Leveraging Excellence Program

LE Logo

 

An Award Program for Leveraging the
Impact of Effective Practices

Sponsorship for this award is provided
by the Follett Higher Education Group

 

 


Through the Leveraging Excellence Award Program, NCCI recognizes initiatives where effective academic and administrative practices have been successfully implemented beyond one department, campus, or institution. While other awards exist to recognize excellent improvements or innovations, the unique distinction of this award program is dissemination or scaling of those improvements/innovations for leveraged impact.  We look for initiatives that have resulted in significant impact on quality, efficiency, service, or learning.  Click to learn more about the Leveraging Excellence Award Program.

2008 Leveraging Excellence Awards
Thirty-six applications were submitted for the first annual Leveraging Excellence Award.  All applications demonstrated leveraged practices that were effective and had broad, significant, and measurable impact.  The Award Selection Panel reviewed all applications and selected two Winners and four Honorable Mentions.

Award Program Booklet
News and Presentations
Award Winners
Honorable Mentions
Award Selection Panel
Award Ceremony Video
Award Ceremony Photographs

For copies of the 2008 Leveraging Excellence Award Program Booklet, contact Kathy Smith.

2009 Leveraging Excellence Award Application
Click here for information.

The Leveraging Excellence Award Program
There are outstanding examples of innovation and improvement throughout institutions of higher learning. Due to our decentralized and independent culture, many of these innovations or improvements lie in pockets where they were first developed. Too few are actively leveraged for maximum impact. Instead, we reinvent.

"This award honors institutions and organizations that have created innovative planning and decision-making processes, and have leveraged their best practices in order to help other colleges, universities, and institutions become more efficient and improve their operational excellence.  But this award also recognizes a new trend in higher education.  It acknowledges higher education efforts that resonate with business  leaders, legislators, and donors. Such relationships play an increasingly significant role in higher education today, as colleges and universities strive to build collaborative partnerships that add value to the various publics in which they serve. "  (University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd)

Institutions and organizations that have planned and implemented academic or administrative improvements that extend within or across institutions, systems or organizations of higher education are encouraged to apply to the Leveraging Excellence Award Program. The practice that is being leveraged:

  • Is demonstrated to be an effective practice.
  • Is having/has had broad impact, e.g. implemented by many units/institutions, disseminated broadly, achieved increased scale of impact.
  • Has significant and measurable impact.

Examples of Leveraging Effective Practices:

  • Development of coordinated curricula/coursework, assessment, or planning methodologies across campuses or institutions.
  • Creation of service enhancement models and programs, specifically designed to be used across institutions or throughout higher education.
  • Establishment of a series of staff leadership or professional development programs across institutions.
  • Broad dissemination of a research finding beyond the original source of study, resulting in benefits to higher education or society.
  • Implementation of a system for sharing resources across institutions.
  • Implementation of collaborative administrative systems, such as purchasing, IT, libraries, etc. - reducing costs or creating efficiencies across units or institutions
  • Collaboration across institutions to develop a compact with the state that results in improved systems, efficiencies, and services.
  • Establishing a platform for sharing effective practices across institutions.
  • Academic programs using data to improve curricula and share approaches across disciplines
  • Successful specialized accreditation practices shared within the discipline

Awards are announced at NCCI co-sponsored pre-conferences at ACE’s Annual Meetings.  In addition, awardees will be invited to present their accomplishments as featured speakers at NCCI’s Annual Conferences in July (held in conjunction with NACUBO’s annual meeting). Accomplishments will be featured also on national web sites and in national newsletters and publications.  

2009 Leveraging Excellence Award Application
Click here for information.