The Beacon Award for Excellence in Student Achievement and
Success is an annual award to recognize institutional or programmatic
accomplishments in student achievement and success at the NWCCU family of
institutions.
Award winners must demonstrate distinctive, measurable, and
replicable innovations that have resulted in student achievement and success at
the institutional or programmatic level, including innovations in advising and
mentoring, alternative credentialing, experiential learning, learning
communities, or other such efforts. Other winning examples may include new
curricula, courses, or educational delivery models. The Beacon Award will
recognize innovative approaches that have significantly contributed to
measurable improvements in completion and/or graduation rates at the
institution.
Three award recipients will be selected; one from each of three institutional categories based on the most recent fall semester unduplicated student enrollment: institutions with fewer than 2,000 students; between 2,000
and 6,000 students; and more than 6000 students.
Award winners will receive a trophy and cash award (exact
amount to be determined) to be used to further the institution’s efforts to
implement the initiative.
Award Criteria:
Clearly identifiable programmatic efforts that consistently
champion student academic success and achievement demonstrated through
meaningful student outcome innovation and examples.
Evidence of a complete assessment process including
assessment collection, analysis, and specifics of how the assessment data
analysis led to program improvement.
Evidence that the program directly led to student success
and achievement such as student learning outcomes, increased retention rates,
and increased completion or graduation rates.
Evidence that the innovation is replicable.