UA Graduate School’s Prestigious CGS/Peterson’s Award will be Used to Mentor, Support Students

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Graduate School has been awarded the prestigious Council of Graduate Schools/Peterson’s 2008 Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community.

The University was one of 16 institutions in competition for the honor. UA now joins the University of Georgia and Ole Miss as the only SEC institutions to be honored by CGS/Peterson’s with this award.

Dr. David A. Francko, UA assistant vice president for academic affairs and dean of the UA Graduate School, received the national award at the CGS national conference in Washington, D.C., in December. A reception at the conference was held in honor of UA’s achievement.

A grant of $20,000 accompanied the award and will be matched by funds from the UA Graduate School to support the “Opening the Schoolhouse Door” initiative, a new UA program. The initiative will create formal mentoring and support systems for two groups of UA students who are at especially high risk for attrition and excessive time to complete degrees: students from under-represented groups and students with dependent children.

The proposal was jointly written by Francko and co-project director Dr. Natalie Adams, UA professor of education and assistant dean of the UA Graduate School.

“Assistant Dean Adams and I are extremely pleased and humbled that the Council of Graduate Schools and Peterson’s have singled out UA as a national leader in creating a more student-centered and inclusive graduate community by recognizing us with this award,” Francko said.

“The award will allow us to develop some pioneering programs to better serve our students and help them to be more successful, both while at UA and in their creative careers after receipt of their graduate degree. We can’t wait to get started with these new initiatives, which will help attract, retain and graduate even more students from the best, brightest, and most diverse graduate student body we can help create,” he added.