Section Awards and Recognition

Section awards and recognition recognize those that go above and beyond to fulfill SPE’s mission by serving local members. The awards honor exemplary efforts in the categories of technical dissemination and professional development, membership recognition and appreciation, community involvement, and student support.

Sections excelling within their super region receive the Regional Outstanding Section award. These top sections advance to the Presidential round for consideration for the Presidential Award for Outstanding Section. The Presidential Award for Outstanding Section recognizes up-to-the top 10 percent of applications received, per award category, per size range. The Presidential Awards are presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.

Section Award winners

View Award Winners

 

Application Process

Award applications are separate from the annual report. They launch in April with a deadline of 1 June. Applications cover activities from 1 June 2025 - 31 May 2026. Sections may only apply for one of the categories below. 

  • Technical Dissemination and Professional Development
  • Community Involvement
  • Member Recognition and Appreciation
  • Student Support

The categories allow sections a better chance to be recognized as they may be excelling in one area but not able to compete with others that excel in other or all areas. The awards are for the section - not an individual officer or member.

Only one (1) application form is permitted per section. Applications must be in English. The section should submit the application for the category of their choice - including a member testimonial from a current (paid) professional member of the section. If the section selects the Student Support category, the member testimonial must be from a current (paid) student member. The member testimonial is requested when the officer submits the application. Once completed, it will attach to the application. Both the application and completed testimonial must be completed by 1 June.

In the first stage, sections will compete against like sized sections in their super region. Sections excelling within their super region receive the Regional Outstanding Section award. These top sections advance to the Presidential round.

Presidential Awards are given up to the top 10% of the applications received, per award category, in the size ranges below. The ranges are set and do not change each year. Because of this, size groups are not equally divided.

Hint: Look at the Membership Statistics report in Membership Builder to see your potential competition.

Size Categories

  • Small: <200 members, excluding affiliates, as of prior year-end
  • Medium: 201 – 500 members, excluding affiliates, as of prior year-end
  • Large: 501+ members, excluding affiliates, as of prior year-end
     

Eligibility and Judging

Those not meeting maintenance criteria as of 1 June, or non-compliant, are not eligible for awards.

The requirements are:

  • Compliant from the prior year
  • Minimum of 25 paid professional members, excluding affiliates
  • Minimum of 3 core officers on file (Chair, Program Chair, Membership Chair, Secretary, Treasurer)
    • Student Chapter Liaison if the section sponsors one or more student chapters
  • Member testimonial must be from a paid professional member of the section; cannot be an officer.
    • If the section applies for the Student Support category, the member testimonial must be from a paid student member.

Round 1: Regional - Sections compete against other sections in their super region. Judges are sourced from the League of Volunteers. Sections excelling within their super region receive the Regional Outstanding Section Award. These top sections advance to the Presidential round.

Round 2: Presidential - Sections compete against all other sections within their size group and application category. It is not region-based. Judges are sourced from the League of Volunteers. The top-ranking sections advance to the final Presidential round.

Round 3: Final Presidential - The final round of judging is completed by volunteers from SPE standing committees. Winners are recognized by category with the Presidential Award for Outstanding Section. Awards are given up to the top 10% of the applications received, per award category, in the size ranges.

Note: After the results are announced, sections wanting to improve their application for the future will be provided with access to the winning applications and may request their section’s score ranges from the judges. Judges will not be able to provide comparative feedback.

Scoring Criteria

  • Quantity of the programs (5%) 
  • Impact on the members (70%)
  • Innovation (10%)
  • Strength of member testimonial (15%)