Student Awards

Excellence in Diversity in Scholarship: This award recognizes a Rowan student who has completed an academic project (or projects) in their time at our university that serves goals of diversity, equity, inclusion, or social justice. Projects may include: a thesis or capstone project, a class paper/project presentation, a creative project or performance, a published paper, work completed during a field project or internship, or related research or creative projects.

Excellence in Diversity in Social Activism: This award honors a student whose commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion extends beyond the Rowan community to participate in or organize social activism in the public sphere. Examples may include: research projects or efforts benefiting the community, volunteering experience that is in some way remarkable, creating resources (online or physical), or organizing social justice-based events on or off campus.

Excellence in Diversity in a Group Performance or Project: This award celebrates a creative collaborative effort by two or more students. Winning submissions may include creation of or participation in a live or recorded performance that centers issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Other types of projects/performances may include: plays, podcasts, films, TV programs, music performance, multimedia creations, or visual art. 

Faculty/Staff Awards

Excellence in Diversity in Scholarship: This award recognizes a Rowan faculty or staff member who produces scholarship or creative work that meaningfully engages diversity, equity, and inclusion. Submissions may address a single project or a collection of work over time that work toward DEI, including: academic articles, journalism, creative projects or performances, published case studies, grant-funded research, conference presentations, a book project, scholarly-based social media projects, and more. 

Excellence in Diversity in Activism: Honorees of this award are chosen for DEI-based activism that benefits Rowan or a particular community. Submissions may describe efforts such as: leading service learning projects, organizing social justice-based campus or community events, or establishing public partnerships to help advance underrepresented students in a particular field. Social media campaigns or other virtual activism will also be considered. 

Excellence in Diversity in a Group Project: This award celebrates a group of two or more faculty or staff members who work together to organize an event, to produce a project, or in an ongoing effort in social justice. Group projects may take the form of a grant to meet DEI outcomes, work with a DEI task force, crafting and delivery of professional development to make curriculum more inclusive, work to make campus more accessible, or other DEI-based projects.

Excellence in Diversity in the Study or Practice of Medicine: Winners in this category will be recognized for innovation or practice dedicated to issues of DEI in the field of medicine. This award may be given to an individual or a group whose efforts may: lead to more inclusive or equitable approaches to: 

• patient care, 
• physician training, 
• attention to/dispelling historial disparities, 
• promoting diverse access to medicine, 
• or combatting ingrained practices that exclude the knowledges and experiences of marginalized groups (i.e., women, people of color, etc.).  

Submission Process

Nominations should be submitted by email to the Senate Diversity Chair by February 15th. In the subject line of the email, please name which specific award category your candidate is being nominated for. Please attach your nomination in the form of a letter (no more than 2 pages, single spaced) to the committee, in which you describe your candidate’s qualifications for the award. Supporting materials, documents, and links are welcome but not required. 

Self-nominations are welcome. 

Selection Process

A review committee, of no fewer than three members, will be selected from the larger Senate Diversity Committee, including the committee chair. Ideally, the committee will represent faculty and/or staff from both the main campus and the medical schools. A student representative may serve in addition to three faculty and staff. 

While the review committee should aim for consensus on the winning submission from each award category, a vote will be acceptable in cases where there is no clear agreement. 

Committee members may nominate candidates, but they may not vote on the award for which they submitted. In such cases, an alternate committee member may be selected to stand in for the nominating member’s vote.

Honor and Recognition 

Award winners will be notified within two weeks of selection, and should be presented with a physical award by the end of the Spring term. Additionally, winners will be announced in the Rowan daily announcer and on the DEI Division’s blog, including (ideally) a headshot and title and summary of the winning project. Faculty and staff awardees will be invited to the university excellence awards ceremony, and the Senate Diversity Committee may decide to hold a separate event to celebrate both faculty/staff and student winners. The Committee will celebrate the student winners in a public ceremony or announcement, as well.