- a field trip to unique ecosystem or laboratory designed to give hands-on experience for an ecology, biology or physics class
- finding one or more expert speakers to address a class in almost any field, along with a public lecture open to the entire campus and general public
In addition to recognized accomplishments in leadership, scholarship, and organizational skills, the student will be awarded a scholarship of up to $750. The award will be granted the spring term of the academic year during which the scholarship is awarded.
Requirements
Awardees will be expected to have the following qualifications:
- sophomore standing (24 completed credits) or higher
- demonstration of academic success (largely though consideration of student’s grade point average)
- pertinent academic experience, usually via past course work
- pertinent leadership and/or organizational skills
Application and Award Process for Students
- Complete the online application.
- Have a letter of recommendation delivered to the Director of Academic Village (Dr. Sheila Confer) by Sept. 30. Email: sec10@pitt.edu.
- The application is reviewed by the Nancy Florez-Estrada Mentoring Award Committee. The decision of the awardee will be determined by Oct. 15.
- The successful applicant will be teamed up with a faculty member at the time of the award, and preliminary planning between the awardee, faculty member(s), and Village Director will begin after Oct. 15.
- The student will begin work on determined content at the beginning of the spring semester and deliver the content during the course of the semester as determined by the student, faculty member, and the Village Director.
Nominations by Faculty/Staff
Thank you for taking the time to nominate a student for the Nancy Florez-Estrada Mentoring Award. Please see the description of the program and requirements above if you are unfamiliar with the award.
To nominate a student, please complete the online nomination form as soon as possible but no later than Sept. 15. (Students must have their applications in by Sept. 30.) Note that your nomination letter can serve as the student’s letter of recommendation.
