On February 15, 2010, the new “Celebrating Excellence” faculty and staff awards ceremony was held at UMKC. Chancellor Morton and Provost Hackett presided over the event lauding the faculty and staff who won specific awards.
The Department of Psychology’s very own Chair and Professor, Dr. Tamera Murdock, won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring! CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Murdock!!
Some of the criteria for this award included:
• demonstrated record of graduate teaching excellence
• a demonstrated record of chairing graduate supervisory committees with timely completion rates
• an established record of mentoring and student professional development as demonstrated by examples such as student publication, external grant funding, and conference presentations
• an ability to attract graduate students to UMKC through active recruitment and academic/scholarly reputation; and a demonstrated commitment to diversity in the mentoring process
According to her nomination materials, Dr. Murdock:
• has taught nine different graduate courses and successfully mentors graduate students from three different PhD programs: Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, and the IPhD program
• has chaired 16 dissertations and 15 thesis committees in her 16 years at UMKC
• has served as primary mentor for a PFF Fellow on three separate occasions
• exhibits a commitment to diversity in the mentoring process (that) can be seen through a review of the topics her students have selected for their theses, dissertations, and other research endeavors
And, Dr. Murdock’s students:
• produce dissertations, theses, and manuscripts that stand out for their conceptual clarity and theoretical integrity
• have won dissertation fellowships, chancellor’s fellowships, and Preparing Future Faculty fellowships
• have also won national awards including an outstanding Dissertation Award from the National Reading Association and two Outstanding Student Presentation Awards from the American Psychological Association
For more information on the “Celebrating Excellence” awards ceremony and the winner’s of the 2010 awards associated with the ceremony, please see the provost’s website at: http://www.umkc.edu/provost/awards/recipients/2010/default.asp