Student Awards

Outstanding Information Science Student Award

Deadline: February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $500-$1,000

This award is to recognize Information Science undergraduate students for excellent academic achievement, commitment to the field, and outstanding participation and leadership in hands-on experiences. Examples include volunteer work, internships or jobs, community engagement, student organizations, or undergraduate research.

Eligibility Criteria: Declared in the Information Science (iSci) major, Minimum 3.2 Cumulative UW-Madison GPA. 

If you received the Outstanding Information Science Student Award previously you are not eligible to receive it again.

Application Information: Complete application including the following supplemental questions:

• List your expected graduation date
• Describe an accomplishment you are most proud of within the iSci field (course project, research work or volunteer experience, student organization…) (Please limit your response to 250 words)
• What are your future plans? How have your coursework and experiences (volunteer work, research, internships, jobs, student organizations, etc.)  prepared you for these plans? (Please limit your response to 250 words)

Outstanding MS Graduate Student Award

Deadline: February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $500-$1,000

The Outstanding MS Graduate Student Award is presented to an individual who is in the MS graduate program in the iSchool at UW-Madison. The Outstanding MS Graduate Student Award recognizes an individual who not only has demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievement, but also significant contributions to the Information professions through hands-on experience, leadership and community involvement.

Eligibility Criteria: Current MS graduate student, Minimum 3.5 GPA Cumulative UW-Madison GPA . Significant contributions to the information profession.

If you received the Outstanding MS Graduate Student Award previously you are not eligible to receive it again.

Application Information: Personal statement demonstrating commitment to the program and active participation and leadership within student organizations or professional organizations. (Please limit your response to 250 words)

The committee is looking for:

• Significant contributions to the information professions through Hands-on experience (research, practicum internship, paid or volunteer experience)
• Significant contributions to the information professions through extra curricular involvement in an Information related organization
• Significant contributions to the information professions through leadership in the profession

Outstanding MA Graduate Student Award

Deadline: February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $500-$1,000

The Outstanding iSchool MA Graduate Student Award is presented to an individual who is in the MA graduate program in the iSchool at UW-Madison. The Outstanding MA Graduate Student Award recognizes an individual who not only has demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievement, but also significant contributions to the Information professions through hands-on experience, leadership and/or community involvement.

Eligibility Criteria: MA graduate student, Minimum 3.5 Cumulative UW-Madison GPA in the MA LIS program. Significant contributions to the information profession. 

If you received the Outstanding iSchool MA Graduate Student Award previously you are not eligible to receive it again.

Application Information: Personal statement demonstrating commitment to the program and significant contributions to the Information professions through hands-on experience, leadership and/or community involvement. (Please limit your response to 250 words or less)

The committee is looking for:

• Significant contributions to the information professions through Hands-on experience (research, practicum internship, paid or volunteer experience)
• Significant contributions to the information professions through extra curricular involvement in an Information related organization
• Significant contributions to the information professions through leadership in the profession

Fenster Research Paper Award 

Deadline: February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $500

 The Valmai Fenster Award for Outstanding Promise for Exceptional Scholarly Contribution to the Profession award was created in honor of Valmai Fenster, a former faculty member, to recognize exceptional scholarship of an iSchool student as evidenced in a scholarly paper.

Eligibility Criteria: Current iSchool MA graduate students are eligible to submit a single (i.e. not a group paper) scholarly research paper written in any semester. Literature reviews will not be considered for this award.

Application Information: Students must complete the awards application including uploading a PDF of their research paper. The nominee’s name should appear only on the cover page of the paper, not on every page. The pages should be numbered and the title of the paper should appear on every page.

The committee is looking for:

• Excellence of presentation/quality of writing style
• Significance of the topic to the field
• Appropriateness of the method and effective use of evidence
• The quality of insights and interpretations presented

Dianne McAfee Hopkins Diversity Activities Award

Deadline: February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $500 

This award was created in honor of Dianne McAfee Hopkins, the first African-American iSchool faculty member and committed leader in school library education, intellectual freedom, and diversity in the library profession. In 2004 the School, through its Diversity Committee, set forth a formal mission statement: to promote diversity within the profession through recruitment, curriculum, and programming at the Information School. This award is intended to recognize a student whose iSchool and extra-curricular activities support this mission.

Eligibility Criteria: Students in the iSchool MA program. 

