3M National Student Fellowship
For many years, 3M Canada has funded scholarships and awards for undergraduates in universities and college across Canada and in 2011, 3M added a student fellowship using the long-standing 3M National Teaching Fellowship for university professors as a model. The 3M National Student Fellowship arose out of consultations and collaboration with the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) Board of Directors and the Council of 3M National Teaching Fellows.
What you see below is the Call for Nominations for the now-closed 2013 award. We will post the updated Call for Nominations for the 2014 award in early Fall, 2013.
Call for Nominations
The 3M National Student Fellowship honours up to ten full-time undergraduate college and undergraduate university students at Canadian institutions who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their lives and at their college or university. These students embrace a vision of quality education that enhances their academic experience and beyond.
Nature of Award
Each winner will receive an award of $5,000 to be spent at the winner’s discretion. Further, each winner will be invited to join other award winners at the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), where they will also participate in a 3M National Student Fellowship Program retreat. Winners will receive a contribution towards their cost of travel to and accommodation during the conference. While at the conference, they will have the opportunity to develop a cross-Canadian collaborative project with other award winners with the goal of enhancing teaching and learning at the post-secondary level.
Eligibility
The award is open to full-time, post-secondary undergraduate college and undergraduate university students studying at Canadian institutions. To be eligible, you must be enrolled in your first undergraduate degree program. First- and final-year students are not eligible for the award.
Please see Frequently Asked Questions
Criteria
The award committee will consider an applicant’s nomination dossier as a unified whole, not simply an assemblage of compartments. Each section of the dossier should reinforce its overall unity. Narrative flow unfolds and reveals the nominee’s character and achievements, and each section adds substance and evidence, constructing a compelling nomination.
Because this is an educational leadership award, the dossier’s greatest challenge is defining and demonstrating educational leadership, which goes beyond transcripts, lists of committees chaired, and clubs and/or groups joined. The individual will have to be “brought to life” through concrete evidence, examples, quotes, compelling anecdotes, persuasive support letters, and the inspiring believability of the nominee’s own words. Tell the story of yourself as a learner, a thought-provoker, a visionary, and a community member in action. Do not over-use disciplinary or academic jargon.
The award committee is interested in applications reflecting the applicant’s creativity, distinctiveness and personality, and shedding light on an exceptional leadership profile. The nominator (see below) is encouraged to “make a case” for the applicant’s leadership profile by connecting the material within the dossier to show how the applicant is deserving of this Fellowship.
Application Procedure
Formatting and page limits:
Nomination dossiers are not to exceed fifteen (15) numbered pages, including all material requested. A dossier in excess of 15 pages will not be considered. The dossier must be submitted using 2.54 cm (1″) margins, double-spaced in 12 point Times New Roman font. No video, web content or web links will be accepted.
Here is a checklist/template of what to include:
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Cover Page
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| 2. |
Nomination Letters, Note from Vice-President of Students and Letters of Support The nomination letter will be written by a person of the candidate’s choice. Self-authored letters of nomination will not be accepted. The number of letters of support is up to the candidate. Letters should complement the spirit of the narrative flow. Effective nominations will demonstrate the nominee’s excellence with concrete examples. Your nomination package must be viewed in its entirely by the Vice-President (Students) or person in an equivalent role at your institution. The Vice-President (Students) is not a student; rather he or she is a high-ranking faculty administrator at your college or university. To see an example of someone in this kind of position, click here. Include one paragraph attesting the submission has been read and approved by this person as part of your package. Note that all letters and the note from the Vice-President (Students) must adhere to the same font and spacing requirements as the entire dossier, and are part of the 15-page limit. Please see Frequently Asked Questions |
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Academic Performance You must be in good standing academically, in your program and in your institution. Please provide institutional transcripts for one year of post-secondary education, plus all available grades from the first term/semester of your current year. Transcripts are not part of the 15-page limit. If there are anomalies on your transcripts, briefly explain them in this section. |
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Leadership “Leadership” by itself is not a term that has easily identifiable boundaries. For this reason, it is impossible to provide a precise definition. It is important to describe your leadership capacity and leadership potential in relationship to other people. Therefore, a quantifiable list of activities/events/situations/experiences that a student was “in charge” of does not prove leadership in the context of this award. Please describe and demonstrate your personal leadership profile by considering different examples of your capacity for leadership beyond being in the position of “boss.” As part of your dossier, please provide a definition of leadership in the context of your educational experience. The definition should then be applied in detail and creatively through examples of personal activities drawn from your time in post-secondary study. Please do not use jargon or abstract description of leadership, in general; instead, paint a picture of who you are as a leader using clear examples from your experience. Explain why you aspired to these leadership roles. Your examples should demonstrate how your initiatives have led to, or been part of leading, events in the post-secondary environment. |
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Challenges in Post-Secondary Education Describe the most significant challenges in your institution based upon your personal experience. How do these challenges impede learning? What are the possible concrete solutions to these challenges? What are the biggest challenges facing post-secondary education in Canada, as a whole? If you had the resource capacity, how would you implement concrete solutions to these challenges? |
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Transformational Educational Experiences Describe one or a few experiences that you have had outside of the classroom and off your campus. Describe how these experiences influence your academic performance, your attitudes toward teaching and learning, and your approach to leadership. You may wish to reference educational issues beyond your immediate environment. |
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Awards and Recognition Describe academic or non-academic awards or recognitions you have received. Please do not simply list these awards, but contextualize them to show how this record aligns with your leadership and transformational educational experiences |
Selection Process
Dossiers will be reviewed by a team of adjudicators comprised of students, faculty and staff members, including 3M National Student and National Teaching Fellows, from post-secondary institutions across Canada
Submission Deadline and File Naming Protocol
The competition is now closed.
For publicity and promotion, if you are named a 3M National Student Fellow:
- Your email address will be shared publicly
- We will require a high resolution (500 pixels minimum at 72 ppi) digital ‘head shot’ with a plain background
- We will require a 50-word and a 200-word “citation”, describing yourself
