Bush-Kaulfus Excellence in Graduate Mentoring

Questions? Email facultyawards@utsa.edu.

TWO AWARDS:

• One award for tenured/tenure-track faculty
• One award for fixed-term-track faculty

The Bush-Kaulfus Excellence in Graduate Mentoring Award was established in 2026 through a gift to the university by spouses Dr. Janis Bush and Dr. John Kaulfus. The award recognizes full-time faculty (fixed-term-track, tenure-track, or tenured) whose mentorship of UT San Antonio graduate students goes beyond routine academic advising to develop the whole student.  

The award reflects the principles of Dr. Bush's externally funded work on graduate education: that students succeed when mentors provide holistic support; cultivate a student's identity as a scholar and their sense of belonging in their discipline; develop the student's ability to communicate their work in writing, to professional audiences, and to the public; and open pathways into graduate education and the workforce for students of all backgrounds, including those who arrive with the least preparation for, or exposure to, research careers. Recipients of this award are faculty who practice mentorship in this spirit—who meet students where they are and invest in who they become, not only in what they produce.

Nominees for the Bush-Kaulfus Excellence in Graduate Mentoring Award must be full-time faculty members with at least three years of service at UT San Antonio and may be either tenured/tenure-track or fixed-term-track faculty. Recipients of the award are eligible for re-nomination after a five-year period.

The selection committee will consider the following in selecting recipients. A competitive nominee need not demonstrate strength in every criterion; the committee will weigh the depth and impact of the nominee's mentorship as a whole. 

• Holistic Mentorship. Evidence that the nominee mentors the whole student—attending to academic progress, professional development, and personal well-being—and adapts their mentoring to each student's circumstances and needs rather than expecting students to adapt to the mentor. 
  
  
• Scholarly Identity and Belonging. Evidence that the nominee helps students see themselves as scholars and develop a sense of belonging in their discipline—for example, through sustained encouragement, validation of students' contributions, and support through setbacks that might otherwise end a graduate career. 
  
  
• Communication Development. Evidence that the nominee develops students' abilities in scholarly writing and in communicating their work to professional and public audiences—for example, through coaching on manuscripts and theses, co-authorship, conference presentation, or public engagement and outreach. 
  
  
• Access and Success. Evidence that the nominee's mentorship broadens who succeeds in graduate education—for example, by recruiting and developing students who enter with limited prior research experience, first-generation students, or students who might not otherwise have pursued or persisted in graduate study, and by removing barriers to their success rather than filtering students out. 
  
  
• Pathways to Careers. Evidence that the nominee prepares students for careers within and beyond the academy—for example, by connecting students with internships, research experiences, professional networks, or agency and industry partners. 
  
  
• Mentorship Beyond the Nominee's Own Students. Evidence that the nominee's influence extends beyond their own advisees—for example, by mentoring students outside their laboratory or program, building peer- or near-peer-mentoring structures, strengthening colleagues' mentoring practices, or deliberately improving their own practice through training or evidence-based approaches. 
  
  
• Impact. The significance of the nominee's mentorship as reflected in student outcomes—such as degree completion, publications and presentations, placements, and the students' own accounts of the difference the nominee made. 

A selection committee composed of faculty will review nomination packets. The nomination packet for this award will consist of only the following, assembled into a single PDF file in the order indicated:  

1. Completed award nomination form 
2. Letter of support/nomination from a peer faculty colleague, department chair, or college leader 
3. Self-statement (not to exceed 3 pages). The statement should speak to:
   • How the nominee's mentorship provides holistic support to graduate students and helps them build a scholarly identity and sense of belonging. Please provide specific examples. 
   • How the nominee develops students' communication abilities and prepares them for careers within or beyond the academy. 
   • How the nominee's mentorship has broadened access to and success in graduate education, and the impact of that mentorship on students at UT San Antonio. 
4. Two letters of support from current or former graduate students that describe the mentoring experience and emphasize its impact
5. CV of nominee 

No additional materials should be submitted. 

Each dean’s office should upload completed nomination packets by the deadline. 

Each college may submit a maximum number of three nominees (1 Tenured, 1 Tenure-Track, 1 Fixed-Term Track). 

SEE TABLE BELOW