The SACES Awards celebrate excellence in counselor education by recognizing individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievements in teaching, research, service, leadership, and advocacy. These awards recognize those who exceed expectations in supporting students, advancing the profession, and making meaningful contributions to their communities. We encourage nominations that reflect the diverse talents and impactful work of our SACES members.
Please submit your complete nomination packet by 11:59 PM on August 15 to the Awards Committee at: https://fau.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1U0hPVSg4HDFASq.
All materials must be submitted as a single PDF file, with items organized in the order specified by the relevant award category.
Award recipients will be formally recognized during the 2025 ACES Conference in Philadelphia, PA.
SACES Individual Achievement Awards
Outstanding Teaching Award
The SACES Outstanding Teaching Award is intended to acknowledge individual educators who teach in a manner that exceeds regular teaching expectations and involves a sustained performance of excellence in at least two different course preparations. The nominee’s teaching should reach beyond the educator’s personal realm or classroom. Examples of reaching beyond their own classroom could include presenting or publishing about teaching, authoring or contributing to texts, or collaboration in instructional development with faculty and graduate students, increasing communication and collaboration within the university and/or local communities.
Nomination packet:
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Letter of nomination (maximum four pages): The letter should be written by one or two students taught by the nominee within the past five years. It may also include quotes from other students or colleagues. Please include specific examples and reflect on both courses for which the educator is being nominated. Focus on what makes their teaching excellent. This can include (but isn’t limited to):
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Creative or unique teaching methods
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Ability to inspire and motivate students
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Encouragement of diverse perspectives and open discussion
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Support for students from all backgrounds
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Thoughtful and effective course design
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Any other outstanding teaching accomplishments
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A statement of teaching philosophy (two pages maximum) authored by the nominee.
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Nominee’s abbreviated curriculum vitae. A document of up to three pages that highlights the nominee's teaching involvement.
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Syllabus for one of the Counselor Education courses identified as exemplary in the nomination letter(s).
Locke-Paisley Outstanding Mentoring Award
The Locke-Paisley Outstanding Mentoring Award is presented to acknowledge individual educators from the SACES region whose mentorship has a profound impact on students and colleagues. Such efforts often go unnoticed – but not unappreciated. The award is based on the experiences and successes of the nominee’s mentees, not the mentor’s career achievements. As such, the nomination should focus on the positive influence the mentor has had on a series of students and/or colleagues as they are developing their careers. For this award, mentoring is defined as the process of guiding, supporting, and promoting the education and career development of others.
Nomination package:
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Letter of nomination (maximum four pages). Write the letter as a mentee of the nominee. Include quotes from other mentees if possible. Share specific examples of how the nominee supported your education or career. Highlight their impact through mentorship, including the achievements of their mentees. You may include:
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Professional guidance and role modeling
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Support for diverse students
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Help with research, teaching, writing, or applications
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Promotion of independence and ethical standards
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Nominee’s abbreviated curriculum vitae. A document of up to three pages that highlights the nominee's mentorship involvement.
L. DiAnne Borders Clinical Supervision Award
Named for an innovative and renowned clinical supervision and supervision scholar, the L. DiAnne Borders Clinical Supervision Award honors a counseling supervisor or a supervision researcher who exemplifies excellence, innovation, and impact in clinical supervision. The award is designed to acknowledge individuals, through supervision practice or supervision research, who demonstrate efforts toward extending and strengthening counseling services to recipients, establishing standards for service delivery systems, improving the quality of services delivered, developing and implementing in-service programs which improve counselor skills and knowledge, and/or developing and implementing assessment and evaluation of counselor competence and program implementation.
Candidates for this award may include counselor educators or supervision practitioners who merit recognition as clinical supervisors or supervision researchers. If the nomination is for supervisory research, it should also include samples of the research. In describing the nominee’s achievements, attention should be given to:
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Innovation in clinical supervision or supervision research
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Leadership in the advancement of supervision knowledge, delivery, techniques, practice, assessment, and theory
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Impact of the nominee’s work in clinical supervision
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Scholarly involvement in organizations, presentations, and leadership
The nomination package:
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Nomination letter (four pages maximum): The letter should describe the successful process and results of the nominee’s supervision in the areas described above. The nominator should include specific examples whenever possible and is encouraged to include direct quotes from other students and professionals.
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Nominee’s abbreviated curriculum vitae. A document of up to three pages that highlights the nominee's supervision and supervision scholarship involvement.
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Two letters (one page each) of recommendation from either supervisees or practitioners who can attest to the impact of the candidate’s work.
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A philosophy of supervision that encompasses the candidate’s philosophical and theoretical assumptions about supervision.
Outstanding Tenured Counselor Educator Award
The SACES Outstanding Tenured Counselor Educator award is presented to acknowledge individual educators who have demonstrated an ongoing, career-long commitment to Counselor Education in the role of a faculty member. The nominee should be exemplary in all areas of academic responsibilities: research, service, and teaching. Expectations vary by university, but a career commitment would be indicated by exceeding university requirements. The nominee should have a consistent, productive record of publications and professional presentations; a record of substantive involvement and leadership in professional service; and a steady reputation for positive teaching evaluations and beneficial advising.
