Community of Practice Awards

DEADLINE EXTENDED ONE WEEK. NEW DEADLINE MONDAY, MAY 9TH.

General Guidelines

• Deadline for Award Nomination submissions is May 9th.

• For All Community of Practice (CoP) Awards, the CoP must have launched at least one year ago and be certified in order for CoP or members to be considered for awards.

• For individual awards, the nominee must be an active member of a CoP.

• Official CoP acceptance by eXtension will be used as the CoP Origination Date when determining eligibility guidelines.

• Neither a person receiving an individual award nor a CoP receiving a group award is eligible to receive another award in the same category for three years. However, an individual may be nominated as an individual in the Outstanding CoP Service Award Category and as a member of a CoP in the Outstanding CoP Award.

• Letters of nomination should:

Include heading or logo of the person/agency submitting

Be dated within six months of submission date

Be signed by the writer and include his/her title and contact information

Outstanding CoP Award

• One to be awarded annually.

• Application will include, but not be limited to productivity in the following areas: content development, team building, social network engagement, production of materials, responding to questions from the public, evaluation, assessment and impact content on Community of Interest, recruitment and retention of CoP members, activities within the CoP, promotion of the CoP outside of eXtension, partnerships developed, sponsors obtained, professional presentations/ posters/ workshops/ demonstrations made, etc. Quality and variety of materials will be considered as well.

• CoPs may self-nominate for this award. There is no restriction on the number and eligibility of people represented by the nomination, as long as they work as part of the same CoP. The nomination should describe the CoPs functions and goals and the coordination and teamwork employed to carry these out. The nomination should address how well the CoP serves its clientele and upholds the eXtension mission, including how well it administers, evaluates, and interprets its programs and services; how well it communicates within eXtension and with clientele and partners; and how well the CoP manages/ enhances its resources, with emphasis on quality, effectiveness and efficiency.

• Nomination Summary may not exceed 2,000 words. However, supporting documentation including CoP Certification paperwork, professional abstracts, publications, etc., may be included, not to exceed 15 pages; no more than 3 letters of support should be included.

Proposed Evaluation Criteria for Outstanding CoP Award

The quality and variety of all the materials in each section will be considered.

I. Responsiveness and Engagement with Community of Interest (CoI). (30 points)

Describe responsiveness to questions from the public, involvement in social media networks and how the CoP is participating and promoting content and programs in those environments. Describe how these technologies are being used to engage the audience and to develop educational content and services for the public. Document impact of content development efforts (e.g., knowledge gains, changed attitudes, skills acquired, behavioral intentions, actual behavior change, and/or situational change of the audience. Include information such as page rank and other analytics that illustrate the value users place on content and services.

II. Content Development. (25 points)

Describe the development of both published and draft content (e.g., articles, FAQs, learning modules and/or interactive applications). Identify how the content relates to the curriculum outline, proposed scopes of work and related development schedules. If appropriate, describe CoP in-service training developed for CES personnel on relevant subject matter areas.

III. Community Development. (20 points)

Describe recruitment and retention of CoP members, engagement with local communications and IT leaders, CoP team building, promotion of the CoP outside of eXtension, involvement of local Extension professionals (e.g., agents/educators, extension associates, staff, etc.). Describe the Community's philosophy and how it engages audiences working in social media networks where a growing number of users are working. Describe CoP professional development efforts related to members learning to differently and engaging audiences in new and effective ways.

IV. Community Sustainability. (12.5 points)

Describe partnerships, sponsorships and/or grants that have been acquired to help broaden, sustain and develop new educational content and services.

V. Community and eXtension Promotion (12.5 points)

Describe the involvement in professional presentations, exhibits, poster sessions and participation in workshops related to CoP content and services, and eXtension.

• Award: Plaque/"trophy." Additionally, certificates will be awarded to all CoP members. $5,000 Awarded to CoP budget. Letter from eXtension Director to recipients' institutions commending work and acknowledging receipt of award.

CoP Achievement Awards

• No more than three to be awarded annually.

• Recognition for individual members of CoPs for their exceptional performance and leadership in meeting the needs of Communities of Interest.

• CoPs may put forward one member of their CoP who has demonstrated, 1) long-term dedication, leadership and contribution toward meeting the needs of Communities of Interest; and 2) their leadership role in fostering the development and growth of the CoP.

• An individual nomination may include a wide range of program accomplishments having significant impacts, but preferably will focus on 1 to 3 major segments of the nominee's work having the most impact.

• Nomination Summary should not exceed 2,000 words, and may include up to 3 letters of support/commendation, not to exceed 1 page each. No supporting documentation is required.

