THE LUMEN PRIZE
Faculty/Staff Mentor Nomination Form
History and Nature of the Prize
The Lumen Prize was established in 2007 to assist Elon University undergraduates in the
attainment of ambitious and serious intellectual goals during their junior and senior years. Each
prize involves of a one-time award with a value of $15,000, which may be used over the two
years for tuition assistance [up to $10,000], research support, international study, equipment and
supplies, summer stipends, and other approved expenses. Lumen Prize recipients are also
supported in pursuit of graduate fellowships such as the Rhodes, Truman, Goldwater, and Rotary
scholarships. The work of Lumen Prize winners will be publicly celebrated as representing the
very best achievements of Elon University students.
Conditions of Eligibility
The student you nominate must be completing his or her second year at Elon or, if having
transferred credits to Elon, be completing the second year of higher education with at least one
full semester at Elon. Applicants are expected to demonstrate a commitment to pursuing at least
two additional academic years of study as Elon students. Those planning on attending graduate
or professional school are strongly encouraged. Finally, candidates must demonstrate a
cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher and be in good standing at the time of the
application (that is, a history of repeated or egregious honor code violations may disqualify a
candidate). Due to the nature of the timeline associated with the program, Engineering students
are not eligible.
Work at this level calls for mentoring of the highest caliber. You are permitted to nominate up to
two students in any given year; however, we strongly urge that you consider carefully the
implications of multiple nominations, both for you and your students. Do the nature of the
proposed work, the needs of the students, and the demands on your time in the context of other
responsibilities allow for taking on two applicants in the same year? [Finally, please be
advised that you may mentor no more than two Lumen Scholars at any given time, even when
they are in different academic years.]
Instructions and Guidelines
Applicants need to have two letters of support, the first of which is this letter of nomination
submitted by you as the student’s official mentor. Your letter should address both the
accomplishments the applicant has already demonstrated and those qualities of mind [intellectual
passion, originality, persistence, breadth of interest, openness to intellectual and personal inquiry
and reflection] that demonstrate outstanding potential. The complete set of selection criteria is
listed on the application form, and is available for you to review at the program website
http://www.elon.edu/lumenprize. Also on the website is a document providing complete
“information for mentors” concerning compensation, expectations, and responsibilities.
Detailed and enthusiastic letters of nomination greatly assist the selection committee in its
deliberations, and your efforts on behalf of the applicant are greatly appreciated. In that light,
keep in mind that although the selection committee includes colleagues from across the
institution, you are the expert in your particular field. You are welcome and encouraged to help
contextualize your student’s proposal. As committee colleagues outside your area may not have
as full an understanding of scholarly/creative work in your field, feel free to address how the
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proposed work reflects valuable directions in your field, and how your student exemplifies the
highest degree of undergraduate potential and achievement in that field at this stage of his or her
development. If you think appending your department’s statement of professional/scholarly
activity provides still further clarification, please do so. Finally, note that your student should
also ask you to “sign off” on the appropriate line of the application form that he or she is
submitting separately. This is to ensure that you have reviewed and are in support of the final
version of the application being submitted.
Please submit your letter as a Word document. The next page of this document (which is in
Word) provides the template for your use. When finished, your letter should be submitted
electronically to lumenprize@elon.edu, with your typed name serving as your electronic
signature. All application material, including this letter of nomination, must be in to the Lumen
Prize office no later than noon, on Wednesday, March 14, 2012.
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THE LUMEN PRIZE
Faculty/Staff Mentor Nomination Form
Name of Student Nominee:
Student’s Elon email address:
Briefly describe your relationship to the nominee:
Discuss how the nominee and the proposed work meet the selection criteria for the Lumen
Prize. Keeping in mind that this will be a competitive applicant pool, and with an eye
toward assisting the committee in its deliberations, please comment upon how this
application qualifies as outstanding:
Name of Mentor Nominating Student [typed name serves as electronic signature]
Position/Title
Campus Address & Telephone