Each college dean suggests several graduate faculty members as candidates from whom the Dean of the Graduate College appoints committee members and a chair each year. An associate Dean of the Graduate College also serves as an ex-officio member of the committee. It reports its recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate College and the Graduate Council. The committee also participates in the post-audit review of graduate programs or majors five years after their approval by the State Board of Regents. Awards committee is composed of at least twelve members of the graduate faculty.
Members usually serve three-year terms.
They are appointed by the Dean of the Graduate College, who receives a list of nominees for the committee from the Graduate Council. The chair is selected from among the committee members who have served for at least one year. An attempt is made to include on the committee a broad representation of faculty from the colleges and disciplines within the Graduate College. The committee meets at least once during the fall term, primarily to consider spring applicants and in the spring for the following fall. In addition to its primary purpose of selecting students for the awards, the committee develops selection criteria and procedural guidelines each year.