Awards & Recognition

Chapter Advisor or the Year
This award recognizes outstanding chapter advisors that provide support in a variety of ways. Award winners demonstrate their commitment to the chapter by upholding the values of the organization and holding members accountable to organizational expectations. While advisors are sometimes members of fraternities/sororities themselves, outstanding advisors can also be faculty and staff members who dedicate time to supporting chapters and bettering the fraternity/sorority community.

Chapter President of the Year
This award recognizes exemplary chapter presidents that have made an impact in and on their chapter and leave a strong legacy. These presidents may have encountered challenges and resistance, worked to make chapter change, or helped an excellent chapter become even better. Award winners are presidents with strong leadership skills capable of leading by example and representing the organization and the fraternity and sorority community as a whole in a positive way through values based decision-making.

Fraternity/Sorority Emerging Leader
This award recognizes members of the fraternity and sorority community that are the leaders of tomorrow. These individuals, while relatively new to fraternity and sorority involvement, show promise and are eager to pursue leadership opportunities in their chapter, council, and beyond.

Fraternity/Sorority Member of the Year
This award recognizes members of the fraternity and sorority community who have shown participation, dedication, and a genuine commitment to the improvement of the CSU fraternity and sorority community. Award winners should be involved in their organization and the community as a whole and actively participate in initiatives, programs, and opportunities to make the community better. These individuals also work to inspire and motivate those around them to better live the values of fraternities and sororities, in part through role modeling the values themselves.

Living the Ritual
This award recognizes members of the fraternity and sorority community who consistently positively display organizational and community values through daily actions and behavior. These members are respected for their integrity and ability to embody the best of fraternity and sorority life. Through their actions they inspire and motivate others to be more values-driven.

Outstanding Campus Involvement
This award recognizes members of the fraternity and sorority community that are widely and deeply involved across campus. These individuals recognize the importance of serving the institution through activities, organizations, and opportunities and represent the fraternity and sorority community positively through these involvements.

Outstanding Community Service & Philanthropy
This award recognizes members of the fraternity and sorority community who actively contribute to community service and philanthropy through their individual efforts and/or creating opportunities for community service and philanthropy within their chapter or council. These individuals clearly display a personal value of giving back and represent the fraternity and sorority foundational of being a change agent, consistently working to make their community better.

Outstanding Diversity, Social Justice, & Inclusion
The purpose of this award is to recognize members/groups/programs of the fraternity and sorority community that  actively promote and advocate for diversity, social justice, and inclusion. These members/groups/programs engage in the process and goal of change in the fraternal movement and the CSU fraternity and sorority community through integration of diverse perspectives, the elimination of oppression, and the personal investigation of identities and systems of injustice.

Outstanding Scholar
This award recognize members of the fraternity and sorority community who consistently push themselves above and beyond in their intellectual pursuits. Learning is not limited to the classroom, and nominees for this award should be well rounded and exhibit more than just having a high grade point average.

The process to apply for awards utilizes a combination of the Elevation Accreditation program and panel interviews to capture both the quantitative and qualitative nature of a chapter’s performance. For each award the chapter is interested in receiving, they will be evaluated on their quantitative performance in the past cycle of the Elevation Accreditation program, as well as their panel interview and presentation.

Regardless of if a chapter is applying for one award or all seven award categories, they are allotted the same amount of time in award panel interviews.  Noting this, it is important for chapters to be succinct in their delivery and remember the judges are looking for specific items.  A breakdown of what the judges are looking for in each interview, broken down by each category is provided below.

Excellence in Academic Achievement
Guiding Values: Lifelong Learning & Critical Thinking, Meaning Making & Purpose

• Chapter articulates how they support their members’ journey to become lifelong learners and develop critical thinking skills through a variety of programs and initiatives that challenge members beyond their academic performance.
• Chapter can articulate their scholarship plan, which includes chapter goal setting, plans for maintaining pre-established GPA requirements/expectations, and how the plan will be operationalized by the chapter.
• Chapter is able to describe how they recognize individual member’s academic achievement.
• Chapter has a plan for supporting and holding accountable individuals that do not meet academic requirements.
• Chapter hosts academic workshops or educational opportunities for members to explore their educational goals and expand their academic skills/promote lifelong learning.
• Chapter utilizes various supports in their academic efforts.