The nomination packet:
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Letter of nomination (maximum four pages). The nominator should highlight the areas of excellence achieved by the nominee throughout the nominee’s career.
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Nominee’s curriculum vitae
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Letter of support (maximum two pages) authored by a current colleague and signed by all of the current faculty members in the nominee’s program, indicating support for an exemplary performance award.
Outstanding Pre-Tenure Counselor Educator Award
The SACES Outstanding Pre-tenure Counselor Educator award is to acknowledge individual faculty members who are showing exceptional progress in the early stages of their academic career. The award is based on activities in all areas of an academic position: research, teaching, and service. The nominee must have a productive track record of research and publications, as well as a well-developed research agenda that promises to advance our knowledge of counseling. The nominee should also be actively involved in service to the counseling profession, preferably with leadership positions. Because SACES has a separate Teaching award, the evaluation of teaching is not as critical in this award, but the nominee should also show a solid performance in teaching counseling / human services courses.
Nomination package:
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Letter of nomination (maximum four pages). The nominator should highlight the areas of excellence achieved by the nominee throughout the nominee’s pre-tenured career.
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Nominee’s curriculum vitae
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Letter of support (maximum two pages) from the program coordinator or department chair indicating support for an exemplary performance award.
Outstanding Graduate Student - Doctoral Level Award
The SACES Outstanding Graduate student at the Doctoral level award is to acknowledge doctoral students who exceed the already typically high demands of doctoral work. The nominee must be involved in scholarship beyond the dissertation and exceed in other expectations as well. Additional areas of excellence can include teaching, supervision, clinical work, service, leadership, and advocacy. The nominee must be registered as a doctoral student (not having graduated) at the time of nomination for this award.
The nomination package:
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Nomination letter (four pages maximum): Describe the doctoral student’s outstanding performance, using specific examples when possible. If they worked on a research team, explain their role. You may also include examples of excellence, such as:
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Taking initiative in program development
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Creating innovative teaching or supervision strategies
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Addressing complex student needs
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Showing leadership in the program or profession
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Supporting disadvantaged students or clients
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Nominee’s curriculum vitae
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If the nominator is not the student’s major advisor or dissertation chair, include a letter (two pages maximum) authored by the advisor/chair indicating support for an exemplary performance award.
Outstanding Graduate Student - Master's Level Award
The SACES Outstanding Graduate student at the master’s level award is to acknowledge master’s students who exceed the demands of the master’s program. The nominee should demonstrate an exceptional promise for a productive career in counseling, as evidenced by early signs of ability and commitment to serving clients and developing a professional identity. The nominee must be registered as a master’s student (not having graduated) at the time of nomination for this award.
The nomination package:
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Nomination letter (four pages maximum): Highlight the master’s student’s outstanding performance with specific examples when possible. Include course performance briefly, but focus on activities beyond the classroom, such as:
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Program outreach or community engagement
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Creating ways to involve students in the community
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Seeking or starting research opportunities
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Showing leadership in the program or profession
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Supporting disadvantaged students or clients
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Nominee’s curriculum vitae
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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.
Courtland Lee Social Justice Award
The Courtland Lee Social Justice Award acknowledges a SACES member who has made significant contributions to enhancing social justice within and beyond the counseling profession. Professionals nominated are engaged in activities specific to social justice in legislation, advocacy, teaching, research, or service.
The nomination package:
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Nomination letter (maximum four pages): The letter should include a description of the nominee’s engagement in social justice activities and the impact of these activities on the profession and/or society.
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2 letters of support
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Nominee’s abbreviated curriculum vitae. A document of up to three pages that highlights the nominee's involvement in social justice and advocacy.
Outstanding Program Awards
Outstanding Doctoral Counselor Education and Supervision Program
The Outstanding Doctoral Counselor Education Program is designed to acknowledge programs that educate doctoral-level students. 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:
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Nomination letter (maximum four pages): The letter should highlight the distinctive practices within the program that make it an outstanding program, including at least two of the areas listed above.
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Links (maximum six) to important supportive website pages that provide information about the program.
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Additional material (maximum 10 pages) that highlights the accomplishments or uniqueness of the program and the doctoral students.
Outstanding Master's Counselor Education Program
The Outstanding Master’s Counselor Education Program is designed to acknowledge programs that educate Master 's-level students. Programs nominated for this award should demonstrate outstanding pre-service and in-service training in core and specialty areas.
The nomination package:
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Nomination letter (maximum four pages): The letter should highlight the distinctive practices within the program that make it an outstanding program, including at least two of the areas listed above.
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Links (maximum six) to important supportive website pages that provide information about the program.
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Additional material (maximum 10 pages) that highlights the accomplishments or uniqueness of the program and the master’s students.
