Awards
The ACUM Outstanding Advising Award, inaugurated in 2022, honors the dedication and excellence of staff and faculty advisers across all schools and colleges at the Ann Arbor campus. It serves as a platform to acknowledge their invaluable contributions to student success and academic guidance.
2024 Outstanding Advising Award Recipients
Michelle Sonderman
Student Administration Manager,
College of Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Samantha Wilhelmi
Program Manager,
Cancer Biology Program, Michigan Medicine
Who is eligible to be nominated?
All staff and faculty who advise, coach, or mentor undergraduate or graduate students are eligible for this award. We define “advisor” expansively. (See below for separate awards for graduate faculty mentors and dissertation advisors.)
Who is eligible to nominate an advisor?
The ACUM Advising Awards are student-nominated, so all undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to nominate an advisor.
What will the winner(s) receive?
In addition to the honor of being recognized, two winners will each receive a $500 prize, and all advisors nominated will receive anonymized copies of their nominations. These testimonials mean a tremendous amount to advisors, as the full impact of their work with students is not always visible.
How do I nominate my advisor?
The nomination form will be available until February 23, 2024 at noon. Winners will be announced at the ACUM Advising Symposium on May 10, 2024.
How do I nominate tenured faculty who are outstanding mentors of doctoral students?
Additional awards sponsored by the Rackham Graduate School are available for tenured faculty:
John H. D’Arms Faculty Awards for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring in the Humanities
Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award for dissertations advisors
Additional Past Award Recipients
2023
Jordan Long, Academic Advisor in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Leonora Lucaj, Undergraduate Student Advisor in the College of Engineering
Read more about the 2023 recipients in the University Record.
2022
Bryan Abma, Academic Advisor in LSA’s Newnan Academic Advising Center
Kristel Oelke, Senior Undergraduate Academic Advisor in the College of Engineering
Read more about the 2022 recipients in the University Record.