Call for 2008 AOC Student Paper Competition and Award Nominations       - TOP -

Dear AOC student members:

It is the time again for submitting your papers to the AOC Student Paper Competition and your nominations for the AOC Student Awards. This year, the AOC Annual Meeting will be held concurrently with the ASABE Annual International Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. Please note that we will accept paper entries from and award nominations for ALL AOC student members, including AOC student members in China.

1. AOC Student Paper Competition

If you already submitted a paper to the 2008 ASABE Annual International Meeting and are interested in participating in the AOC student paper competition, please send your paper and the "entry form" (http://www.aoc-web.org/student/2008awards ) to Dr. Naiqian Zhang of Kansas State University (zhangn@ksu.edu) no later than May 15, 2008. You can find the judging criteria (score sheet) that will be used to evaluate your papers from the same website. The top five winners will receive certificates as well as cash awards. Please note that we only accept papers written for the 2008 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Therefore, your paper must have a number assigned by ASABE.

2. AOC Graduate Student Awards

A. If you would like to be considered for the AOC Graduate Scholarly Achievement Award, please ask your major professor to nominate you. Check the web site (http://www.aoc-web.org/student/2008awards ) for the procedure and criteria. Send the nomination to Professor Naiqian Zhang no later than May 15, 2008. Note that your major professor does not have to be an AOC member, neither does he/she have to be a Chinese!

B. If you would like to be considered for the AOC Graduate Leadership and Service Award, you need to find an AOC member to nominate you. Note that this award can be nominated by ANY AOC member. That is, the nominator does not have to be a professor. Check the same web site for details. The deadline for nomination is also May 15, 2008. For both awards, the winners will receive certificates and cash awards.

Of course you must be an AOC student member to become eligible for these awards. To join AOC, simply download the application form from http://www.aoc-web.org/applicationform.htm, and send the form, together with a $5 check, to Dr. Yubin Lan, the AOC Treasurer (ylan@sparc.usda.gov ).

Please note that being physically present in Providence is not a precondition for any of these awards. In other words, you may submit an entry to the competition or be nominated for an award even if you do not plan to attend the 2008 ASABE meeting.

Sincerely,

Zhiming Qi, Chair                    Naiqian Zhang              Ning Wang, Chair

Student Activity Committee    Student Advisor            Membership Committee

ASABE PAPER AWARDS COMMITTEE (M-141) Proposed Febuary-2008       - TOP -

Division Criteria and Scoring Sheet

Paper Number _________________________

Paper Title ______________________________________________________________

Source _________________________________________________________________(100 Max)

  I. Value of Paper (40 pts. possible)

________ 20 pts. a) Is work fundamentally valuable and timely?

________ 10 pts. b) Are findings usable by other engineers or will they stimulate further research and/or commercialization?

________ 10 pts. c) Will findings directly or indirectly benefit society in general and agriculture specifically?

  II. Organization (25 pts. possible)

________ 5 pts. a) Title and abstract appropriate?

________ 5 pts. b) Objectives well stated?

________ 5 pts. c) Use of scientific approach apparent (procedures, results & discussion)?

________ 5 pts. d) Conclusions answer objectives and warranted?

________ 5 pts. e) References (where applicable) present germane and complete?

  III. Quality of Expression (20 pts. possible)

________ 5 pts. a) Continuity and clarity of expression?

________ 5 pts. b) Completeness of presentation?

________ 5 pts. c) Conciseness (elimination of irrelevant aspects)?

________ 5 pts. d) Stimulating to reader?

  IV.Originality (15 pts. possible)

________ 10 pts. a) Original, innovative, and/or creative approach used?

________ 5 pts. b) Latest techniques used?

________ Total Score

  * High-point score indicates excellence. Use full zero-to-maximum on

     each item to obtain maximum point spread.

Reference: Graduate Scholarly Achievement Award 2007       - TOP -

This award shall be nominated by the major professor (AOC member or non-AOC member) of the student with a nomination letter describing the candidate's scholarly accomplishments and their impact. The candidate shall prepare an academic vita together with a list of three references with detailed contact information to Professor Naiqian Zhang ( zhangn@ksu.edu ) no later than May 1, 2007 .

Candidates' qualifications will be evaluated based on their performance on in-class, research, and outreach activities. The following criteria shall be used to evaluate the candidates:

1. Academic performance (current year and the trend over the past years)
2. Scholarly activities, including
• Publications (journal articles, fact sheets, software, web pages, etc.)
• Presentations (oral, poster, mass media, etc.)
• Grant proposals
• Invention disclosures
3. Participation in professional activities (conferences, professional societies)
4. Other scholarly activities

Reference: Graduate Leadership and Service Award 2007       - TOP -

This award shall be nominated by an AOC member with a nomination letter describing the candidate's leadership and service contributions to AOC and the profession. In addition, the candidate shall prepare a one-page essay on "how can we improve graduate student involvement in advancing the goals of AOC" and a list of three references with detailed contact information.

Candidates' qualifications will be evaluated based on their contributions to advancing the goals of AOC and the profession. The following criteria shall be used to evaluate the candidates:

1. Recruitment and promotion for AOC and its programs
2. Showing hospitality to and mentoring new AOC student members
3. Organizing and making contributions to AOC activities
4. Participating in AOC activities
5. Providing leadership and service to other professional societies
6. Providing leadership and service at the home institution
7. International activities.