Graduate and Professional Student Association honors students with the Excellence Awards as a part of the annual Evening of Excellence that The Graduate School and GPSA put on together. The award nominations just closed on March 27, which means the decision-making process is not yet over, but the announcement will come later this spring.
Joseph Akowuah is a PhD student and teaching assistant in political science. Akowuah is also GPSA’s chair of awards and scholarships and a GPSA representative for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Akowuah organizes the Excellence Awards and co-organizes the Evening of Excellence with staff at WSU’s Graduate School, specifically with Joe Merrill, the director of development and administrative manager.
“I would define the Excellence Awards as [the] recognition of graduate students who have contributed immensely to the university,” Akowuah said. “We have to appreciate unsung heroes.”
The awards revolve around important aspects of character, from community engagement to inclusion and going above and beyond as a teacher.
“It encourages the entire community that being a good person is seen and is not irrecognizable,” Akowuah said.
Aurora Schermbeck is a master’s student and a graduate teaching assistant in the School of the Environment.
“As a grad student, you’re working super hard all the time, and I think you can sometimes feel unappreciated,” she said. “So I think being recognized for that definitely could [be] very validating knowing that somebody is recognizing that.”
Schermbeck feels she does not engage with GPSA regularly.
“At the very least, as a grad student, you should know that it exists…It is something that we need, because they act as liaisons for us between grad students and higher leadership,” she said.
The awards highlight exceptional graduate and professional students, and GPSA supports those students through community building and resource opportunities. GPSA just put on their “Big Ol’ Lunch” event last week, aligning with their community-building goals.
