A total of two awards will be presented annually. The awards will be distributed as indicated below:
- An award will be presented to one undergraduate program that demonstrates the highest level of ACHE engagement, which will be determined by information provided by the programs.
- An award will be presented to one graduate program that demonstrates the highest level of ACHE engagement, which will be determined by information provided by the programs.
- Only schools nominated by a Regent are eligible to participate in the program. Regents can nominate one school. The nominated program director will be notified and encouraged to apply for an award.
- Program directors will be asked to provide ACHE with the names of students who have graduated over the designated period and complete the application that will be used to evaluate the program’s performance. Using the list of names received from graduate programs, ACHE will determine the number of graduates who hold Member or Fellow statuses by the end of the designated time period. Using the list of names received from undergraduate programs, ACHE will determine the number of graduates who are Student Associates by the end of the designated time period.
- Applications submitted to ACHE will be subjected to a thorough review by a panel of ACHE members. The panel will employ four criteria:
1. ACHE membership of Recent Graduates (Member status for graduate programs and Student Associate status for undergraduate programs)—30 percent of score
2. Engagement With ACHE, the Local Regent and ACHE Chapter(s)—30 percent of score
3. Student-Organized Activities That Advance Healthcare Management—20 percent of score
4. Other Student-Organized Activities—20 percent of score - Each award-winning program will receive a plaque and $1,000. The plaques will be presented to representatives from the winning programs by ACHE’s Chair during the Congress on Healthcare Leadership. One faculty representative or designee from each award-winning program will receive an expense-paid trip and tuition waiver for the Congress on Healthcare Leadership.
- Only one award may be presented to a graduate or undergraduate program in a given year.
- ACHE’s Chair will annually send a letter of appreciation to all participating program directors. The letter will thank these individuals for their continued support, congratulate them for their recruitment efforts over the past year, and encourage them to put forth the same energy and effort over the next year.
Higher Education Network Awards Program
The American College of Healthcare Executives implemented an awards program that recognized programs participating in the ACHE Higher Education Network who advanced students to Member or Fellow status and also held innovative activities to develop leadership skills and to promote the benefits of membership in ACHE.
Higher Education Network Award Winners (2008–2012)
Student Chapter Award
The ACHE Student Chapter Awards Program was established in 1994 to recognize those graduate and undergraduate programs with active student chapters whose programs demonstrated a commitment to promoting advancement in ACHE. In 2006, the program was revised and later renamed in 2008 to the ACHE Higher Education Network Award Program.