Excellence Awards

To recognize graduate students in any discipline who received a GTA from FGSR and conducted exemplary work in providing teaching assistance for graduate and/or undergraduate classes.

The nomination should address how the graduate student demonstrated outstanding performance, including but not limited to:

• fostering a healthy, inclusive and intellectually stimulating learning environment, recognizing students’ diverse experiences.
• designing class assignments geared to stimulate critical thinking.
• developing research skills.
• demonstrating strong professionalism in communicating and interacting with students and course instructors.
• providing learning supports to students in various courses in a fair, effective, accessible, and reliable approach.
• providing teaching supports to course instructors in a creative, reliable and timely manner.
• mentoring and guiding undergraduate and/or graduate students.
• maintaining a distinguished academic record.
• enhancing FGSR and the U of R missions.

To recognize graduate students in any discipline who conduct leading-edge research.

The key criteria will be excellence in research, scholarship, and creative activity. The nomination should address how the nominee’s research work is innovative, creative, inclusive and impacts the community at large while contributing to the advancement of their field of study. Nominees should demonstrate a distinguished academic record and contributions that enhance FGSR’s and U of R’s mission.

Nominees should demonstrate excellence including but not limited to: 

• Research problems and goals are creative and original with new and innovative ideas and great potential to impact the society
• demonstrated knowledge production and/or creative activity
• Dissemination of their work to wider audiences within and outside the student’s field of study
• Distinguished academic record
• Contributions and initiatives that enhance FGSR’s and U of R’s research mission

The Nomination Form contains further information.

To recognize graduate students in any discipline who demonstrate excellence in community-engaged service (including but not limited to community-engaged research, creative activity or knowledge dissemination, leadership, community volunteering services, advocacy and activism). 

The key criteria will be excellence in providing invaluable service to the larger community and/or underrepresented groups within or beyond the University of Regina. Nominees should demonstrate a distinguished academic record and contributions that enhance FGSR’s and U of R’s mission.

Nominees should demonstrate excellence including but not limited to:

• Inspirational leadership and community engagement that contributes to the prosperity and well-being of the University and the broader community
• Significant community participation and volunteering
• Distinguished academic record
• Contributions and initiatives that enhance U of R’s graduate education mission

The Nomination Form contains further information.

The 2025 Call for Nominations for the Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, Graduate Student Excellence Award (Innovation and Research) and Community Engagement Award will open July 1st.

Eligibility: 

Students must be enrolled as a graduate student in good standing in the upcoming Fall semester at the University of Regina. Previous recipients are not eligible to apply for a period of 2 years following the year in which they received the same award.

Students cannot nominate themselves and must be nominated by someone else.

Nomination process:

Nominations can be initiated by students, faculty, administrators or community partners. The nominator(s) will submit their application packages to their line faculties (for departmentalized faculty, the nominators should submit their application packages to the departments, then each department submit one nomination per award to the line faculty). Each line faculty nominates one student per award and sends the nomination package to the FGSR email below. The nomination package must include:

1. Completed nomination form.
2. One letter of support from the U of R unit or other community members who have closely interacted with the nominee in the past year (maximum 1 page).
3. Letter of support from the graduate supervisor/advisor, including a rationale as to why the nominee qualifies for the award (maximum 1 page). For the program in which no supervision is required, a letter of support can be from Graduate Coordinator or Associate Dean of the academic unit. For Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, the letter of support can be from a course instructor in which the nominator assisted.
4. The nominee's abbreviated CV including a summary of relevant accomplishments, their academic qualifications and any awards or special recognitions (maximum 3 pages).
5. A copy of unofficial transcript.

Public recognition of the award:

A maximum of one award will be presented annually for each category. Each award consists of a Certificate of Excellence from the Dean of FGSR along with a $500 cash prize. The award will be publicly announced during the annual FGSR Excellence Awards ceremony or at the President's Celebration of Teaching, Research, and Service Excellence held annually in November.

Selection process and award criteria:

The selection committee will be chaired by the Dean of FGSR (or designate) and consist of two Faculty members with FGSR Accreditation, FGSR staff member and one graduate student. Committee membership will reflect the diverse research disciplines at UofR. The committee will review application packages and recommend the recipients to the Dean of FGSR. All nominees will be notified in writing of the outcome of their nomination.

The nominee must be enrolled as a graduate student in good standing in the upcoming Fall semester at the University of Regina. Previous recipients are not eligible to apply for a period of 2 years following the year in which they received the same award.

The FGSR values and promotes principles of equity, diversity and inclusion, and welcomes nominations from graduate students who self-identify as women and gender minorities, racialized individuals, persons with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, or members of Indigenous communities.

The awards will normally be given out annually and will typically correspond to the FGSR Excellence awards scheduled in the Fall term. FGSR will announce the submission dates as part of the call for nominations each year.

Electronic application packages are required and must be submitted via email to grad.excellenceawards@uregina.ca by August 31, 2025.

This award is to recognize a faculty member who has demonstrated a record of excellent mentorship and supervision of graduate students at the University of Regina. The winner will be nominated for the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship. The nomination deadline is April 30.

The Nomination Form contains further information.

President's Celebration of Teaching, Research, and Service Excellence: Congratulations to the outstanding award winners from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research:

• Graduate Teaching Assistant Award: Zohra Zahir
• Graduate Student Excellence Award: Easter Ndlovu
• Community Engagement Award: Brandon Watson
• Outstanding Graduate Supervision Award: Dr. Garth Huber

These exceptional individuals showcase dedication and commitment to advancing graduate studies and research at UR.

• Amin Malakootika (Media, Arts, and Performance Faculty) – Graduate Teaching Assistance Award. (Charity Marsh)
• Louise Castillo (Arts – Psychology Faculty) – Gradute Student Excellence Award. (Lindsey French)
• Abraham (Sociology and Social Studies Faculty) – Gradute Community Engagement Award. (Thomas Hadjisavropoulos)
• Britt Hall (Science – Biology Faculty) – 2023 University of Regina's Award of Outstanding Supervisor. (Zhora Zahir)

- Rachel Krakauer (PhD in Clinical Psychology) – Graduate Student Community Engagement Award;
- Angèle Poirier (MA in Economics) – Teaching Assistant Award; and
- Dr. Jyotpal Singh (PhD in Kinesiology and Health Studies) – Graduate Student Excellence Award (Innovation and Research).