St. Cloud State University

Excellence in Leadership Award

Please scroll below to see 2013 Award Recipients

This award identifies and honors students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership while at St. Cloud State University based on an evaluation of their academic commitment and leadership experiences.

The 2012-13 Excellence in Leadership Award Winners will be recognized at the 25th Annual Excellence in Leadership Awards Banquet on Sunday, April 21, 2013.

2012-2013 Information
2013-2014 Applications will be available by early December, 2013!
Eligibility Requirements	How Applications Are Scored	Tips for Completing the Application	Letter of Reference Writer Instructions

Eligibility Requirements

• Have student status during the current academic year. You can graduate in fall 2012 and still be eligible

• Undergraduate Student minimum cumulative GPA- 2.5 and at least 90 credits earned at the end of Fall 2012

• Graduate Student minimum cumulative GPA- 3.5 and at least 18 graduate semester credits by end of fall semester 2012 (a minimum of 18 semester credits earned at SCSU)

ITEMS TO SUBMIT FOR A COMPLETE APPLICATION
Application	Complete, signed application in the official format
Reflective Statements	Respond to three reflective statements on a separate piece of paper.  Each question will be underlined and your response will be limited to 350 words for each question.
Campus Activities and Volunteer Service statements of impact	Considering your involvement during your time on campus, choose up to 3 activities in the categories of Campus Involvement and Volunteer Service and provide a description of your involvement including an explanation of how your experience impacted your own development and benefitted those around you. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to provide a list of scholarships, honors, and awards received during your time at St. Cloud State.
Letters of Recommendation	Two letters, preferably on letterhead (attached or sent directly to the Department of Campus Involvement, Atwood Memorial Center 118) Can be from a faculty/staff member, adviser or officer of an organization, or a supervisor of volunteer service projects, internships, or other community engagement activities
	Double-check your application to ensure that it is complete.  (If your application is missing required items, it will not be considered for an award.)  Submit your complete application to the Department of Campus Involvement, AMC Resource Desk, by 4:00 Tuesday, February 19, 2013  (This will include all of the above items.) Late or incomplete packets will not be considered.

How Excellence in Leadership Applications are Scored

The Excellence in Leadership Committee encourages students to submit the best application possible. Here are two ways to learn more about the evaluation of the process:

Excellence in Leadership Scoring Rubrics

Download the tool that the award committee uses to evaluate the quality of the application. The goal is to help applicants understand what a well-developed application looks like and to help the them reflect on their experiences in submitting the application.

Undergraduate Student Scoring Rubric

Graduate Student Scoring Rubric

Tips on Completing the Application Process

Please demonstrate evidence of leadership as an SCSU student (on-campus and/or in the community). The application process allows you to reflect on your growth and development as a leader, primarily while at St. Cloud State University.   An application will be considered complete for review if it has the following:

Item	How This is Evaluated
Two letters of recommendation (request at least one month prior to application deadline): One from a faculty/staff member, adviser or officer of an organization One from a supervisor of community projects or activities	Find references that can speak to your leadership abilities.  It is likely that a reference knows about you and your abilities in ways that go beyond the formal application. The reference letter is a chance for your reference to share how you have impacted people, organizations and communities through your leadership efforts at St. Cloud State University.
Complete application form	Answer all of the questions
Response to three reflective statements listed on the application. Each question will be underlined and your response will be limited to 350 words for each question.	Depth of response to the questions asked Quality of written response.  Remember, this is your best work! A well-written response will be free of spelling errors,  will be grammatically correct, well-organized, easy to read and understand.
Campus Activities and Volunteer Service Statements of Impact For the awards committee to fully appreciate your involvement, spell out all acronyms and do not assume the readers are familiar with your organization, involvement, awards, and recognition. List only achievements undertaken while at SCSU.	For each activity, a description (175 words max) of your involvement including an explanation of how your involvement in this organization impacted your own development and benefitted the campus and/or St Cloud community.   You will not be scored based on the quantity of your involvement, but on your ability to articulate the impact of your involvement: How did you grow, learn, or develop? How did you contribute to the growth, learning, and development of others?

Instructions for Writer of the Letter of Recommendation

Thank you for agreeing to write a letter of recommendation for an applicant of the St. Cloud State University Excellence in Leadership Award.  Students are being evaluated on the following:

• A listing of their involvement in organizations, service and volunteer opportunities, development activities, and other leadership activities in the SCSU/greater community during their time as a student.

