Instructions for fellowship nomination for Graduate Program Director (GPD) or Admission Chair

Nominations for Spaulding-Smith or REAL Fellowships occur in Slate. They are integrated into the application review and decision process. The nomination form has been streamlined and incorporates identifying information for the accepted student from their Slate application. In addition, faculty members who wish to advise a prospective student can draft some of the form responses for you in advance. If you have never worked with Slate, be sure to review information on the Graduate School’s Slate for Graduate Admissions page. You will find additional job guides inside Slate, and you will have multiple opportunities to attend Slate drop-in sessions via Zoom with our Slate experts during the Fall semester.  

Prepare to Nominate 

The Fellowship Nomination form has four sections, each with multiple questions. A list of the questions for the REAL nomination can be found here, and the list of the questions for the Spaulding-Smith nomination can be found here.  

You do not need to complete the form in one sitting, as you control when the nomination is ready for the nomination committee’s review.  Be prepared to answer prompts about: 

• Funding 
  • The types of funding that your program will provide the student. Outline the plan. 
• Student Qualities 
  • How this student would contribute to the diversity of your program/discipline and indicators that foretell their success in your program. 
    • Note: You can review and edit any responses a potential advisor may have drafted for this section.  
• Advising 
  • Status of advisor assignment and mentor training.  
• Supportive Environment 
  • Any department or individual initiatives designed to create a welcoming, inclusive environment for students.