Michael Purves-Smith Student Paper Award Terms of Reference

RhetCanada Student Paper Awards

RhetCanada presents two awards for student papers at its annual conference:

  • The Michael Purves-Smith Student Paper Award, which recognizes the best paper by a graduate student.
  • The RhetCanada Undergraduate Paper Award, which recognizes the best paper by an undergraduate student.

The terms of reference for these two awards follow.

List of previous winners

The Michael Purves-Smith Student Paper Award

Terms of Reference

Updated December 2020

About the Michael Purves-Smith Student Paper Award

The Michael Purves-Smith Student Paper Award acknowledges excellent contributions to our field from young scholars. The award is given to an outstanding paper presented by a graduate student at RhetCanada’s annual conference. The winner of the prize receives a monetary award and is recognized on the RhetCanada website and on our social media. While the prize will ordinarily be given to a single paper, if the entire committee agrees, the prize can be split between two winners. A student cannot win the prize in successive years.

Who is Eligible for the Award?

All graduate students whose proposal is accepted for the RhetCanada conference and who do the following:

  • Submit a draft of the paper for review by the prize committee by the specified deadline.
  • Submit a final copy of their paper and AV supports by the specified deadline.

Applicants must not have won the award in the previous year. If a student is presenting alone, they must be the sole author of the paper. If the paper is co-written with another student, then all authors must participate in the presentation of the paper. In all cases, only the paper authors can participate in the presentation of the paper. No papers co-authored with faculty will be considered for the undergraduate student prize. The student must be an active (dues-paying) member of RhetCanada.

Committee Mandate

The prize committee does the following:

  • Before the conference, reviews and provides formative feedback on submitted student papers eligible for the award.
  • At the conference, attends all presentations by eligible students.
  • Within a week after the conference, consults to decide on a winner.

Prize Committee Formation

The  prize committee will consist of three members appointed by the Executive Committee. The regulations for the committee are as follows:

  • At least one member must currently be on the Executive Committee and/or Editorial Board of Rhetor.
  • At least one member should be a Francophone.
  • All members must hold a PhD or other terminal graduate degree and not be currently studying for a graduate degree.

Length of Terms

Members are volunteers and do not have term limits. Appointees for the coming year are announced at the RhetCanada AGM.

Award Process

The award will be decided based on the following process:

  1. Students submit papers for review by the specified deadlines.
  2. Papers are reviewed by the committee members, who offer students formative feedback at least two weeks prior to the conference.
  3. Students attend the RhetCanada conference and present their papers. Committee members attend the presentations.
  4. The award committee meets in person or online within a week after the AGM to decide on a winner. Ideally, the winner should be decided by consensus, but if not, then by majority vote. If the entire committee agrees, the award can be split between two winners. If the committee cannot agree on a winner or determines that no paper sufficiently met the award criteria, they can decide not to name a winner for that year. The committee will inform the president of its decision.
  5. The winner is notified of the award and receives a cheque. The amount of the award is determined each year by the RhetCanada executive.
  6. The award winner is announced on RhetCanada’s website and social media.
  7. The winning paper is forwarded to the editor of Rhetor, who considers whether the paper might be suitable for publication in the journal, with or without further revisions.

Award Criteria

The committee will determine the winner based on the following criteria:

  • Relevance of research question for rhetorical studies
  • Significance of thesis for rhetorical studies
  • Appropriateness of research methods within rhetorical studies
  • Quality of the paper’s arguments
  • Structure, coherence, and clarity of the paper
  • Quality of revision in response to committee feedback
  • Quality of written presentation
  • Quality of oral presentation at the conference

The RhetCanada Undergraduate Paper Award

Terms of Reference

Updated December 2020

About the RhetCanada Undergraduate Student Paper Award

The RhetCanada Undergraduate Student Paper Award acknowledges excellent contributions to our field from young scholars. The award is given to an outstanding paper presented by an undergraduate student at RhetCanada’s annual conference. The winner of the prize receives a monetary award and is recognized on the RhetCanada website and on our social media. While the prize will ordinarily be given to a single paper, if the entire committee agrees, the prize can be split between two winners. A student cannot win the prize in successive years.

Who is Eligible for the Award?

All undergraduate students whose proposal is accepted for the RhetCanada conference and who do the following:

  • Submit a draft of the paper for review by the prize committee by the specified deadline.
  • Submit a final copy of their paper and AV supports by the specified deadline.

Applicants must not have previously won the award in the previous year.  If a student is presenting alone, they must be the sole author of the paper. If the paper is co-written with another student, then all authors must participate in the presentation of the paper. In all cases, only the paper authors can participate in the presentation of the paper. No papers co-authored with faculty will be considered for the undergraduate student prize. The student must be an active (dues-paying) member of RhetCanada.

Committee Mandate

The prize committee does the following:

  • Before the conference, reviews and provides formative feedback on submitted student papers eligible for the award.
  • At the conference, attends all presentations by eligible students.
  • Within a week after the conference, consults to decide on a winner.

Prize Committee Formation

The  prize committee will consist of three members appointed by the Executive Committee. The regulations for the committee are as follows:

  • At least one member must currently be on the Executive Committee and/or Editorial Board of Rhetor.
  • At least one member should be a Francophone.
  • All members must hold a PhD or other terminal graduate degree and not be currently studying for a graduate degree.

Length of Terms

Members are volunteers and do not have term limits. Appointees for the coming year are announced at the RhetCanada AGM.

Award Process

The award will be decided based on the following process:

  1. Students submit papers for review by the specified deadlines.
  2. Papers are reviewed by the committee members, who offer students formative feedback at least two weeks prior to the conference.
  3. Students attend the RhetCanada conference and present their papers. Committee members attend the presentations.
  4. The award committee meets in person or online within a week after the AGM to decide on a winner. Ideally, the winner should be decided by consensus, but if not, then by majority vote. If the entire committee agrees, the award can be split between two winners. If the committee cannot agree on a winner or determines that no paper sufficiently met the award criteria, they can decide not to name a winner for that year. The committee will inform the president of its decision.
  5. The winner is notified of the award and receives a cheque. The amount of the award is determined each year by the RhetCanada executive.
  6. The award winner is announced on RhetCanada’s website and social media.
  7. The winning paper is forwarded to the editor of Rhetor, who considers whether the paper might be suitable for publication in the journal, with or without further revisions.

Award Criteria

The committee will determine the winner based on the following criteria:

  • Relevance of research question for rhetorical studies
  • Significance of thesis for rhetorical studies
  • Appropriateness of research methods within rhetorical studies
  • Quality of the paper’s arguments
  • Structure, coherence, and clarity of the paper
  • Quality of revision in response to committee feedback
  • Quality of written presentation
  • Quality of oral presentation at the conference