Proposed Evaluation Criteria for CoP Achievement Award

I. Responsiveness and Engagement with Community of Interest (CoI). (40 points)

Describe the individual's responsiveness to questions from the public, their involvement in social media networks and how they are participating and promoting content and programs in those environments. Describe the individual's use of these technologies to engage the audience and to develop educational content and services for the public. Describe the individual's leadership role in the development of both published and draft content (e.g., articles, FAQs, learning modules and/or interactive applications). Document impact of content development efforts (e.g., knowledge gains, changed attitudes, skills acquired, behavioral intentions, actual behavior change, and/or situational change of the audience). Include information such as page rank and other analytics that illustrate the value users place on content and services. If appropriate, describe CoP in-service training developed for CES personnel on relevant subject matter areas.

II. Community Development and Sustainability. (35 points)

Describe the individual's leadership role in recruiting and retaining CoP members. Describe the individual's commitment to the CoP's philosophy and how they engage audiences working in social media networks where a growing number of users are working. Describe their role in CoP professional development efforts related to members learning to differently and engaging audiences in new and effective ways. Describe the leadership role the individual has had in recruiting partnerships, sponsorships and/or grants to help broaden, sustain and develop new educational content and services.

III. Community and eXtension Advocacy (25 points)

Describe the role the individual has played in giving professional presentations, participation in exhibits, poster sessions and workshops related to CoP's content, services, and eXtension.

• Award: Plaque/Trophy and $1,500 travel award to attend/present at national, professional meetings of his/her choice. Letter from eXtension Director to recipients' institutions commending work and acknowledging receipt of award.

CoP Partnership Awards

• No more than three to be awarded annually.

• This award nomination from individual CoPs is to recognize partner organizations with which a CoP has collaborated on content and/or services for their site. This partner may also have provided financial support for CoP activities in addition to content development/contribution.

• In considering nominations for a partnership award, individuals/groups must have provided truly exceptional service or support to one or more of the eXtension components and/or CoPs. Service can be recognized through various forms to include support for educational programs, volunteer service committees, responding to questions from the public, cooperative/collaborative educational programs, educational forums and/or innovative advancement of eXtension's mission, among numerous others. Contributions must be in addition to expectations of nominee's employment or service with his/her organization.

• Nomination Summary should not exceed 2,000 words, and may include up to 3 letters of support/commendation, not to exceed 1 page each. No supporting documentation is required.

Proposed evaluation

I. Service to Community of Practice. (40 points)

Describe the educational, service, and/or financial contribution the partner has made and how it has leveraged the CoPs ability to address the needs of the CoI. Describe how the partnership has mutually enhanced each organization's mission and how in working together new learning opportunities and engagement with the public is happening.

II. Educational program support. (30 points)

Describe how the CoI has benefited from the partnership. Describe the information and educational programs that have resulted from the partnership and how they have provided benefit to the CoI. Describe innovative characteristics, formats and unique ways the audience has been engaged in learning opportunities. Include information such as page rank and other analytics that illustrate the value users place on content and services resulting from the partnership

III. Partnership development. (30)

Describe partnership sustainability with attention to the development and maintenance of educational content and services. Describe how social networking tools and services will be used to extend the reach of subject matter resources and expertise. Describe how this partnership will become a model for others to emulate.

• Award: Plaque/Trophy for Partner

• Exclusions eXtension staff are ineligible for this award.

Considerations for Developing CoP Award Nominations

• Organize accomplishments/impacts into categories when possible. Use paragraph headings as appropriate, such as Innovative Design, Impact, Partnerships/Collaborative Efforts, Educational Materials Developed, etc.
• What was done that deserves recognition? Was it unique or exceptionally creative? Has the nominee's program achieved impressive results? What was the documented impact (i.e., knowledge gains, changed attitudes, skills acquired, behavioral intentions, actual behavior change, and/or situtational change in eXtension clientele)?
• Use data to support statements describing the nominee's accomplishments.
• What partnerships were developed to strengthen educational programs and broaden their impacts and/or extend outreach?
• What special qualities or capabilities make the nominee outstanding? Does the nominee exhibit loyalty to eXtension objectives?
• Do commendation letters reflect the significant impacts/value of the nominee's accomplishments?

Please follow the guidelines for nomination packets closely. While there may be some leeway given on numbers of words, etc., in the event of a tie, adherence to submission guidelines may be used as a tie-breaker.

Review Process

• Nominations must be received no later than May 2.

• Paper submissions for nominations will not be accepted. Nomination packets should be "bundled" into an Adobe PDF document and sent to the Associate Director for Content at craig.wood@extension.org. Acknowledgement of receipt of materials will be sent by reply e-mail.

• The Awards Committee will evaluate nominations and makes recommendations to the eXtension Director. Award presentations will be made at a national CoP Workshop. Award reviewers may include members of the eXtension Governing Committee and/or Directors Council. Award winners may serve as reviewers in future years.