Faculty Advocate Award

This award recognizes one individual who has made significant contributions to and provided support for students with disabilities at Western Michigan University through a partnership with Disability Services for Students.

Required materials:
A completed nomination form and one support form is required. Additional support forms are optional and will be accepted if submitted. If nomination and support forms are not fully complete, submissions will not be reviewed by DSS staff.

Deadline for submission: the deadline for the 2023-2024 nominations is March 22, 2024.

*Note: Those submitting Support information need only fill out the Support Form. Each nomination and supporting letter must be at least 300 words, with a maximum of 500.

NOMINATION FORM       SUPPORT FORM

Eligibility 

Faculty (tenured, tenure track, term or jointly-appointed), part-time faculty, and adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University are eligible for nomination. Individuals may not receive this award more than once in a five-year period.

Selection Criteria

1    Engages in creating and strengthening services provided to WMU students who have disabilities.

2.   Collaborates with DSS to provide significant and meaningful resources for WMU students who have disabilities.

3.   Serves as an outstanding role model for promoting DSS accommodations.

Selection Process

Nominations are reviewed and selected by the Disability Services for Students staff. Award recipients will be notified by early April. Awards will be presented to the recipient at a departmental faculty meeting in April. 

Nomination Process

Nominations may originate from the dean or other college administrators, department chairs, program directors, department committees, individual faculty, staff, or students. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Nominations and letters of support should clearly identify and document how the nominee meets each of the criteria listed above.

Disability Services for Students would like to thank award recipients for their work.

2018-2019 Award Recipient

Dr. Kirsty Eisenhart 

2019-2020 Award Recipient

Dr. Suzan Aiken

2021-2022 Award Recipient

Dr. Bob White

2022-2023  Award Recipient

Dr. Jean Kimmel