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Awards

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Leadership Awards

Julia E. Berry Research Award to Study Careers of English Majors (The Berry Research Award)

Kelly J. Sassi

Northern Michigan University

 

Versatility and Resilience in English Alumni from a Rural-Serving Institution

 

Kelly (Kel) Sassi taught high school English for six years in Fairbanks, Alaska before pursuing a PhD at the University of Michigan. After graduating from U of M’s Joint Program in English and Education, she taught at North Dakota State University for 14 years, attaining the rank of full professor and also serving as Director of the Red River Valley Writing Project. She is beginning her 3rd year at Northern Michigan University, with a focus on teaching methods courses for pre-service secondary English Language Arts teachers, as well as multicultural Young Adult Literature. Kel takes an inquiry stance in the classroom, where she finds no shortage of research questions to pursue. Her early work was on writing on demand; analyzing state assessments led her to develop a strong social justice orientation in her teaching, research, and service. Many of her research projects—such as studying writing assessment at Sitting Bull College—are in service to the people who invite her to collaborate and are influenced by anti-racist theorists. Kel’s interest in teaching Native American literatures has led her to study and question pedagogical approaches to such literatures. Kel believes all teachers should be aware of American Indian boarding school history. It is essential to address the colonizing history of the land on which we live and work. We should consider how understandings of Indigenous history, culture, and language have the potential to transform our teaching practice and help us live in balance with the land and each other.

Percy Bysshe Shelley is often quoted for his assertion, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world,” and professional literacy educators are those who open the doorways to these poets and their statements about the world. Furthermore, educators teach each new generation of students the literacy skills to participate in our democracy.  Just as our system of government was influenced by Native American structures, educators may similarly turn to Indigenous forms of education for guidance and inspiration: the Anishinaabemowin word for education is kinomaage, “earth shows us the way.” Living in balance with the land is an imperative for all humans. Today, preparing to participate in a democracy has become a more complex literacy task, and our educators are the key to this important work; we need to invest in education to achieve this important task and build the kind of world in which all life on earth can flourish.

 

Julia E. Berry, an NCTE member, gave a $10,000 bequest to NCTE for the purposes of establishing an award to further her interest in, as specified in her will, Careers in English Majors. The NCTE Executive Committee approved the award purpose and details outlined below in 2019.

Award Details

Submission Deadline:  May 1 (Every other year. Applications for the 2026 award cycle will open in the the fall of 2025.)

  • Notification deadline: August 15
  • Award recipient announcement: Sept 1
  • Award presentation: NCTE Annual Convention

Purpose:
The Berry Research Award to Study Careers of English Majors (Berry Research Award) supports NCTE members in the teaching, learning, and application of literacy learning. The Berry Research Award provides research support for an NCTE member(s) who proposes a research project that studies “the careers of English Majors and/or the role and function of English in career development.” This award will also support the study of the impact of the English language in the broadest of senses as well as literacy-related majors like writing studies, linguistics, and English education.

Award winners must convey results in at least two final products: one that is addressed to a scholarly audience of researchers and teachers in the field of English and/or literacy studies and one for a clearly specified audience beyond those in the field. Award winners will be required to present their research at one of the two NCTE Conventions following the award (e.g., if awarded in 2022, must present in 2023 or 2024). As an organization, NCTE is committed to supporting the diversity of applicants, projects, and research strategies included in these awards.

Frequency and Number of Awards

This award will be limited to 5 recipients over a 10 year period, beginning with the first award presented at NCTE’s 2022 Annual Convention in Anaheim, CA. The award schedule will be:

  • November 2022, Anaheim, CA (present 2023 or 2024 Annual Convention)
  • November 2024, Boston, MA (present 2025 or 2026 Annual Convention)
  • November 2026, TBD (present 2027 or 2028 Annual Convention)
  • November 2028, TBD (present 2029 or 2030 Annual Convention)

Selection Committee

The Chair of the College Section Steering Committee serves as the Chair of the selection committee. The NCTE President appoints two members of the College Section Steering Committee and two members of the Secondary Section to serve as members of the committee. Final selection of the award’s recipients will be made by the College Section Steering Committee and the NCTE Executive Committee.

Eligibility:
Researchers may submit only one research proposal per award cycle. All members of the research team listed on the proposal must be members of NCTE at the time of proposal submission. Proposals are expected to last up to two years but can run for shorter periods of time. We remind nominators, nominees, and selection committee members that members of NCTE Conferences—CCCC, CEL, ELATE, LLA, and TYCA—are members, by definition, of NCTE.

Current NCTE Executive Committee members are not eligible for this award. Recipients for this award are not eligible to receive any other Executive Committee approved awards in the same year, nor in the following year.

Award Specifics:
● $1,500 in funds to support the research project
● A certificate is given to the recipient during an awards ceremony which takes place at the NCTE Annual Convention.
● For the year in which the recipient presents their research at the Annual Convention, the recipient also receives a travel voucher up to $1,100 to cover transportation, lodging, NCTE Annual Convention registration and meals.

Please Note:  If a research team is proposed, there is only travel funding for the principal investigator.

How to Submit:

  • Submission deadline May 1 (every other year)
  • Submit proposals as a single PDF by using the form below
  • We invite proposals for research that employ diverse perspectives and methodologies, including historical, archival, rhetorical, qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic, and textual
  • Email NCTEawards@ncte.org with any questions

Proposals should include:

  1. A cover page that contains the title of the proposal, the names and full contact information of the investigator(s) (institution, address, phone, email), and, in the event of multiple investigators, the designation of a principal contact (maximum: 1 page).
  2. A narrative of no more than 5 single-spaced pages (12-point font, 1-inch margins) that
    • Describes how the proposer(s) fulfills the criteria of studying “English Majors;”
    • Defines the project and articulates specific research questions;
    • Explains the significance of the project and identifies the gaps in knowledge it seeks to fill;
    • Situates the project in relevant scholarly conversations about the subject to be studied;
    • Carefully describes the proposed methodology and methods, including potential challenges or limitations (if relevant, includes plans to submit to submit to a human subject protection program and/or institutional review board);
    • Describes the personnel and financial resources needed to complete the project, arguing why they are necessary and relevant; and
    • Describes what the project will add to existing conversations among academic and public audiences and identifies at least two final products – one that is addressed to a scholarly audience of researchers and teachers in the field and one that is addressed to a specifically identified more public audience. Academic products should be submitted to NCTE publications (e.g., College English, Research of Teaching in English, CCC) for first review, prior to submission to other publications (though receipt does not guarantee acceptance).

3.  A 1-page description of the credentials the investigator(s) brings to the project (relevant details about positions and teaching/research experience is sufficient) (maximum: 1 page).

4.  A detailed budget with specific rationale for all expenses. Funds may be used for direct costs associated with the research, such as reassigned time/course buyout, student assistance, software, stipends for research subjects, etc. If student assistance is included in the budget, proposals should explain how the assistance will provide a learning/mentoring opportunity for the students involved. Please note that this grant may not be used to pay overhead, indirect costs, or travel to the NCTE Convention. Equipment costs are allowable if justified (maximum: 1 page).

Maximum proposal length, including all components described above, is 8 pages.

NOTE: Publications sent without supporting documents will not be considered.

Submit proposals as a single PDF using the form below. Email NCTEawards@ncte.org with any questions.

The application will open in the fall of 2025 for the 2026 award cycle.

Award Criteria:
Berry Research Award to Study Careers of English Majors Criteria and Rubric

 

Julia E Berry Research Award Previous Recipients

2022 Erin McNeill, Indiana University in Bloomington