2015Awards Committee Report

submitted by John Miller, Awards Chair

Date:October 13, 2015

Name of Committee: Professional Awards Committee

Committee Members:

John Miller (chair)John VeverkaBill McGowanSara Lustbader

Heather HorstmanHoward AprillJohn Luzader (NAI VP-Programs)

Special Awards Committee (NAI Award of Distinction)

John MillerBradley BlockSara Lustbader

Lori SpencerAmy Roell

Tasks Assigned:

1)Collect and score nominations for 2015 NAI Professional Awards.

2)Collect and score nominations for the new NAI Award of Distinction.

3)Implement the new NAI Shining Star award as a regular on-going award.

4)Based on committee consensus select award winners in each category.

5)Notify this year’s award winners and their nominators.

6)Notify Stone Imagery (company fabricating our plaques) of names and wording for award plaques.

7)Collect information and photos from award winners for award presentations at NAI National Workshop and send to Paul Caputo.

8)Confirm text for plaques from Stone Imagery and have plaques sent to NAI Workshop.

9)Develop scripts to be used at NAI National Workshop for award presentations

10)Assist President and Executive Director to present awards at NAI National Workshop in Virginia Beach, VA.

Task Progress:

1)24 Nominations were received by May 31, 2015. One nomination that was lost electronically last year was included, as promised, into this year’s consideration.

2)The new NAI Award of Distinction was accidentally delayed until August 2015. The Awards Chair takes full responsibility this delay. A total of 4 nominations were received by August 31, 2015. A “Special Awards Committee” was created to score and recommend nominees for this new award. This diverse committee was made up of two members of the awards committee, two members of the Advisory Council, and one member of the Board of Directors. They scored the nominations between September 1 and September 15th. While not unanimous, the consensus to the board was to recommend all four nominees for the award. The committee also recommended making tighter requirements, longer open nominations, and having letters of support. In accordance with the creation of the new award, the final decision for each nominee was made by the NAI Board. After a one week window of voting, all four candidates received a simple majority in the affirmative.

2015 NAI Professional Awards Committee ReportPage 2

The four first recipients will be awarded along with the Professional Awards at the National Workshop.

3)A huge THANK YOU to Margo, Paul, and Jamie for implementing the NAI Shining Star award. Our first award winner was from Puerto Rico and it was deeply appreciated. I will be working with NAI staff and the 2016 Awards Chair to get more interest in this award so that we get a steady stream of nominees next year.

4)Awards committee made final selections for awards by July 12, 2015. This gave us more time to notify winners before the early bird registration date.

5)Notified the award winners and their nominees by phone, email, and letter by July 14, 2015.Notified unsuccessful nominators(not nominees) by email and letter between July 12-15, 2015.

2015 NAI Professional Award winners are:

NAI Fellow (1 award)

Mike Gross- University of Wisconsin-Stephens Point;Stephens Point, WI

Master Interpretive Manager (2 awards)

Vicki BasmanIndiana Department of Natural Resources; Indianapolis, IN

Ira Bletz - East Bay Regional Park District; Oakland, CA

Master Front-Line Interpreter (2 awards)

Bruce Beerbower - Catawba Science Center; Hickory, NC

Janet Price - MO Department of Natural Resources, Middlebrook, MO

Outstanding New Interpreter (1 award)

Jessica Goodrich - Myrtle Beach State Park; Myrtle Beach, SC

Outstanding Interpretive Volunteer (1 award)

William “Bill” Whitehouse– Naturalist Emeritus with Mill Creek MetroParks;

Youngstown, OH

Outstanding Senior/Retired Interpreter (1 award)

Ken Gober -Rocky River Nature Center; Bay Village, OH

Meritorious Service (1 award)

Faith Duncan – Tongass National Forest (UFWS);Ketchikan, AK

Community Interpretive Service Award (2 awards)

Friends of Spruce Woods– Spruce Woods Prov. Park; Carberry Manitoba, Canada.

Beaver Creek Wildlife Education Center Volunteer Association – Beaver Creek

Wildlife Education Center; Lisbon, OH

President’s Award (1 Award)

Jane Beattie – Consultant & Trainer; Minneapolis, MN

2015 NAI Professional Awards Committee ReportPage 3

NAI Award of Distinction (4 awards)

Kevin Damstra – East Bay Regional Parks District; Oakland, CA

Jim Peters – Interpretive Graphics and Design Systems; Salt Lake City, UT

Bill Weldon – Colonial Williamsburg; Williamsburg, VA

Travis Williams - Outdoor Discovery Center Macatawa; Holland, MI

6)Notified Stone Imagery of the names and text for the 13 awards for 2015 in early October. Stone Imagery will send proofs of all the awards in mid-October.

7)Collected several photos and background information from each award winner. Sent the ‘head shot’ and short description to Paul Caputo for inclusion in the NAI Workshop brochures. Target date is October 14th.

8)Will confirm plaque names and text for awards being made by Stone Imagery on in mid-October. Stone Imagery will be sending the awards directly to the hotel in Virginia Beach by November 10th.

9)Currently working on award presentation scripts to Amy Lethbridge & Margo Carlock. Target for completion will be October 27th. Most, not all award winners have indicated that they will be present to accept their awards in Virginia Beach.

10)Scheduled with Deb Tewell to present awards at 2 different award venues at the NAI National Workshop in Virginia Beach on November 12th and November 13th.

Comments:

- This is my last year as chairman of the NAI Professional Awards. In 2016, Howard April will resume his chairmanship now that he is back from active military duty with the National Guard. It has been a delight to serve again as the chair and an honor keep the chair warm for Howard during his important service to our country.

- I will work with next year’s Awards Chair, and the Special Awards committee to strengthen the requirements and nomination criteria for the NAI Award of Distinction. While we had four great nominees, there needs to be tighter criteria to make it an even more prestigious and meaningful award.

- I have mentioned several times before that serving on theNAI Professional Awards committee has been THE most rewarding experience of my professional career. I am consistently being humbled by the outstanding work being provided by so many of our fellow NAI members. I am proud to have played a part in recognizing these individuals at the national level. A huge thanks to both Paul Caputo and Deb Tewell for all of their help and coordination.

- I was again pleased with the quality of the nominations this year. I will continue to work with the Awards Chair and all Unit Directors to see if their awards criteria match the National Awards criteria. Some Units already do this and simply create a new cover letter to pass along a new nomination. If more Units could do this we may yet break the 31 nominations record of 2009.

- I want to continue to encourage more members to nominate their peers. I hope to continue to get more non-US nominations in the future.