Library Awards and Scholarships

The Max R. Traurig Library at Naugatuck Valley Community College supports student research, and the Library wants to honor the best! Each fall, NVCC students are invited to submit an original research paper or project with the following attributes:

• The paper must be the student’s own work and must have been submitted for credit during the spring, summer, or fall semester of that calendar year.
• All sources must be cited using a standard citation format (MLA, APA, AMA, or Chicago/Turabian).
• Web resources cited must be of high quality (consider authorship, bias, currency, etc.).
• An accompanying paragraph reflecting on what you learned about research strategies and how to apply library resources and tools while working on your paper.

Library staff may be consulted for research assistance. The two (2) winning papers or projects will be awarded $500 at the college’s Honors Night ceremony each May. The winning students permit NVCC to publish their paper on its website.

A successful application must include the following:

• Your paper or project, converted to a Word document;
• A copy of the assignment;
• Your name, NVCC e-mail address, and phone number;
• The title of your paper;
• The NVCC course name and number this paper was written for;
• The name of the professor who assigned and graded your paper;
• A paragraph reflecting on what you learned about research strategies and how to apply library resources and tools while working on your paper.

Applications will be rated using this rubric.

The Evaluation Committee is comprised of 4 members of the library staff and 5 faculty members. The 2022-23 members are:

• Robyn-Jay Bage, Business
• Andrea Glidden, Library
• John Leonetti, Library
• Ivelisse Maldonado, Library
• Tom Leszczynski, Math
• Sarah Perez, Human Services
• Kevin Ramer, Math
• Chris Rempfer, English
• Jenna Stebbins, Library

The Max R. Traurig Library Research Award for Students is not currently accepting submissions. An email announcement about next year's award will go out in November. You can read about past winners below.

The Library Research Award Evaluation Committee is pleased to announce that the winners of this year's awards are “American Masochist" by Devyn Daniele, written for Professor Lou Lombard’s English 101 course and “Current and Potential Future Health Issues" by Amy Casey, written for Professor Larry Venuk’s Psychology 201 course.

2021-22

Winner: "Borderline Personality Disorder: Potential Causes, Current Treatments, & Prognosis" by Kassidy Schiavi, written for Professor Kim O'Donnell's Psychology 245 course and "Poststructuralism in the Post-Apocalypse: Analyzing the Unstable Relationship Between Context and Meaning in Station Eleven" by Nicole Andreson, written for Professor Ron Picard's English 222 course.

Honorable Mention: "Globalization, Fast Fashion, and Piracy of Designs" by Gretta Roche. This paper was written for Professor John Tenney's Geography 111 course.

2020-21

Winner: "Systemic Racism's Prevalence in The Piano Lesson" by Melanie Louis, for Professor Ron Picard's English 222 course.

Honorable Mention: "Yersinia Pestis and the Bubonic Plague" by Alyssa Naoumides, for Professor Peter Angelastro's Biology 235 course.

2019-20

Winner: "The Reverse Revelation of Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents” by Jason Hesse, for Professor Ron Picard’s English 222 course.

Honorable Mention: “Agoraphobia Information and Explanation” by Abigail Locke, for Professor Kim O'Donnell’s Psychology 245 course.

2018-19

Winner: “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Feminism, and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper” by Danielle Jacovino, for Professor Patti Pallis’ English 102 course.

Honorable Mention to “Gifted Education a Boon to General Classroom,” by Darrell Cookman, for Professor Sandra Valente’s Psychology 260 course.