FRANK B. MARTIN CUMREC DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

The Graduate School offers fellowship programs that provide financial support for outstanding students who plan to enroll in a doctoral or master of fine arts program. We are particularly aware of the special role that graduate education plays in training the next generation of leaders in academia, government, and the private sector. In assisting MSU achieve its educational mission, our goal is to foster an intellectually vital and diverse educational community that will prepare graduate students to assume their professional roles in a diverse society.

The Graduate School’s recruitment fellowships support departments and programs in their goal of attracting a cohort of students who:

  • demonstrate excellent academic accomplishments, especially considering their life experiences and available educational and professional opportunities; 
  • exhibit impactful leadership within their disciplines, communities of practice, volunteer efforts, or professional activities; 
  • may have overcome significant obstacles such as financial hardship and other challenges;    
  • show the potential to contribute positively to a diverse educational community, as evidenced in research goals, scholarship, professional experience, and/or outreach and engagement activities. 

The Frank B. Martin CUMREC Graduate Fellowship, established in 2005 by the CUMREC Board of Directors whose gift made it possible, aims to promote the development of higher education professionals and the transformation of education through information technologies. It is intended to benefit candidates from a broad range of graduate education paths that offer areas of specialization, focus, and concentration in information and computing technologies. The goal of the CUMREC fellowship is to increase the number of graduate students pursuing careers in Information Technology, preferably in higher education administrative computing.

ELIGIBILITY

Students with career goals of working as information technology builders, infrastructure support specialists, IT managers, and administrative process functional leaders may follow completely different educational paths in preparation. Therefore, the Fellowship has been made available to students enrolled in all graduate colleges and departments. The Graduate School at MSU solicits nominations not only from Information Technology (IT)- related colleges at MSU, but also from ‘non-IT’ colleges (in the traditional sense) that offer IT-related courses of study. Ideal candidates will also have career plans in higher education.

Departments, programs, and colleges may nominate students whom they have admitted for a doctoral program for 2024, whom they are also nominating for a University Distinguished Fellowship.

TERMS OF AWARD

Frank B. Martin CUMREC Fellowship recipient(s) beginning study in 2025-2026 will receive a one-time fellowship award in the fall semester of $3000-$5000, depending on the anticipated availability of funds in the endowment spending account. To receive the award, students must also receive a college or department fellowship or an equivalent teaching or research assistantship.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

Colleges will nominate doctoral students for the CUMREC within Slate at the same time they are nominated for the University Distinguished Fellowships. Nominations are due to Graduate School by the end of the business day on Monday, January 27, 2025. Follow the University Distinguished Fellowship nomination format when submitting materials. One CUMREC award will be made by the Graduate School. Before the award letter is sent to the student, the Graduate School will require a copy of the college/department fellowship award letter or TA, RA or TE offer.

Students who are nominated for University Distinguished Fellowship can also be nominated for the CUMREC, and students may accept the awards concurrently.

Updated 10/8/24