Awards and Scholarships
Institutional Awards
More Ways to Win—and a Simplified Nomination Process
We’ve combined the best of the District V Awards with the Circle of Excellence Awards to create a single, streamlined program that offers even more opportunities for recognition. When you enter the Circle of Excellence Awards, your submissions are also automatically considered for Best of District V honors—at no additional cost.
Award categories and judging criteria are regularly updated to reflect the latest best practices in advancement, and several categories are now tailored by staff size to ensure fair and meaningful recognition for institutions of all sizes.
Rising Star Award
The Rising Star Award recognizes a person with three to ten years of advancement experience whose accomplishments distinguish their trajectory from their peers. It honors the accomplishments of those whose early success demonstrates their enthusiasm for and commitment to the profession, and an understanding of the needs and goals of the philanthropic tradition.
Opportunity and Inclusion Award
The Opportunity and Inclusion Award recognizes an advancement professional who displays leadership in fostering inclusion and diversity within the profession, on their campus, and/or within the surrounding community.
Chief Executive Leadership Award
The Chief Executive Leadership Award celebrates CASE member institutional chief executive officers, college and university system heads, and trustees for outstanding efforts in promoting the value of education and supporting advancement at their campuses. Recipients, through their ability to create a vision and inspire others, have established a positive image for their institution while leading it to even higher levels of success.
Mike Ziemianski Distinguished Service Award
The Mike Ziemianski Distinguished Service Award celebrates inspirational advancement professionals whose accomplishments and longtime service to CASE have made a significant impact on institutional advancement. The award acknowledges individuals whose embodiment of the spirit of CASE, particularly generosity in sharing knowledge with the community of practice, have earned the respect and admiration of fellow colleagues.
Scholarships
CASE will offer scholarships for qualified members to attend the CASE District V & VI Annual Conference 2026, April 27 - 29, in Indianapolis, IN.
The scholarship covers the conference registration fee.
All CASE members are welcome to apply. Preference for scholarships will be given to people who meet any of these criteria:
- Never attended a CASE conference.
- New to educational advancement.
- New to a leadership role.
- Student who is planning a career in educational advancement.