Cyrena Pondrom Leadership Award

Description: The Cyrena Pondrom Leadership Award supports students as they plan, develop, and implement projects designed to improve UW-Madison, the community, and/or the university student body. Past award recipients have established mentoring programs for underrepresented students; collaborated with local organizations to improve community access to fresh, healthy and local produce; and founded an academic journal, the Madison Journal of Literary Criticism, to increase students’ opportunities to see their work published.

The Award(s): Funds equal to two (2) semesters of resident, full-time tuition, plus project funds up to $3000 as justified in the proposed project budget.

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Currently enrolled L&S Honors Student (HLA, HM, or Comprehensive Honors)
  • At least sophomore standing
  • At least one (1) year of undergraduate study remaining at the time of award
  • Minimum 3.3 cumulative grade point average (GPA)

Selection Criteria

  • Evidence of achievement and leadership in co-curricular or public/community service activity(ies)
  • Strength, rigor, clarity, and novelty of the project proposal
  • Clearly defined and justifiable project budget proposal
  • Strength of letters of recommendation (faculty advisor and campus/community partner advisor)
  • Progress toward the completion of the L&S Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, OR Comprehensive Honors degree(s)

Restrictions

  • Students who receive the Cyrena Pondrom Leadership Award may not receive other funding from university programs or scholarships for the project during the funding year. Please send any questions to Pete Keys (pkeys@wisc.edu).

Deadline
All materials must be submitted by Sunday, April 6, 2025, at 11:59 PM.

Note: Students may submit their project proposals in .PDF form to Pete Keys (pkeys@wisc.edu) by Sunday, March 23, 2025, at 11:59 PM to receive feedback prior to final submission.

Award
Varies
Organizations
L&S Honors Program
Deadline
04/06/2025
Supplemental Questions
  1. I understand that incomplete applications will not be considered and that all supporting materials and the application must be submitted by the deadline.
  2. Please select the Honors track you are currently pursuing.
  3. Please select the semester you expect to graduate from UW-Madison.
  4. If you answered "Other" to the question above, please clarify.
  5. Please enter the proposed title of your project.
  6. Please enter your faculty mentor's First and Last Name.
  7. Enter your faculty mentor's department.
  8. Enter your faculty mentor's email address.
  9. (LSH) REQUEST FACULTY REFERENCE: To request the letter of reference from your project advisor click on "Add a New Reference" below, enter their name and UW-Madison email address and save. The WiSH system will send an email to your on-campus faculty project advisor with a link to upload their letter. You are responsible for ensuring your project advisor completes this reference request.
  10. Please list the name or title of your partner campus/community organization.
  11. Please enter your primary campus/community advisor's First and Last Name.
  12. Please enter your primary campus/community advisor's email address.
  13. (LSH) Please upload a letter of recommendation (.pdf) from your campus/community partner advisor. You are responsible for obtaining and uploading a .pdf version of the letter of recommendation by the due date of the application.
  14. Please upload any additional letter(s) of recommendation that may be relevant to your project. If you have more than one additional letter of recommendation (beyond your faculty advisor and campus/community partner advisor), please combine the letters into a single .pdf and upload that .pdf. If you are unable to combine .pdf files, please send your .pdf letters as attachments in a single email to Pete Keys (pkeys@wisc.edu).
  15. (LSH) I understand that I must play an active leadership role in all parts of my proposed project and that I will clearly explain the ways in which I will lead in my proposal.
  16. (LSH) I understand that my proposed project must be novel and innovative. I can confirm that my proposal is not the continuation of an existing project.
  17. Upload a current transcript (official or unofficial is acceptable). See https://registrar.wisc.edu/transcript/ for instructions on retrieving a transcript.
  18. Please upload a .pdf version of your completed project proposal. Please include your last name and Leadership Proposal 2025 in your file name.
  19. Please upload either a .xlsx or a .pdf version of your completed budget. The required template for your budget proposal is available on our website. Please include your last name and Leadership Budget 2025 in your file name.
  20. (LSH) Please provide a personal statement (no more than 400 words) detailing your experience(s) with leadership and/or service projects and the potential impact this project will have on you personally, academically, and/or professionally.
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