AOFYE Excellence Awards Guidelines

AOFYE seeks to recognize the outstanding contributions of ACPA members in the areas of Admissions, Orientation, and First-Year Experience. The nomination criteria for each award are detailed below. All institutions are encouraged to participate in this program by nominating deserving individuals, projects, or programs. Nominators need to be ACPA members to submit an award, but the nominees for the graduate student award are not expected to maintain ACPA membership. We will honor award recipients at the ACPA Annual Convention in March but winners do not need to be present to win.

Nominations due by November 6th.
The ACPA Award Nomination Form can be found here: https://form.jotform.com/201944798177975 (select Admissions, Orientation, and First-Year from drop down menu)

 Please contact Tessa Smith (smith.14005@osu.edu) or Dani Bestfelt (danielle.bestfelt@belmont.edu) if you have any questions about the awards selection process or nomination guidelines. 

Outstanding Mentor Award:

The Outstanding Mentor Award is designed to give special recognition to those professionals who provide outstanding mentorship and guidance to graduate students who aid in orientation, transition, and retention programs with our Association and on your campuses.

  • Excellence in overall job performance.
  • Initiative or creativity displaying that the nominee has gone above and beyond normal expectations.
  • Outstanding service to graduate students who aid in orientation, transition, and retention programs within his/her own system and/or in the larger higher education community.
  • Involvement in professional organizations and/or community service.
  • Experiences in fostering inclusiveness and appreciation of differences.
  • Nominee must be an ACPA member.

 

Outstanding Graduate Student Award:

This award is presented to a full-time graduate student/graduate assistant studying at the master’s or doctoral degree level in any program who has greatly contributed to the admissions, orientation, or first-year experience programs at his/her institution; to the research and scholarship of these areas; and/or to professional practice in these areas. Nomination must include a letter of support from a faculty member or graduate assistantship/internship supervisor, which conveys academic success (i.e., GPA, satisfactory progress toward degree), verifies the nominee’s primary role at the institution as a graduate student/graduate assistant, and describes the student's contributions in, but not limited to, any of the following areas:

  • Significant contributions to the academic study of admissions, orientation, and first-year experience through papers (e.g., thesis, dissertation), research and assessment projects, and publication.
  • Outstanding service/special contributions to admissions, orientation, or first-year experience programs within his/her own system through graduate assistantships, internships, and practicums.
  • Contributions made above and beyond normal expectations to the institution or the profession (i.e., committee membership, participation in professional organizations, community service)
  • Experiences in fostering inclusiveness and appreciation of differences.
  • Student need not be an ACPA member to be nominated.

Outstanding New Professional Award: 

This award is presented to a new professional in the admissions, orientation, or first-year experience functional areas. A new professional is defined as a person with no more than four years of full-time professional experience. Nomination must include a letter of support from someone who has worked with the nominee, preferably in a supervisory capacity, describing the individual’s contributions, which include but are not limited to:

  • Excellence in overall job performance.
  • Initiative or creativity displaying that the nominee has gone above and beyond normal expectations.
  • Outstanding service to the admissions, orientation, or first-year experience program within his/her own system and/or in the larger higher education community.
  • Involvement in professional organizations and/or community service.
  • Experiences in fostering inclusiveness and appreciation of differences.
  • Nominee must be an ACPA member.

Outstanding Experienced Professional Award:

This award is for a professional with 5+ years of full-time experience working in or overseeing admissions, orientation, or first-year experience programs. Suggested criteria include but are not limited to:

  • Significant contributions to the admissions, orientation, or first-year experience programs at the nominee’s institution through program leadership and/or advocacy.
  • Contributions to scholarship on and practice in the admissions, orientation, or first-year experience areas through conference presentations, publications, innovative project implementation, research, and/or grant writing.
  • Active membership in professional organizations.
  • Willingness to support and promote their profession through mentoring and positive role modeling for other professionals.
  • Experiences in fostering inclusiveness and appreciation of differences.
  • Nominee must be an ACPA member.

Outstanding Program/Initiative Award:

This award is presented to recognize and share an outstanding program, project, or initiative developed by a four-year or two-year institution for its campus community. The project must be situated in an admissions, orientation, or first-year experience setting. The nomination must include nominator information (see above), the name of the program, project, or initiative, target population, number of people participating in project, number of people needed to organize, time needed to organize, time span and/or length of project, cost of project, and list of resources used for the project. The nomination narrative (maximum of 7 pages; approximately 1,500–2,500 words) should provide the rationale for the program/project/initiative, a description of the program/project/initiative, and a discussion of how it was assessed/evaluated and the results of that program assessment. Selection criteria are based on the following:

  • Program/Project/Initiative implemented during the previous academic year (August 1-July 31).
  • Program/Project/Initiative is inventive and provides a creative solution to problems or issues faced by the institution, yet significant to other higher education institutions.
  • Program/Project/Initiative will be assessed based on its adaptability, creativity, cost efficiency, educational value, goals, quality, resource utilization, thoroughness of program evaluation, and ability to meet the needs of a diverse population and/or special campus needs.
  • At least one member of the program/project/initiative team must be an ACPA member.