• Demonstrated focus on academics, meeting the minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 for undergraduate students and 3.5 for graduate students. 
• Reflective statements discussing how they have developed as a leader, their impact on others in their organizations, and how they will use their leadership skills in the future
• Two letters of recommendation

The context of the application process above should help you frame your reference letter.  It is likely that you know about this person and his/her abilities in ways that go beyond the formal application. Your reference letter is a chance to share how you have seen the applicant impact people, organizations and communities, primarily through their leadership efforts here at St. Cloud State University. 

Thank you for taking the time to be a part of this student’s efforts to celebrate his/her leadership experiences here at St. Cloud State University!  Letters of recommendation are due by Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 4:00 p.m.  They may be submitted via the following:

1. with the application (in a sealed envelope, if preferred, with a signature across the flap);
2. sent directly to the Department of Campus Involvement;
3. by e-mail or
4. by fax:

Address:

Department of Campus Involvement
St. Cloud State University
720 Fourth Avenue South, Atwood Memorial Center Resource Desk
St. Cloud, MN  56301-4498

E-mail:

campusinvolvement@stcloudstate.edu

Fax:

320-308-1669

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2013 Excellence in Leadership Award Recipients

The Excellence in Leadership Committee is pleased to announce that twenty five students have been selected to receive the award this year. The recipients will be honored at the Excellence in Leadership Banquet on Sunday, April 21, in the Atwood Memorial Center Ballroom. 2013 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Excellence in Leadership Award. Past award recipients and university emeriti will be invited back to this year’s banquet event.   

The 2013 Excellence in Leadership recipients are listed below:

2013 Excellence in Leadership Recipients
	Name	College/School	Major	Hometown	Status
	Stephanie Crandall	Public Affairs	Political Science	Woodbury, MN	Undergrad
	Rosemary D. Fisher	Health and Human Services	Communication Sciences and Disorders	Kankakee, IL	Grad Student
	Brittany Carole Gotzinger	Liberal Arts	Psychology/ Communication Studies	Winona, MN	Undergrad
	Autumn M. Hamberg	Liberal Arts	English	Blooming Prairie, MN	Undergrad
	Jenna Hauschild	Education	Music Education	Plymouth, MN	Undergrad
	Rebecca R. Hodous	Liberal Arts / Public Affairs	Criminal Justice and Spanish	Manitowoc, WI	Undergrad
	Neil John Hopfer	Education	Elementary Education	Richmond, MN	Undergrad
	Walid Issa	Public Affairs	Economics	Bethlehem, Palestine	Undergrad
	Stacey Kern	Liberal Arts	Communication Studies	Osakis, MN	Undergrad
	Aashika Khadka	Herberger Business	Finance	Kakarvitta, Nepal	Undergrad
	Kelly Marie Olson	Public Affairs	Criminal Justice	Oak Grove, MN	Undergrad
	Tashiana Osborne	Science and Engineering	Meteorology	Phoenix, AZ/ St. Paul, MN	Undergrad
	Irene Alejandra Ramirez	Liberal Arts	Communication Art & Literature	Eagle Pass, TX	Undergrad
	Anil Shah	Science and Engineering	Computer Engineering	Kathmandu, Nepal	Undergrad
	Tricia Simon	Health and Human Services	College Counseling and Student Development	St. Augusta, MN	Grad Student
	Ryan Stein	Liberal Arts	Mass Communications – Public Relations	Kimball, MN	Undergrad
	Laura Steinhoff	Health and Human Services	Communication Sciences and Disorders	Annandale, MN	Undergrad
	Ritu Tamang	Health and Human Services	Community Health	Kathmandu, Nepal	Undergrad
	Oliver Tempel	Public Affairs	Business Economics	Dresden, Germany	Undergrad
	Anil Timilsina	Science and Engineering	Computer Engineering	Pokhara, Nepal	Undergrad
	Margaret A. Vanderwarn	Education	Special Education	Maple Grove, MN	Grad Student
	Amee Yong Vang	Education	Math Education	Sacramento, CA	Undergrad
	Tiffany Wells	School of the Arts	Art Education	Northfield, MN	Undergrad
	Paula V. Woischke	Health and Human Services	Gerontology	St. Cloud, MN	Grad Student
	Brian J Zenzen	Herberger Business	Management	St. Cloud, MN	Undergrad