Ingrid Nystrom Archaeology Award (Two awards of approximately $2000 each)

The Ingrid Nystrom Archaeology Endowment Fund was established at SFU in 1990 by faculty, staff, students and friends of the Department of Archaeology, and honours Ingrid Nystrom’s contribution to the Archaeology Department as Departmental Assistant. The Fund supports the Ingrid Nystrom Award. The Terms of Reference were revised in 2024 and replaces all previous iterations.

The Ingrid Nystrom Award is supported by the annual income from the Ingrid Nystrom Archaeology Endowment Fund and is intended to recognize and support two or more undergraduate students who are enrolled in the Department of Archaeology, are in good academic standing and have demonstrated community engagement/volunteerism with the intent to further their interest in Archaeology or Biological Anthropology.

The award will be granted by the Senate Undergraduate Awards Adjudication Committee upon the recommendation of the Chair, Department of Archaeology, or their designate.

Two or more awards, valued at a minimum of $2,000 each, will be granted annually in any term to undergraduate students who meet the following criteria:
• are enrolled full-time in the term of eligibility;
• are enrolled in the Department of Archaeology;
• are in good academic standing; and
• have demonstrated community engagement/volunteerism with the intent to further their interest in Archaeology or Biological Anthropology.

Applications must include:
• A personal statement describing how the applicant has demonstrated community engagement/volunteerism/ with the intent to further their interest in Archaeology or Biological Anthropology. This could be in the form of a letter, video or audio recording.
• A letter of reference which verifies this information.

The award will be granted by the Senate Undergraduate Awards Adjudication Committee upon the recommendation of the Chair, Department of Archaeology, or their designate.

Brian Williamson Memorial Award in Archaeology (Approximate Value: $2,000)

The Brian Williamson Memorial Endowment Fund was established in 1995 by Joan and David Williamson and friends in memory of Brian Williamson, B.A., C.D. The fund supports the annual Brian Williamson Memorial Award, which is given to an undergraduate student majoring in Archaeology to help defray travel costs for participation in Archaeology or Physical Anthropology field research. It is awarded in the Spring semester.

Eligibility
The award is available to undergraduates who, at the time of application:
1. are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Environment with a declared major in Archaeology;
2. are enrolled full-time (at least nine credit hours; not necessarily in Archaeology) in the term of eligibility (Spring term);
3. are in good academic standing;
4. intend to use the award to help defray any costs associated with completing a degree in Archaeology, especially travel costs to participate in hands-on field research.

Application Procedures
Application materials must be submitted through the Application Page, by November 1st. Applications must include:
1. a current unofficial or advising transcript 
2. a letter describing the relevance of this travel/research to the students’ career and demonstrates passion and commitment to learning Archaeology

Adjudication 
The award will be granted by the Senate Undergraduate Awards Adjudication Committee upon recommendation of the Chair, Department of Archaeology or their designate.The Department of Archaeology’s Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (excluding the Undergraduate Representative) will select the top three applicants and send their ranked nominations to the Financial Assistance and Awards Office. The Committee will ensure that the successful applicant has met the eligibility criteria and will consider the following: 
1. how the applicant proposes to use the Award 
2. the academic achievements of the applicant 
3. the financial status of the applicant

There are two undergraduate Essay Prizes awarded annually at the end of the Spring semester. Competition is open to any essay written for an archaeology course that ran in that Spring semester or the previous Fall or Summer semesters. The Awards will be adjudicated by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (excluding the Undergraduate representative).

To be eligible, students must have a minimum CGPA of 2.00, must not be on academic probation, and must be registered in a minimum of nine credit hours during the semester their submission was written. While students taking a minor in Archaeology can submit a paper, preference will be given to Archaeology majors.

To enter the competition a digital copy of the essay must be submitted through the Application Page by the author. Be sure to indicate on the title page the course, instructor, and the semester the paper was written. Only one paper per student can be submitted in a given award cycle.

THE JACK NANCE MEMORIAL ESSAY PRIZE ($500)
This prize is awarded to an undergraduate student in the 3rd or 4th year of their program for an outstanding paper on any topic in archaeology written for a 3rd or 4th year course.

THE RICHARD SHUTLER MEMORIAL ESSAY PRIZE ($500)
This prize is awarded to an undergraduate student in the 1st or 2nd year of their program for an outstanding paper on any topic in archaeology written for a 1st or 2nd year course.