ETD Award Submission Deadline Fast Approaching - Act Now!

[James MacDonald]

The NDLTD's ETD Awards recognize innovative theses and dissertations and leadership within the ETD community. These awards are presented each year at the annual ETD Symposium.

NDLTD is pleased to announce the 2015 ETD Awards program. We invite all NDLTD members to nominate individuals they feel deserve the recognition!

The awards include several categories of appreciation:

• The Innovative ETD Award recognizes student efforts to transform the genre of the dissertation through the use of innovative research data management techniques and software to create multimedia ETDs. 
• The ETD Leadership Award recognizes members of the university community whose leadership and vision has helped raise awareness of the benefits of open access ETDs and whose efforts have improved graduate education and research through the use of technology.

The awards will be presented at the ETD 2015 Symposium, to be held on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus, New Delhi, India during 4th - 6th November 2015.

Eligibility, Nomination Procedures and Evaluation Criteria

• The nominator and the nominee's University must be an NDLTD member.
• Nominations will be reviewed by the NDLTD Awards Committee. Current members of the NDLTD Awards Committee are not eligible for nomination. 
• Winners are encouraged but not required to attend the ETD Symposium:
• Innovative ETD award winners will be eligible to receive up to U.S. $500 reimbursement towards the cost of their travel to attend the ETD Symposium.
• Winners will also receive complimentary conference registration and 3 days accommodations on behalf of the ETD2015 India.  
• We request that winners who cannot attend the Symposium record a video acceptance message (approximately 2 - 3 minutes) that can be presented at the Symposium Awards ceremony and distributed online, or provide an acceptance message in writing (500 words or less). 
• Nomination letters should include: 
• A brief description (1,000 words or less) of background information and details of the merits of and justification for the nomination. 
• Additional letters of support (i.e. from faculty, administration, students, Library or Graduate School Dean, Provost, etc.). 
• Complete contact information for both the nominator and nominee, including home and/or University postal and email addresses.
• Previous winners:
• Innovative ETD Awards
• ETD Leadership Awards
• Acceptance speech videos
• Nominations must be sent by email to ETD Awards Committee Chair James MacDonald at james.m...@unbc.ca

Deadline for Nominations: August 15, 2015

Specific Awards Category Information and Requirements:

Innovative ETD Award

ETDs submitted for this award must represent student efforts to transform the genre of the print dissertation through the use of technology. This award recognizes innovative use of software to create "cutting edge" ETDs. The application and integration of renderings, photos, data sets, software code and other multimedia objects that are included in the document will be considered as part of the innovation of the work.

• An ETD may be nominated by a representative (e.g. administrator, faculty member or librarian) of an institution that is a member of the NDLTD.  
• Each NDLTD member may submit up to 2 nominees. In addition, a student from a member organisation may submit a self-nomination.
• The nomination should include a link to the archived work, along with a brief statement about how the work uses technology to enhance the presentation of research. 
• ETD nominations may be in PDF and/or open (non-PDF) formats. Submissions of PDF formats should include hyper-linking and/or the source URL to any included supplementary multimedia material. 
• The ETD must be distributed online as open access. 
• There may be up to three winners in this category. 
• Each winner will receive $1,000 and will be eligible to receive an additional $500 in travel scholarship funding to attend the ETD Symposium.*
• Winners will also receive complimentary conference registration and 3 days accommodations on behalf of the ETD2015 India.  

ETD Leadership Award

This is open to individuals whose leadership and vision has helped raise awareness of the benefits of ETDs and whose efforts have improved graduate education through the use of ETDs. Letters of nomination should include details about the individual's ETD related activities and how the nominee's leadership has made significant advances in the area of ETDs at the local, regional, national or international levels.

• Nominations should be submitted by the nominee's supervisor or related University administrator. 
• The nominee or nominee's institution must be affiliated as an NDLTD member. 
• There may be up to two winners for this category. 
• Each winner will receive international honorary recognition.
• Winners will also receive complimentary conference registration and 3 days accommodations on behalf of the ETD2015 India.

*I.R.S regulations require the NDLTD to report all award amounts distributed; citizens of the United States must provide a valid Social Security number to receive award distributions. Winners must agree to the conditions set forth in the eligibility requirements listed here and NDLTD policy. Winners must also agree to make acceptance/acknowledgments materials available to the NDLTD for the purpose of international promotions.  

For more information about the ETD Awards program contact James MacDonald, ETD Awards Committee Chair.