Excellence in Harm Reduction and Risk Management
Guiding Values: Meaning Making & Purpose, Building Coalitions and Connections

• Chapter articulates how they support one another in meeting harm reduction expectations and ensure members are healthy connected to the community value of building connections.
• Chapter articulates a harm reduction plan focused on keeping members and guests safe in a wide variety of situations.
• The chapter’s risk management plan focuses on topics/areas beyond alcohol and social event management.
• Chapter provides educational opportunities for members on harm reduction or risk management topics.
• Chapter has processes for holding members accountable for sound decision making related to harm reduction and risk management.
• Chapter has accurate understanding of CSU, (inter)national organization, and fraternity/sorority community risk management policies and actively works to follow these policies.

Excellence in Community Service and Philanthropy
Guiding Value: Change Agents

• Chapter articulates how engaging in service and philanthropy efforts allow the chapter and individual members the opportunity to serve as change agents, addressing community needs, advocating for important causes, and working to effectively improve our community.
• Chapter can articulate their plan to help members understand the importance of service and philanthropy.
• Chapter hosts regular service opportunities for members and tracks participation.
• Chapter hosts philanthropic efforts and understand the cause their efforts support.
• Chapter works to educate members and attendees/ community about the cause their philanthropy supports (considers root cause issues such as poverty, racial inequity, food insecurity, etc.).
• Chapter encourages individual members to do service in their lives and connects these efforts to organizational values.

Excellence in Membership Development
Guiding Values: Inclusivity & Social Justice, Meaning Making & Purpose

• Chapter supports the development and growth of each member through every state of membership connected to the community value of lifelong learning and critical thinking.
• Chapter provides leadership and personal development experiences for members.
• Chapter has a plan for building and enhancing brotherhood/sisterhood.
• Chapter utilizes Ritual education and helps members understand the importance of living organizational values as expressed through Ritual.
• Chapter encourages individual involvement around campus and the seeking of leadership roles and opportunities.

Excellence in Intake, Recruitment, and Retention
Guiding Values: Inclusivity & Social Justice, Building Coalitions & Connections

• Chapter articulates their ability to build coalitions and connections through the utilization of a values-based recruitment plan.
• Chapter implements a new/associate education/intake plan which includes expectations of membership, organizational history, organizational values, and academic achievement/skill development.
• Chapter has an intentional and reasonable plan for growth.
• Chapter provides hazing education for its incoming members.

Excellence in Chapter Management
Guiding Value: Lifelong Learning & Critical Thinking

• Chapter articulates how members engage in critical thinking in developing chapter management practices.
• Chapter articulates systems they utilize to remain organized and highly functioning (may include financial management, calendaring, meeting efficiency, and communication strategies).
• Chapter describes financial practices that indicate financial solvency and transparent decision-making.
• Chapter identifies strategies for running effective chapter meetings and reflects on the effectiveness of those strategies in the past year.
• Chapter details process for developing a balanced and organized chapter calendar that reflects the organization’s values while avoiding over programming and reflects on the success of that process over the last year.
• Chapter has strategies for effectively communicating with chapter membership regarding chapter business and ongoing and upcoming programs and opportunities.
• Chapter officers work together to share administrative responsibilities and communicate regularly with one another to address chapter needs and opportunities.

Excellence in External Relations
Guiding Value: Building Coalitions & Connections

• Chapter articulates how positive external relations allows them to effectively build connections with a variety of constituents.
• Chapter engages with alumni/alumnae/alumnx through meaningful events and communication.
• Chapter engages with faculty and staff.
• Chapter engages with parents and family members through meaningful events and communication.
• Chapter engages with the local community.
• Chapter is engaged in the larger fraternity and sorority community through event co-sponsorship, communication, partnership, etc.