communication department

Volume XIX Number 9

Honors and Awards

Correction: Distinguished Service Awards Recommendation Process

In the October issue of Tieline, the article titled “Recommendations for Distinguished Service Awards” noted an updated process and contact information for community leaders in submitting recommendations for the Distinguished Service Awards.

As mentioned in the October article regarding the Distinguished Chapter Service Award (DCSA) and the Distinguished Service Award for Students (DSAS), for all communities except those in Regions 2 and 3, the chapter administrative council recommends candidates for the DCSA or DSAS to the Director of its region. Communities in Regions 2 and 3 will still submit their recommendations to the Manager of the Leadership Community Resource. Please note, however, that this e-mail address has changed to lcr@stc.org.
As mentioned in the October article, SIG managers should send their recommendations for the Distinguished SIG Service Award (DSSA) to STC’s Virtual Communities Manager (herrj@comcast.net).

The postmark deadline for submitting recommendations for the DCSA, DSAS, and DSSA remains November 30, 2006.

Get Recognized! Community Achievement Awards

By Thomas P. Barnett, Fellow, Phoenix Chapter, and Manager, Community Recognition Committee

Over half a decade ago, one of the most exciting of the Society’s award programs, the Community Achievement Awards, underwent major changes. Recently, low community participation and a daunting application process signaled that it was time for another serious overhaul.

Incredible change has flowed through STC in the past few years; subtle impacts from these waves of change have created a new landscape affecting most Society programs. Pressure has been building, and when a new strategic plan was developed this past spring, the Society leadership asked that award criteria be aligned with STC’s strategic plan.

Out with the Old, In with the New
After analyzing the Community Achievement Award program, we threw out dozens of flawed criteria and found that they fell into two general categories. The first were items that did not reflect a community’s efforts and accomplishments, but rather reflected the accomplishments of an individual within that community. In recent years, STC members have been allowed to belong to many communities at one time, which allowed those communities to claim the activities of multi-community members even if those members hadn’t done anything outside their “home” community. A second group of rejected criteria included those that communities have little or no control over, or for which they cannot plan.

Many criteria that remained were modified to add some flexibility and to align them more closely with the new strategic plan and bylaws, reflecting changes in technology and practice. The program also added a number of new criteria that followed from the strategic plan.

Greater Flexibility for Greater Recognition
From an analysis of the old Merit-level criteria, we gained an insight into one of the reasons why program participation was so low. Some fairly basic activities that communities should be conducting were not found at the lower award levels, while some activities considered not basic were found there. Many communities had complained in the past that they could achieve some of the higher-level criteria but not the Merit level.

Even with the basic activities outlined at the lower levels and more difficult or less important activities at higher levels, we realized that many communities might be fulfilling criteria at a very high level and still be rejected for award consideration because they couldn’t accomplish something at the lower levels. We needed some flexibility. So, a substitution plan was adopted. If a community wanted to just get a Merit award, but couldn’t accomplish an item outlined at that level, then the submitter could substitute two criteria from the Excellence award level. If a community wanted to just get an Excellence award, but couldn’t accomplish an item, then the submitter could substitute two criteria from the Distinction level.

Back to the Basics
An analysis of the old Merit criteria revealed some interesting results. The geographic community checklist for evaluation of the Merit-level awards contained nineteen criteria, and of these:

• Five and a half became part of a new, nonaward Fundamental level (one criterion was split into two).
• Five and a half were kept at the Merit level.
• Six were moved beyond the Merit level.
• Two criteria were discarded.

The result was the creation of a new, nonaward level called the Fundamental level, which contains twelve criteria; the updated Merit award level also contains twelve criteria. The Fundamental level contains very basic community requirements, many of which are found in the Society Bylaws. It was felt that communities should be conducting these fundamental activities to be considered for an award, but that they should not be given an award simply for doing the fundamentals.

Less Daunting, Better Experience, Easier on the Volunteers
Those who completed a full Community Achievement Award application for the old program know how much work it was. We hope that several changes in the program will reduce the daunting nature of the task:

• The more basic criteria were moved to the lower level awards.
• For the criteria outlined above the Excellence level, groups of criteria were organized based on similarities, to make finding criteria easier (instead of reviewing the intimidating list of almost forty criteria in various stages of development found on the older version of the form).
• A Web site that community leaders can log into will allow for work on the application to be completed and saved throughout the year, with the ability to report totals and status and store links, supporting materials, and comments.

Receive the Recognition You Deserve
The leaders of most STC communities work hard throughout the year to provide services to their membership and manage their communities’ affairs. Take a look at the revised criteria and consider applying for a Community Achievement Award—and get recognized for your community’s accomplishments. The application deadline is tentatively set for April 13, 2007.