Additional questions and answers about the ACCT Awards program.
1. What’s the difference between the ACCT Regional Awards and the ACCT Association Awards?
The national Association of Community College Trustees is organized into five discrete regions: Central, Northeast, Pacific, Southern and Western.
Each year, ACCT presents up to five Regional Awards to member nominees in each of the five regions (totaling up to 25 awards). Regional Awardees are formally nominated via a submission process. Nomination packages are evaluated by judges from within nominees’ respective regions.
ACCT presents five Association Awards annually. Regional Awards recipients become the nominees for Association Awards; there is no process by which to be considered for Association Awards other than regional-level awards nomination. Association Awards recipients are selected by judges from a nationwide ACCT Awards Committee consisting of members from all five ACCT regions.
2. How do I qualify for an ACCT Association Award?
Regional Awards recipients are automatically nominated for the appropriate Association Award. The Regional Awards recipients are the sole nominees for the Association Awards. Those interested in Association Awards consideration should apply for Regional Awards.
3. Who can be nominated?
All nominees must be on the board of or employed by an ACCT member institution at the time of nomination.
4. Who can submit a nomination?
Regional Awards nominations may be made by a two-year postsecondary institution board, a state board for community colleges, a board of a state trustee association, or a university board of regents that controls the two-year postsecondary institutions in that state. All boards submitting nominations must be ACCT members.
5. May I nominate someone who won last year for the Regional Award?
No. Awardees are ineligible for consideration for a period of three years after receiving an award. (In other words, 2022 awardees are not eligible for nomination until the 2026 awards year.) Additionally, Charles Kennedy Equity awardees are ineligible for consideration for a period of ten years after receiving an award. (In other words, 2022 awardees are not eligible for nomination until the 2033 awards year.)
6. Who else is ineligible to be nominated?
a) Current ACCT Board of Directors members.
b) Past and present ACCT Board of Directors Executive Committee members. *See note.
c) Current ACCT Professional Board Staff Network President and Vice President.
d) Non-members.
*Note: Past ACCT Board of Directors Executive Committee members are eligible five years after their ACCT Board of Directors term ends. (In other words, if their term ends 2022 then they are ineligible until 2028 awards year for the M. Dale Ensign Trustee Leadership Award.)
7. May I submit multiple nominations for the same category?
No. Only the first complete set of nomination materials received for a nominee will be considered. Only one nomination (nominee) per category will be accepted from any institution board.
8. Where should I submit nominations?
There are three ways to submit:
a. Online -- Visit www.acct.org/awards and click the online nomination form.
b. E-mail – Download the nomination form. Then submit the complete packet and materials to awards@acct.org.
c. Mail – Mail the nomination form and materials to ACCT Awards, 1101 17th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the sender.
Please refer to the ACCT Awards brochure for information about required attachments. You can view the judging criteria here as well.
9. When is the deadline?
The deadline is June 3, 2024.
10. Will someone follow up with me after I submit a nomination?
An ACCT staff member will contact you within three business days (not including weekends) of receiving your information. Please contact ACCT if you do not receive confirmation within 72 business hours. It is the responsibility of the member institution to ensure that the submitted award nomination is verified.
11. Do I need to submit a photo?
No photo is required at the time of submission. Please do not submit a photo via the online submission form when entering a nomination. Nominees who are selected for a Regional Award will be required to submit a photograph.
12. Where can I find sample nominations?
Please refer to the sample nominations here. The ACCT Awards Committee strongly recommends that applicants refer to sample nominations prior to applying.
13. What if I have additional questions?
Answers to most questions are answered within the Awards brochure. If you have any additional questions, contact the Awards Department at awards@acct.org or call (202) 775-4667.