Awards & Nominations
Distinguished Service Award
On February 23, 1993, the Board of Directors adopted a resolution establishing the Association’s “Distinguished Service Award.” That resolution was revised and updated in 1999 to reflect the organization’s new name. The resolution reads:
BE IT RESOLVED that the College Communicators Association of Virginia and the District of Columbia establish the “College Communicators Association Distinguished Service Award” that will periodically be awarded to honor college and university professionals who have made particularly meritorious contributions in the area of college/university communications.
Guidelines
Nominations for the award may be made at any time by any member and submitted directly to the organization’s president. Nominations will be requested from the membership through the fall issue of the Association’s newsletter and/or other written communication. Nominees must be current or former employees of a Virginia or Washington, D.C., college/university and must have served in a position that deals with communications. Nominations should be made in writing and describe the individual’s work and his/her contributions to the field of communications.
The President will bring all nominations before the Board of Directors for approval. The Board may approve that one, two, or no award be presented in any particular year.
The award(s) will be presented by the organization’s president at an Association conference.
The award itself shall be an engraved plaque or some other appropriate object that can be engraved.
Past Award Recipients
1993 William H. Fishback, Jr. (University of Virginia)
1994 Arthur V. Ciervo (Arthur Ciervo & Associates)
1994 Tom Joynes (Virginia Military Institute)
1995 Helen J. Ackerman (George Mason University)
1996 Kay Kemper (Old Dominion University)
1996 Warren Strother (Virginia Tech)
2000 S. Dean Olson (College of William and Mary)
2001 Mary S. Bruner (Virginia Wesleyan University)
2002 Margaret L. Mock (University of Mary Washington)
2002 David Nutter (Virginia Tech)
2003 Louise Dudley (University of Virginia)
2004 Randy Fitzgerald (University of Richmond), Ron Singleton (University of Mary Washington)
2005 Fred Hilton (James Madison University)
2006 Deborah Brown (Radford University)
2007 Larry Hincker (Virginia Tech)
2008 John Broderick (Old Dominion University)
2010 Paul Lancaster (Virginia Tech)
2016 Brian Eckert (Washington & Lee)
Christopher Simpson Communications Achievement Award
The Christopher Simpson Communication Achievement Award recognizes a CCA member for exceptional accomplishment in the field of communication on behalf of a college or university. Nominations may be made at any time by any member and submitted directly to the organization’s president.
Nominations should be made in writing and describe the individual’s work and his/her contributions to the field of communications. The president will bring all nominations before the Board of Directors for approval. The board may approve one, two or no award be presented in any particular year.
Christopher Simpson was a nationally acclaimed leader in integrated marketing, media relations, and crisis communications for institutions of higher education, associations, the government and other nonprofits. He generously shared his time, talent, and expertise with the CCA and its members. He founded Simpson Consulting, the precursor to SimpsonScarborough, in 2002. His untimely death on Feb. 24, 2008, cut short an extraordinary life and career.
Past Award Recipients
2008 Christopher Simpson (SimpsonScarborough)
2013 Carol Wood (University of Virginia)
2016 Randy Fitzgerald (University of Richmond)
2016 Ron Singleton (University of Mary Washington)
Rising Star Communicator Award
The Rising Star Communicator Award, established in fall 2011, aims to recognize and shine a light on stellar newcomers to CCA and higher education communications. Nominations may be made at any time by any member and submitted directly to the organization’s president. The president will bring all nominations before the Board of Directors for approval. The board may approve one, two or no award be presented in any particular year.
Submissions should present detailed reasons for nominating a person for the Rising Star Communicator Award. Nominations should cite the person’s time on the job (2 years or less) and describe the individual’s work and his/her exceptional beginning accomplishments in the field of communications on behalf of a college or university.
Past Award Recipients
2012 Megan Donald (Virginia Tech)
2014 Brynn Boyer (Georgetown University)