What Is a Community Achievement Award (CAA)?
This award honors STC communities that have achieved success. There are three levels of recognition: Merit, Excellence, and Distinction. An award of Merit means that a community is a) running properly, and b) providing programs and services that further the mission of the Society. Excellence and Distinction awards are given to communities that go above and beyond the minimum requirements.
The CAAs will be presented at the 2015 STC Summit in Columbus, Ohio. Outstanding CAA honorees will also be awarded "Most Improved Community" and "Community of the Year."
Who Should Apply for the Award?
ALL STC COMMUNITIES (chapters, SIGs, and student chapters) should apply for this award!
Earning a CAA means that you have a successful community. You can post the award banner on your website, brochure, or other communications. It gives your community credibility. People are more likely to join your community if you have a good track record.
Why Should You Apply?
Take advice from community leaders who have applied for CAA and used it for community planning:
"Completing the CAA for our community is important for the following reasons:
- It helps us keep track of our accomplishments
- It helps us identify opportunities for improvement
- Completing the CAA helps us formally recognize all our volunteers who work hard to make our community successful."
—Jamye Sagan, past co-manager of IDL SIG
"NEO STC has earned a Community Achievement Award from the Society for over 10 years for its outstanding service to members.
These distinctions:
- Are impressive to spotlight on our NEO chapter website, include in marketing and promotional materials, and use for volunteer recruitment.
- Can attract nonmembers to check out chapter programs and make them into potential future members!
- Give the NEO chapter members a level of pride about their chapter. No matter what your level of participation is in the chapter, each NEO member plays a role in making these achievements come to fruition."
—Janean Voss, past president, Northeast Ohio STC Chapter
Tips for Applying
Plan Ahead: While it’s too late to begin planning for the 2014 year, use the award criteria as a success plan to run your community in 2015. Assign a community member to keep track of accomplishments, and have council/board members report to that individual when they have accomplished something. An immediate past president/manager is often a good choice for keeping track of accomplishments.
Use Innovative Activities: If your community is doing activities you believe should count on your application, send a description of those items to the committee at least a week before the deadline, and before you submit your application—and allow the committee enough time to review them.
Review Excellence Criteria: Most successful communities are doing these activities. Take a look! You may be able to fill in more criteria than you know.
Review Distinction Criteria: Although there are only a few "Required Distinction" criteria, communities achieving distinction will have numerous activities completed in the optional categories. Communities of Distinction are voted in by the committee as truly outstanding from other communities.
What’s New This Year?
The application has been simplified for your convenience. It now contains five sections instead of six. An up-front section tells you how to complete the application and where to send it.
We now have "Show Us" comments for each item. This explains what the committee wants to see for supporting materials and takes the guesswork out of interpreting the item.
Get More Information
As of the date of this article, the applications are still under review and need to be approved. In the meantime, keep using the 2013 application, because the criteria will not change much. Be prepared to cut and paste your answers into the 2014 document when it is ready.
The 2013 Community Achievement Award Guidelines and applications are available on the STC website at www.stc.org/membership/recognition/awards/1221-community-achievement-award.
Questions?
Contact the Community Achievement Awards committee (Chair, Tricia Spayer) at stc.caa@gmail.com.
