Nominating REAL or Spaulding-Smith Fellows

The Graduate School offers two fellowships for which Graduate Program Directors and Admission Chairs can nominate outstanding students with the intent of diversifying their respective disciplines. Below is information on how to nominate your student for each fellowship.

The Research Enhancement and Leadership (REAL) Fellowship is designed to promote excellence by broadening perspectives and enhancing participation in the humanities and arts, social sciences, education, nursing, and business. Our goal is to attract students of high academic caliber who bring varied and diverse perspectives, achievements, and experiences to their discipline that will contribute to research innovation. The REAL fellowship is awarded to outstanding doctoral or MFA students. The fellowship provides four years of summer support in the form of a $7,000 fellowship each summer (two years for MFA students), as well as mentoring, professional development, and community-building programs.

The Spaulding-Smith Fellowship is designed to promote excellence by broadening perspectives and enhancing participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Our goal is to attract students of high academic caliber who bring varied and diverse perspectives, achievements, and experiences to their discipline that will contribute to research innovation. Named for two UMass Amherst alumni— Major Franklin Spaulding (the first African American to receive a doctorate) and Elizabeth High Smith (the first woman to receive a graduate degree)— this fellowship includes financial support during the first and 4th year of graduate school, as well as mentoring, professional development, and community-building programs.

Eligibility

Please note that students cannot simultaneously receive a Spaulding-Smith fellowship and the REAL fellowship. This table details colleges that can nominate for each fellowship.

*Only the following programs from SBS can nominate students for Spaulding-Smith: Anthropology, Communication, Economics, Political Science, Public Policy, and Sociology.

Nominees should have a demonstrated record of academic excellence and potential for future success. This may be discerned from an applicant’s grades, research experience, work experience, publications, scholarships and awards, letters of recommendation, and other appropriate factors, depending on the nominee’s discipline and background. We encourage admissions committees to look at a range of indicators when evaluating academic success and potential.

Applicants’ personal experiences and backgrounds may be discerned from transcripts, personal statements, resumes, letters of recommendation, and other relevant materials.

Nomination Process

• Nominations must come from the Graduate Program Director or Graduate Admissions Director. Students are not permitted to apply directly for these fellowships.
• Programs can nominate students for this fellowship only if the student has been admitted to the program and commits to a plan to provide a funding package. As in all cases, program funding commitments are contingent upon the student’s satisfactory progress in the program.
• The program must commit to assigning an advisor who will mentor the student during the academic year and summers if this is not already the program's standard practice. Assigned mentors must complete the Faculty Mentor Training Program.
• Nomination occurs in Slate. 
• The fellowship nomination cycle generally opens in late September and closes in early February.

For each fellowship type, a Fellowship Committee reviews and awards the fellowship.