Community Leadership Award

About the Award

The Community Leadership Award recognizes members for their roles as community leaders and active volunteers in professional service to the broader higher education IT community. This leadership may be demonstrated in a variety of ways, through both formal and informal roles, including appointed, elected, or volunteer positions within EDUCAUSE along with other membership organizations, consortia, and associations representing the higher education information technology and resources community. Contributions are expected to be at a level beyond an institution, with broad reach across the professional community.

Awards will be made at the discretion of the EDUCAUSE Recognition Committee, which may choose to grant one award, no award, or multiple awards in any one year. In general, EDUCAUSE awards are not intended to be given posthumously.

Individuals and teams are eligible for this award. The relative ability of individuals vs. teams to contribute and make an impact will be taken into account during judging.

Nomination Requirements

Anyone may submit a nomination for the Community Leadership Award with the nominee's or team’s permission. Self-nominations are also accepted. Nominations must clearly document why the individual(s) should be considered for this award. 

Nominations must contain sufficient information to inform the selection process without additional research.  Complete nominations must include the nominee's (or team members’) curriculum vitae or resume(s). While a CV or resume provides the committee with a more comprehensive overview of the nominee's (or team members’) accomplishments and experiences, it is not a substitute for any of the required information listed below. After reviewing the initial nomination submissions, the committee may request reference letters to assist in the evaluation of the nominees under consideration.

Each nominee or team will be judged against the following required criteria:

• Substantive participation and leadership on EDUCAUSE committees, working groups, community groups, mentoring activities, etc.

• Contributions considered to have had an impact in the EDUCAUSE community and/or broader higher education IT community

• Speaking activities and/or authorship that advances topics of interest, regardless of media, to the broader higher education IT community

• Leadership demonstrated in institutions where currently or previously employed

In addition, the committee will also look for evidence that supports:

• Breadth of the community engagement portfolio

• Leadership in addressing issues, influencing change, or new directions from the perspective of higher education

• Leadership in areas of professional development with technology organizations

Guidelines and Eligibility

• An EDUCAUSE award is intended to be a rare recognition. No individual awards (vs. team awards) will be given more than once to the same individual. Preference for the Leadership Award and the Community Leadership Award will be given to candidates who have not received either of these awards previously. Preference for awards in general is given to those who have not recently received an EDUCAUSE award.

• Candidates must be or have been contributing members of our professional community, directly associated with managing information technology and resources in higher education, and individuals who have made significant and demonstrable contributions to the field. 

• Candidates may not be currently serving on the EDUCAUSE Board, staff, or Recognition Committee.

• Anyone within or outside of higher education may submit nominations for the award.

• Individuals or teams are eligible for this award.

• If an individual selected to receive an award will not be employed at an EDUCAUSE member institution at the time of the annual conference, the committee will re-evaluate and has the option to select another candidate.

Recognition

Individual award recipients are recognized at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference and receive complimentary registration, travel, and housing for the conference. Recipients are also given a session at the annual conference and a $3,000 honorarium toward another EDUCAUSE event or the option of donating the amount to the EDUCAUSE scholarship fund. Highlights of their accomplishments are also added to the award gallery on the EDUCAUSE website.

For teams of two or more who receive the award, EDUCAUSE staff will determine an awards package to be provided to the designee of the team for registration, travel, and/or honoraria. Team recipients will be given an annual conference session to be done by the team or a selected subset of the team. EDUCAUSE has the option of providing additional support on a case-by-case basis.

Recipients will also earn an EDUCAUSE microcredential as a way to digitally document and display their achievement.

Recipients

See previous Community Leadership Award recipients.