CoMMISSION Awards

Overall Commission Awards

Overall Commission Awards recognize exemplary leaders, commissions, and directorate members. These awards will be announced during the ACPA Awards Ceremony during ACPA25. The Overall Commission Awards are coordinated by Yuan Zhou, Coordinator for Commissions. If you have any questions, please email recognize@acpa.nche.edu.

The 2025 nomination deadline for OVERALL Commission Awards was 1 October 2024 and the process is now closed. Information on the 2026 nomination process will be released in August 2025.

EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION TO ACPA’S STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AND DECOLONIZATION

ACPA began developing the Strategic Imperative for Racial Justice and Decolonization in 2016, hoping to specifically target efforts toward reducing the oppression of communities of color at the intersections of their identities, knowing that all oppressions are linked and that the work is ongoing. The purpose of this award is to highlight the commitment of an entity in furthering the work of the SIRJD through areas such as research, scholarship, programming, or other practices that promote a more just and equitable field.

EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION

The award for Excellence in Innovation recognizes a singular effort that is innovative in terms of process, product or service within student affairs.

EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

This award recognizes efforts of an entity to foster programs and developmental opportunities that enrich the professional experiences of ACPA members and or invited student affairs and other academic participants. Activities that might be highlighted include, but are not limited to:

Hosting regional, web-based, national pre-conference, or national series programs in an area pertinent to the professional lives of participants.
Engaging in initiatives that foster an understanding or highlight the importance of an issue or topic
Serving as a thought leadership team regarding a facet of student affairs practice or process.

EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

Research and scholarship have long been the life-blood of ACPA. This award focuses specifically on the efforts made by a commission to engage in specific research and or scholarship that furthers the knowledge used by practitioners in service to students, to staff, or to the academy. Submissions might highlight white-papers, research projects, journal articles, and or books, just to name a few possibilities.

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DISTINGUISHED COMMISSION DIRECTORATE MEMBER

This award presents a commission with the opportunity to recognize an individual who consistently goes above and beyond to provide leadership within the group. An outstanding directorate member is one who contributes something sustainable and lasting for the group; or rises to the level of being a leader among leaders, pulling a group together in a substantive way.

DISTINGUISHED COMMISSION CHAIR

This award recognizes excellence in leadership of a commission. Excellence can come in a variety of forms. The following list is designed to assist nominators in identifying what distinguishes their chair. It is not exhaustive. Distinguished chairs may: 1) provide strong administrative leadership to the group that allows the group to understand the tasks before the group and work both independently as well as collaboratively to accomplish tasks; 2) be visionary, looking to what could be, not what is, and rallying the commission membership to work toward the goal; 3) provide strong mentorship of members within the commission and or within ACPA; and 4) strategic in their efforts, guiding commission members to accomplish efforts designed to stabilize or grow the commission.

OVERALL DISTINGUISHED COMMISSION

Commissions come in a variety of sizes, are varied in longevity and have different resource bases. A distinguished commission is one that can work with the resources it has at its disposal and demonstrates distinguished leadership by providing balanced, innovative, and sustainable products, projects and or services within or across the commissions and to ACPA.

Individual Commissions Awards

ACPA Commissions recognize outstanding commitment to the profession and their individual focus area through the Individual Commission Awards process! To learn more about the Awards each Commission offers and their various nomination deadlines, use the “Individual Commission Award Guide” linked below. You can submit a nomination for an Individual Commission Award using the “Individual Commission Award Nomination Form” liked below.

Award recipients in these categories are usually announced in individual directorate open business meetings and/or designated receptions.

Nomination Deadline: 1 November 2024 (except for the Commission for Assessment & Evaluation)

individual Commission Award Guide

individual Commission award Nomination Form

Commission for Academic Affairs
Nominate through 1 November

Coalition-Builder Award
Exemplary Program Award
Mentoring and Development Award
Pioneering Partner
Rising Star Award

Commission for Academic Support in Higher Education
Nominate through 1 November

Commitment to Excellence in Academic Support
Innovative Academic Support Initiative
Outstanding Graduate Student
Outstanding New Professional

Commission for Admissions, Orientation, and First-Year Experience
Nominate through 1 November

Outstanding Experienced Professional Awards (one for 5-10 years of full-time experience & another for 11+ years of full-time experience)
Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Outstanding Mentor Award
Outstanding New Professional Award
Outstanding Program/Initiative Award

Commission for Assessment and Evaluation
Nominate through 1 October