Application Information: Students may nominate themselves, or they may be nominated by another student or a faculty or staff member. The awards application includes the following supplemental questions:

1. Submit a personal statement or letter of recommendation documenting the reasons for the nomination, including the candidate’s commitment to the mission of the Diversity Committee in their communities.

James Krikelas Award For Innovative Use Of Information Technology

Deadline:  February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $500

This award is to recognize the work of an iSchool student who has presented the innovative use of information technology through an iSchool course assignment or extra-curricular activity. This award was established in 1998 in honor of Emeritus Professor James Krikelas, who for several decades was a leader in teaching and using information technology in the classroom.

Eligibility Criteria: All current iSchool graduate (MA or MS) students are eligible to submit work completed in any semester. 

If you submit a group project you must acknowledge you have communicated with your group members about the award submission and provide their names. If your group project is selected the total award amount will be divided equally between all group members.

Application Information: Students must complete the awards application including the following supplemental questions: 

• Title of project
• Description of project, including why it demonstrates an innovative use of information technology (Please limit your response to 250 words or less) 
• Provide a PDF version of the project or a link to the project as supporting evidence 

The committee is looking for:

• Excellence of presentation (i.e., applications that clearly describe the project and its goals)
• Significance of the problem that the project addresses
• Effective and innovative use of information technologies to address the problem

Examples of projects could include innovative or creative approaches to:

• Workshops, events or other programs in libraries, archives, museums, or other cultural heritage contexts that teach, explore, or apply technology
• Technology-based solutions to needs or challenges in libraries, archives, museums, or other cultural heritage contexts
• Projects that highlight uses of new or emerging technologies in libraries, archives, museums, or other cultural heritage contexts 

Larry Jacobsen Innovations In Library Science Award

Deadline: February 2, 2025, 11:49 PM CST
Amount: $2,000-$4,000

This award was established by Larry Jacobsen, class of 1971, who wanted a way to express appreciation for a long and fruitful library career at the Lawrence Jacobsen Primate Research Center Library. He also wanted to help students like those he had supervised in the library who had struggled financially to make it through graduate library education.

The intent of the award is to support a second year iSchool MA student who (1) needs financial assistance in completing their second year, (2) has a focus on academic and/or special libraries, and (3) demonstrates skills as a potential difference maker in librarianship.

Eligibility Criteria: Any student completing their first year in the iSchool MA program may be nominated provided they need financial assistance to complete the second year of the MA program and have a focus on academic or special libraries. In addition, a candidate must have demonstrated originality and willingness to risk, or innovativeness in their class or extracurricular activities, including the workplace.

Application Information: Students must complete the awards application including the following supplemental questions. 

• Letter of recommendation from an iSchool faculty/staff member OR a current work supervisor.
• Personal statement describing your academic excellence, demonstration of leadership, and financial need. 

MA Practicum Support Fund

Fund applications are open for summer 2025 practicums. Applications for this award are open through Sunday, April 6 at 11:59pm (Central Time). 

Application Form

The MA Practicum Support Fund was created by the iSchool Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee, with support from iSchool leadership with the goal of defraying direct costs to students of unpaid MA/LIS practicums at non-profit organizations (for example, transportation costs, childcare, relocation expenses). Please fill out this form if you would like to be considered. Funding is limited, so we may not be able to help everyone who applies, but we will do the best we can. If something changes about your practicum placement after you submit an application, you may amend your award request.

Eligibility Criteria:

• MA students completing an unpaid practicum at at non-profit organization as part of LIS 620
• in good academic standing with no incomplete grades

Application Information: Complete the application form including a brief summary of your practicum, direct practicum-related costs, and financial need statement.

iSchool Diversity Internship Award

This award provides scholarship funding for students to complete otherwise unpaid internships. The iSchool provides up to two Diversity Internship Awards per academic semester.

The purpose is to:

• increase the diversity of representation in the information professions
• alleviate financial burden of unpaid internships
• support efforts to engage the broadest range of populations with information services, especially communities that are currently underserved
• provide students with additional training, experience and support that might lead to better job placements in their areas of interest.

Current iSchool students (MA, MS, online and on-campus) who have taken at least one academic year of coursework (full or part-time) are eligible.

Application deadlines: August 15 for Fall internships, January 1 for Spring and, and May 1 for Summer internships

For more details see iSchool Diversity Internship Award Information.