Nomination Deadlines

International Awards
15 February

Regional Awards
1 March

Questions?

✉ | awards@spe.org

How to Prepare an Effective Award Nomination
 

Why Take the Time?

  • Preparing an effective nomination is the key to presenting the accomplishments of a candidate to the award judges. 
  • SPE Awards are very competitive! Award committees review many excellent candidates. 
  • Committee members may not know your candidate. 
  • You must communicate to the committee using the nomination. Writing is important. 

Why is Writing Important?

  • Award committees rely on concise and complete nominations. 
  • Well written nominations allow committee members to use their time effectively.
  • Poorly prepared nominations will not highlight the technical or service accomplishments of your candidate.
  • You must communicate effectively to give your candidate the best chance in a very competitive pool.

Keys to a Good Nomination

A best practices document is available to assist members in creating a good nomination. Key points are: 

  • Start early – The call for nominations begins in September 
  • Research the award criteria and candidate’s accomplishments 
  • Write a well-documented argument 
  • Complete required fields in the nomination form 
  • Request letters of support  
  • Submit by the deadline 

Review Award Criteria

You will find the information for each award at www.spe.org/awards. Awards fall into three categories: 

  • Major Awards – International level only 
  • Service Awards 
  • Technical Awards 

Select the Appropriate Award

Think about categories and your candidate: 

  • Scope - international or regional? 
  • Major, technical, or service? 
  • Technical discipline and sub discipline? 
  • Current professional member of SPE? 
  • Age? For young professional and Uren Awards 

Who is Not Eligible?

  • You. You cannot nominate yourself 
  • SPE Board of Directors 
  • Award Committee Members (nominated award only) 
    • Current and for 2 years after service 
  • Honorary Members 
  • Members ordinarily resident in countries sanctioned by the US and EU 
  • Student Members 

Complete a Nomination Form

  • Go to the www.spe.org/awards to find links to the nomination forms. 
  • You must log in using your SPE email address and password. 
    • Use the login help link or contact SPE Customer Service if you do not know your login information. 
  • Select the award 
  • Search for your candidate using their full name OR email address. 
  • Enter all required information on the form. 
  • Request letters of support.1 is required, up to 6 are permitted 
  • You must submit to complete the nomination before the deadline. Judges will not review draft nominations 

Provide Justification

  • Write a concise, one-sentence statement or citation explaining why the candidate should receive the award. (required) 
  • Provide specific examples of the candidate’s work that support the award criteria (required) 
    • Justification must include specific examples that support the award requirements. 
    • This is your opportunity to communicate the best qualifications of your candidate to the judges. 

Solicit Support

  • Colleagues familiar with the candidate’s work can provide letters in support of the nomination. 
  • Letters should contain specific examples that support the award requirements. 
  • One letter is required, up to 6 are allowed. 

Meet the Deadline

  • The call for nominations begins in September. 
  • All SPE award nominations must be received by  
    • International – 15 February. 
    • Regional – 1 March. 
  • Attachments deadline is 10 additional days to accommodate last minute nominations.

Regional to International Transition 

  • Regional technical and service award recipients become candidates for the equivalent international awards in the next year if the following conditions are met: 
    • The nominator agrees 
    • The Regional Director agrees 
    • The candidate is fully eligible for the international equivalent award 
  • Regional nominators should use the same level of documentation required for international awards. 
  • International award selection committees may choose not to review incomplete or inadequate nominations. 

Nominations are Confidential

  • All SPE Award nomination materials are confidential. 
  • SPE staff can only provide the name of the candidate, the nominator, and the award. 
  • Members cannot review nomination forms or support letters they did not provide. 
  • Candidates cannot review the nomination. 

Contacts

SPE Awards Program Manager

Cynthia Thompson
+1.972.952.9370
awards@spe.org