WACES gives the following awards yearly at either the WACES or ACES conference to accomplished members of the region. The nomination letter should specify clearly the award for which the person is being nominated and indicate reasons why the individual is deserving of the award. Additional support material and letters of recommendation from WACES members may be included. The nomination letter must include a statement disclosing no current conflicts of interest. Current students and supervisees of the nominee cannot write the nomination letter. All nominees must be current WACES members. The award categories are below:
(a) WACES Professional Service Award shall honor outstanding service to WACES and/or to the cause of counselor education and supervision that is of regional and national importance to the profession.
(b) WACES Professional Leadership Award shall honor excellence in leadership of an officer, committee person, or other leader or major contributor to the WACES professional association at a national, regional, or state level.
(c) WACES Research Award shall honor significant research in counseling, counselor education, and/or counselor supervision.
(d) WACES Publication Award shall honor a significant published work related to counseling, counselor education, and/or counselor supervision.
(e) WACES Outstanding Mentor Award shall honor an individual who has been a significant mentor to graduate students, emerging professionals, educators, and/or supervisors.
(f) WACES Innovative Counselor Education Program Award shall honor an outstanding, innovative, or unique counselor education program in the western region.
(g) WACES Outstanding Graduate Student Award shall honor a student who has provided outstanding leadership and/or service to the profession or to WACES. Involvement may have been state, regional, and/or national, and must be directly relevant to the advancement of the profession or WACES.
(h) WACES Special Recognition Award shall honor individuals (WACES members and nonmembers) who have promoted and supported the counseling profession.
Award information and criteria: A. WACES Professional Service Award shall honor outstanding service to WACES and/or to the cause of counselor education and supervision that is of regional and national importance to the profession. The nomination package: 1. Nomination letter (6 pages maximum): The letter should include information and examples whenever possible but the focus should be on ways the nominee has demonstrated outstanding service to WACES association and/or to the cause of counselor education and supervision that is of regional and/or national importance to the profession. 2. Nominee’s curriculum vita 3. Any additional material that reflects examples of one’s service. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Professional Service nomination” in the subject line.
B. WACES Professional Leadership Award shall honor excellence in leadership of an officer, committee person, or other leader or major contributor to the WACES professional association at a national, regional, or state level. The nomination package: 1. Nomination letter (6 pages maximum): The letter should include information and examples whenever possible but the focus should be on ways the nominee has demonstrated excellence in leadership of an officer, committee person, or other leader or major contributor to the WACES professional association at a national, regional, or state level. 2. Nominee’s curriculum vita 3. Any additional material that highlights leadership service and/or contribution. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Professional Leadership Award nomination” in the subject line.
C. WACES Research Award shall honor significant research in counseling, counselor education, and/or counselor supervision. The nomination package: 1. Nomination letter (6 pages maximum): Purpose of this award is to bestow recognition on a colleague or colleagues for a specific research creating contribution to the literature and/or practice of counseling, counselor education and supervision. A substantial contribution is defined as scholarship that revises, updates, or focuses our knowledge and understanding of a particular problem in the study of counseling and/or counselor education and supervision. The research does not have to have been published. 2. Link to research or copy of the research. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Research Award nomination” in the subject line.
D. WACES Publication Award shall honor a significant published work related to counseling, counselor education, and/or counselor supervision. This will be decided by the WACES flagship journal, JTCES
E. WACES Outstanding Mentor Award Nomination package: 1. Letter of nomination. 2. The supporting letters should be authored by one mentee of the nominee, with inclusion of direct quotes from other mentees encouraged. The nominator should be actively involved in research, supervision, service, teaching, mentoring, or other leadership activities as an example of the mentor’s impact. Include specifics wherever possible and summarize the nominee's impact on the education / careers of the mentees. Comments from other mentees should provide an additional first-hand account of the nominee’s influence. Academic, clinical, and educational achievements on the part of the mentee will all be considered important. Please focus on a variety of ways in which the nominee’s mentoring can be considered excellent. 3. The nominee's curriculum vitae. Nominator: please edit the vita to a (maximum) five-page document that highlights the mentoring involvement of the nominee, and title it EDITED VITA. Submit both the full vita and the edited vita. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Mentoring nomination” in the subject line.
F. WACES Innovative Counselor Education Program Award shall honor an outstanding, innovative, or unique counselor education program in the western region. The Innovative Counselor Education Program is designed to acknowledge programs that demonstrate innovative or unique counselor education programs in the WACES region. Programs nominated for this award should demonstrate outstanding pre- service and in-service training in areas such as counseling, supervision, teaching, research and scholarship, and leadership and advocacy. The nomination package: 1. Nomination letter (maximum 8 pages): The letter should highlight the distinctive practices within the program that make it an outstanding innovative counselor education program. 2. Links (maximum 6) to important supportive web-site pages that provide information about the program. 3. Additional material that highlights the accomplishments or uniqueness of the program. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Innovative Counselor Education Program nomination” in the subject line.
G. WACES Outstanding Graduate Student Award shall honor a student who has provided outstanding leadership and/or service to the profession or to WACES. Involvement may have been state, regional, and/or national, and must be directly relevant to the advancement of the profession or WACES. The WACES Outstanding Graduate student who exceed the demands of the master’s/doctoral program. The nominee should show exceptional promise for a productive career in counseling/counseling education through early evidence of ability and commitment to serving clients and developing a professional identity. The nominee should demonstrate outstanding leadership and/or service to the profession and/or WACES. The nominee must be registered as a Master's or doctoral student (not graduated) at the time they are nominated for this award. The nomination package: 1. Nomination letter (6 pages maximum): The letter should include information about the exemplary performance of the master’s/doctoral student, and include specifics and examples whenever possible. Include appropriate information about education performance, but the focus should be on the activities that the student has participated in beyond the classroom such as leadership and service. Examples of other areas of excellence could include (in no particular order of importance, and a nominee need not have all these qualities): showing initiative in program outreach efforts; creating innovative strategies for involving and integrating students in the community; seeking or creating opportunities to be involved in research; providing leadership both within the program and in the professional arena; advocating for and providing support for disadvantaged students / clients, being involved with WACES or state counseling initiatives. 2. Nominee’s curriculum vita 3. IF the nominator is not the student’s major advisor, include a letter (2 pages maximum) authored by the advisor indicating support for an exemplary performance award. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Outstanding Graduate Student nomination” in the subject line. H. WACES Special Recognition Award shall honor individuals (WACES members and nonmembers) who have promoted and supported the counseling profession. The nomination package: 1. Nomination letter (6 pages maximum): The letter should include information and examples whenever possible but the focus should be ways the nominee has promoted and supported the counseling profession 2. Nominee’s curriculum vita 3. Any additional material that highlights activities, initiatives, events, research, lobbying materials, bills, grants, and other forms of examples. Please prepare the packet in one PDF file for submission, and place the items in the order listed here. Please indicate “WACES Special Recognition Award nomination” in the subject line.
