Leadership and Awards

Several awards are available to graduate students in MSU's Department of Sociology, and are awarded in the Spring semester of each year.

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The Graduate Employees Union (GEU) is a labor union serving graduate employees. The Union aims to make the Michigan State University community a better place in which graduate students can afford to work and study.

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The Council of Graduate Students is an authorized student government on campus representing graduate/professional students at various levels across Michigan State University. Its mission is to improve and advance graduate education in order to ensure the vitality of intellectual discovery.

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Alpha Kappa Delta, a non-secret, democratic, international society of scholars dedicated to the ideal of Athropon Katamanthanein Diakonesein or “to investigate humanity for the purpose of service.” AKD seeks to acknowledge and promote excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social improvement of the human condition. More than 50,000 lifetime members are affiliated with more than 500 chapters of the Society. These are persons with academic records showing excellence in sociology.

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Awarded for completing all of the requirements for the Animal Studies Graduate Specialization. Administered by the Department of Sociology, this specialization provides graduate students with basic knowledge of relationships between humans and other animals and how they are linked together in a fragile biosphere.

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The Jay Artis Endowment is for “advanced candidacy (proposal approved)” graduate students who are doing research in the area of International Development. Students must submit a proposal and budget for support in the area of Sociology of International Development, and are also required to submit a letter from their dissertation chairperson endorsing their application.

Award Amount: $3,000.00

A call for applications will go out in April. 

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This award is a tribute honoring the scholarship and leadership of John Lewis McAdoo, who was a professor of Family and Child Ecology at Michigan State university and a founding member of the NCFR Ethnic Minorities Section. The purpose of the award is to provide support for the completion of an approved graduate research with a focus on issues related to families of color.

Award Amount: $500-1000.00.

Eligibility: Must be a doctoral student with approved research regarding families of color. 

How to apply: Submit an up-to-date vita; statement of professional plans; one letter of recommendation (written by a person familiar with your academic progress); and specific topic area of research-committee approval date.  Criteria for selection is based on professional goals, student status, class level, and academic achievement. 

A call for applications will go out in April.