Social Policy Association Annual Awards 2012 - Call for nominations
The SPA is pleased to announce below the call for nominations for the 2012 Annual Awards. Members will observe a number of new developments. Among these is the inclusion on the judging panel of a member from outside of HE, and we are delighted to welcome Dr Katherine Rake - Chief Executive of the Family and Parenting Institute - onto the panel in that capacity. Readers will recall that Katherine was a recipient of the Outstanding Contribution from a Non-Academic Award in 2008. In addition, two categories of the awards have had name changes. Outstanding Contribution to Social Policy Debate, Analysis and / or Practice replaces the Outstanding Contribution from a Non-Academic Award; the criteria remain unchanged. The Lifetime Achievement Award is replaced by the Special Recognition Award(s), and importantly the criteria have also been altered (see Call for Nominations below for full details).
The observant among you will notice that Best Postgraduate Paper is missing from the 2012 call for nominations. Please be assured that the category has not disappeared! In order to increase submissions to this important category, postgraduates contributing papers to the Annual SPA Conference are now invited to nominate their own paper for consideration for the award. For the 2013 Awards there will be an automatic mechanism in place for self-nomination. For the 2012 Awards, the SPA's Postgraduate Officers - Lorenza Antonucci and Sarah Brooks-Wilson - have contacted authors of all eligible papers submitted to the 2011 conference to invite self-nomination. They received an enthusiastic response, and all nominations will now be submitted for judging as part of the 2012 Annual Awards process. As in previous years, the winning paper will be announced at the 2012 Annual Conference in York, and following that may be published in Social Policy Review. Full details of the re-vamped Best Postgraduate Paper award are available here.
Majella Kilkey SPA Awards Officer
The Social Policy Association Annual Awards 2012
The Social Policy Association is pleased to announce the call for nominations for this year's awards, sponsored by Cambridge University Press and The Policy Press. This year's judges are our President, Sue Duncan, Fran Bennett (Oxford), Professor Ian Gough (LSE), Dr Katherine Rake (Chief Executive of the Family and Parenting Institute) and Professor Martin Powell (Birmingham). Winners will be presented with their awards by Sue Duncan at the special Gala Dinner held during the annual Social Policy Association conference at the University of York 16th - 18th July 2012.
General rules of the SPA Awards 2012
All nominators must be members of the SPA. Current members of the judging panel and the SPA Awards Officer are not eligible to nominate. Those making a nomination must do so with the full knowledge of the person being nominated. Please read the rules and criteria for each award carefully before making your nominations. For some awards these have changed for the 2012 round. The guidelines issued to judges are available to view.
In 2012, nominations are invited for the following awards:
Awards
Special Recognition Award(s)
This award is limited to SPA members who have retired, are due to retire within a year of the award, or hold an Emeritus position, and must be nominated by five members of the Social Policy Association. It will be awarded annually to a person(s) the judges feel meets at least two of the following criteria:
- Has made a sustained contribution to research in the field of social policy
- Has made a sustained contribution to teaching and learning of the subject (through for example, authorship of leading books, innovation and leadership in curriculum development, management and leadership within HEIs etc)
- Has had a sustained impact on political process/discourse (advisor to government, consultant to voluntary bodies/local government, recognition by journalists, campaigners and lobbyists, activists, user communities etc)
- Has achieved esteem measured in terms of journal editing/establishing, promotion of social policy within other social sciences, membership of research councils or similar bodies
Nominations for this award must be accompanied by the candidate's full CV plus a "Case for Award" statement of 500 words.
Best Newcomer
This award will be granted to a lecturer/researcher who is within five years of their first post-graduation post, and who is judged to have made a significant early contribution to the field of social policy. They must be nominated by two members of the Social Policy Association and must themselves be members. The judges may use (but are not limited to) the following criteria in making their decision:
- Evidence of a significant publications record: e.g. books and book chapters published; articles in key Social Policy journals; cited works; presentations at key national and international conferences; and/or
- Evidence of a significant contribution made to the teaching of social policy: e.g. contribution to authored or edited textbooks; development of new degree courses; innovations in teaching methods; and/or
- Evidence of an outstanding record in research for someone early in their career: e.g. securing of research grants; developing and leading research networks; a significant contribution to the development of research methodologies; and/or
- Evidence of esteem outside the academic community: e.g. in developing links with user communities; providing advice to voluntary, private and government agencies on policy issues.
Nominations for this award must be accompanied by the candidate's full CV plus a "Case for Award" statement of 250 words.
Outstanding Contribution to Social Policy Debate, Analysis and / or Practice
This award will be granted to an individual or organization who in the opinion of the judges has made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of social policy, either through campaigning, lobbying, service provision, fundraising, journalism, funding of research, dissemination of research (particularly to practitioners and other non-academic audiences) or through other non-academic means. Nominees must not currently hold an academic position in Higher Education. They must be nominated by two members of the Social Policy Association and the candidates do not need to be members of the SPA (but will be strongly encouraged to join).
Best New Publication
This award is made to the author/s of any book, book chapter or article in an academic or other general periodical published between July 2010 and July 2011. It should make a significant contribution to the discipline of Social Policy as judged by the award panel. This can be in terms of advancement of theoretical or empirical understanding, or as a contribution to teaching and learning. Thus, the definitive general textbook is not excluded. Nominations can be made by any two members of the SPA and the candidate/s need not be a member(s) of the SPA (but will be strongly encouraged to join). Publishers cannot nominate publications for this award. A full copy of the publication must be included with the nomination form – this will be returned to the nominator when judging is complete.
Nomination Form for the Social Policy Association Awards 2012
Please read the criteria for the awards carefully before filling in the nomination form. Please complete the nomination form and return it, with any accompanying documentation to:
Majella Kilkey, SPA Awards Officer
Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield
Elmfield, Northumberland Road, Sheffield, S10 2TU
Email: M.Kilkey@sheffield.ac.uk
Nomination forms can also be submitted via email to the SPA Awards Officer, Majella Kilkey, but nominators must ensure that appropriate supporting documentation reaches the awards officer safely. Nomination forms must be received by Friday 23rd March 2012. No nominations will be accepted after this date. All nominees will be informed of the result prior to the annual Social Policy Association Conference in July. The judges' decision is final and the judges will not enter into any correspondence about their decision.
A downloadable Word version of this form is also availiable from this link
