Award Categories

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General Criteria

1. All nomination materials must be submitted by August 31, 2024.  ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS ONLY.
2. All nominations should include the nominator and the nominee’s institutional affiliations, mailing addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers.
3. To be eligible, nominees for student awards must be enrolled at the time of nomination and must successfully finish the school term.
4. To receive an award, you must be enrolled as a member of OCA.
5. The number and types of awards presented each year are at the discretion of the OCA Executive Board.  Award decisions are based on the number of nominations received and the quality of support provided for the nominations.
6. Executive Board members are NOT allowed to be nominated for awards while they are serving.  To see a list of all OCA Executive Board members, please click on this link.

Nomination Criteria

Distinguished Scholar Award:  This award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated a consistent record of excellence in scholarship and have contributed significantly to the field of Communication.  Nominations for this award must include the following: (1) a brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be deserving of this award; (2) the APA citation and abstract from published scholarship to be considered; (3) any other supporting documentation to be considered.

Distinguished Teacher and Distinguished Coach Awards:  These awards are presented in recognition of excellence in teaching or forensics coaching. Nominations for these awards must include the following: (1) a brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be a deserving award recipient; (2) further evidence documenting the nominee’s competency and effectiveness as a teacher or a coach (letters/testimonials from colleagues, students, administrators, members of the community, etc). 

Distinguished New Teacher Award:  This award recognizes promising new faculty who have demonstrated a consistent record of excellence in teaching. Nominees must be in their first five years of professional teaching and have demonstrated overall effectiveness both in the classroom and through service to their department/campus. Nominations for the Distinguished New Teacher Award should include a 1) brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be deserving of this award; 2) a letter of support from his/her immediate supervisor; 3) anything else to support the candidacy of the nominee.

Innovative Teacher Award:  This award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated notable innovations in teaching in their field of study. Nominees can be at any rank of teaching and have demonstrated original and creative ways of covering a bold new area of study, an inventive approach to an existing course, or other original methods of teaching the field of study. Nominations for the Innovative Teaching Award should submit a 1) brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be deserving of this award, explaining the innovative teaching method and accomplishments; 2) any supporting documentation to support the innovative teaching method; 3) a letter of support from his/her immediate supervisor or peers.

Distinguished Adjunct Teacher Award:  This award recognizes adjunct faculty who have demonstrated a consistent record of excellence in teaching. Nominees must be at adjunct or part-time rank and have demonstrated teaching effectiveness and professionalism, mastery of subject matter, shows compassion and motivates students to learn, has excellent course and student evaluations, demonstrates appropriate use of instructional technology, stays current within the field of Communication, and is involved in other areas of the department/university. Nominations for the Distinguished Adjunct Teacher Award should include a 1) brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be deserving of this award; 2) a letter of support from his/her immediate supervisor; 3) any additional documentation to support the nominee.

Distinguished Program and Distinguished Student Organization Awards:  These awards recognize outstanding student organizations or communication programs in the state of Ohio. Nominate an outstanding organization or program by submitting: (1) a cover letter that establishes how the nominated program (department, curriculum, etc.) or student organization (radio/television, forensics, debate, model UN, moot court, PRSSA, NCASC, Lambda Pi Eta, etc) is deserving of this award; (2) a letter of support from the program/organization chair/advisor; (3) documentation of the group’s outstanding record of accomplishment.

Distinguished Service Award:  This award honors an individual OCA member for outstanding contribution and dedication to the field of communication in Ohio. Nominations for Distinguished Service Award must include the following: (1) a letter of nomination that provides a 250-500-word summary of the service record of the nominee; (2) a copy of the nominee’s current curriculum vita; (3) any additional support materials as appropriate.

Distinguished Graduate Student Award:  Nominate your most distinguished graduate student by submitting: (1) a letter of nomination that provides a 250-500-word description of the student’s academic and community service activities; (2) further evidence documenting the nominee’s merit (letters of support from faculty, students, administrators, or members of the community, examples of the student’s papers or projects, etc.).

Distinguished Graduate Teaching Assistant Award:  This award recognizes a graduate teaching assistant who has demonstrated a consistent record of excellence in teaching during their graduate program. Nominees must be currently enrolled in their graduate program as a teaching assistant and have demonstrated overall effectiveness both in the classroom and through service to their department/campus. Nominations for the Distinguished Graduate Teaching Assistant should include: (1) a brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be deserving of this award; (2) a letter of support from his/her immediate supervisor; (3) anything else to support the candidacy of the nominee.

Distinguished Graduate Research Assistant Award:  This award recognizes a graduate research assistant who has demonstrated a consistent record of excellence in research during their graduate program. Nominees must be currently enrolled in their graduate program as a research assistant and have demonstrated overall effectiveness both in research and through service to their department/campus. Nominations for the Distinguished Graduate Research Assistant should include: (1) a brief cover letter describing why the nominee would be deserving of this award; (2) a letter of support from his/her immediate supervisor; (3) anything else to support the candidacy of the nominee.

Distinguished Undergraduate Student Award:  Nominate your most distinguished undergraduate student by submitting: (1) a letter of nomination that provides a 250-500-word description of the student’s academic and community service activities; (2) further evidence documenting the nominee’s merit (letters of support from faculty, administrators, or members of the community, examples of the student’s papers or projects, etc.)

Earl W. Wiley Presidential Award:  Nominate someone for their exceptional service to OCA by submitting: (1) a letter of nomination that provides a 250-500-word summary of the OCA service record of the nominee; (2) any additional support materials as appropriate to support the nominee.

Distinguished Community Engagement Award:  This award honors an individual OCA member for outstanding scholarly engagement focused on the well-being of the people and places of Ohio. Nominees should have demonstrated impact through collaborative relationships and shared activities with community partners that affect Ohio. Nominations for Distinguished Community Engagement Award must include the following: (1) a letter of nomination that provides a 250-500-word summary of the public impact of the nominee; (2) a copy of the nominee’s current curriculum vita; (3) any additional support materials as appropriate.

Distinguished Advocate for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access:  This award honors an individual who has contributed to impactful efforts toward helping underserved communities by addressing structural inequities on their campus or local community. This award winner also embraces difference and strives to foster cultures that minimize bias and recognize systemic inequities, which, if unaddressed, create disadvantages for certain individuals or groups. Nominations for Distinguished Advocate for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access must include the following: (1) a letter of nomination that provides a 250-500-word summary of the equitable record of the nominee; (2) a copy of the nominee’s current curriculum vita or resume; (3) any additional support materials as appropriate.

All nominations and supporting documentation must be submitted to the OCA website by Saturday, August 31^st. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send all inquiries to:

Jeff Tyus, Ph.D.
Awards Coordinator, OCA
jltyus@ysu.edu