In 1994, the Madelyn Levitt Mentor Award was created in honor of Madelyn Levitt’s commitment to Drake and her ongoing interest in faculty and staff achievement and academic excellence. Each year this award recognizes commitment to student success on the Drake campus by honoring a member of the Drake University faculty or staff for excellence in advising and mentoring students.  

You are invited this year to nominate a faculty or staff member for this prestigious award.

Process:

1.  A letter of nomination should be submitted recommending an individual for the award and explaining the context and way the nominator has come to know the faculty or staff member.  This letter should speak to the following qualifications:

· an outstanding commitment to student success in and out of the classroom in support of the Drake mission.

· integrity in personal relationships.

· typifying the ideal student mentor by providing for students the support they need to graduate and move forward to live productive, fulfilling lives.

The nominee must be a faculty or staff member in at least her/his fourth year of service at the University.  The nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years. 

The letter is due to Deputy Provost Jimmy Senteza, no later than Feb. 16, 2024. The letter should be sent as an attachment to madison.bemus@drake.edu.

2. The nominated individual is notified by the Provost’s Office of her/his nomination and asked of her/his willingness to be considered.

3.  At the nominee’s acceptance, the nominator is asked to collect the following supporting material and submit it to madison.bemus@drake.edu in the Provost’s Office by March 16, 2024: a curriculum vitae or resume, a minimum of one other letter supporting the nomination, and a description by the nominee of activities which illustrate her/his mentoring/advising involvement.  At least one of the letters must be from a current student and there may be no more than five letters supporting the nomination. Electronic submission of materials is required. Send all documents to madison.bemus@drake.edu. 

4.  A screening committee, appointed by the Provost, will review all nominations and make appropriate recommendations to the Provost.

5.   Any individual who was initially nominated for the award in 2022 or 2023 may be re-nominated if the nominator resubmits a letter offering the individual for consideration this year. Files of previous nominees are maintained for two years.  In the case of re-nomination, the nominator will be invited to review the file to ensure that the nomination is as current as possible. The limit of five letters of support, including one from a current student, also applies to re-nominations.

The 2024 recipient of the Madelyn Levitt Mentor Award will be announced at one of the spring 2024 commencements.

— Jimmy Senteza, Deputy Provost