Application Information

Your application, which will become a published case study if your institution is an award finalist, must contain the following information. Answer each question, in the order provided, with clear, concise, and thorough responses. Please understand that the quality of the application counts.

If any sections are missing or if your application is sloppy, incomplete, or inaccurate, points will be deducted from your submission. To facilitate the judging process, please list each of the following sections with your detailed response and the evaluating criteria below. State precisely how your team met or exceeded its stated goals and expectations in each of the criteria.

Case Study Sections. A quality case study should concisely and directly showcase the good work of an institution’s execution of a particular project, while also detailing how the initiative can be adapted and replicated at a peer institution with greater ease. A successful case study submission should include the following sections:

• Basic information like project name, current date, project manager, team members, and key project stakeholders.
• An executive summary. This provides a short overview of your project. (Readers should be able to get through and comprehend your summary in 3-5 minutes.)
• Project background. Explain the context behind your project. (Outline why your team worked on this project, what challenge(s) they were attempting to address, and how they approached addressing the challenge(s)).
• Scope of work. Outline your project scope and all the elements that made up your project. Consider including project objectives, constraints, assumptions, dependencies, and potential risks.
• A basic project timeline that includes general timeframes. (This section may also include a list of tasks or milestones that need to be accomplished.)
• A project budget and key financial information. (What were the financial costs to the project, both short-term and potential long-term).
• Key deliverables & accomplishments. What observable or measurable outcomes resulted from the implementation of the project?
• Lessons learned and project adaptability. What lessons were learned from executing this project, and what potential roadblocks or constraints would you forewarn peer institutions of before considering adopting this project? Additionally, how could your project be adapted to be successful at another type of institution (consider private v. public, large v. small, pro staff v. student staff, etc.)

Institutions may submit written case studies to awards@swacuho.org before October 1, 2026 @ 5:00 p.m.

Phase 1: Case Study Evaluation

After the application window closes, a panel of judges will be asked to evaluate each application (written case study) based on the following criteria. The judges’ scores in the first phase will be collected and averaged to identify the finalists to be invited to present a program sharing their case study in a live session during the second phase of judging.

• The project provides a creative solution to issues faced by the profession (25 Pts).
• Creative utilization of resources (i.e. cost-effectiveness, collaboration with other campus offices, use of community resources, etc.) (20 Pts).
• The project meets the needs of a diverse population or special campus needs (i.e.community development, facilities, food service, etc.) (15 Pts).
• Student involvement in the development, implementation, and evaluation of the project
• and its impact on students (15 Pts).
• Adaptability to other institutions (15 Pts).
• The goals and objectives of the project were met (10 Pts).

Phase 2: Presentation Evaluation

The finalists will be invited to present a 15-20 minute program sharing their case study in a livevirtual session before a panel of judges October 14, 2026 or October 15, 2026. No more than four representatives from each finalist institution will be permitted to participate in the presentation.

Each judge will receive a copy of the application for each finalist, without the scores from the Phase 1 judges, and a list of sample questions, which they can augment with their own questions. The Q&A following each session will last no longer than 20 minutes. After all of the presentations have been completed, the judges will then deliberate and select a recipient to be announced by November 2, 2026.

Finalist and Recipient Recognition

All finalists will be invited to present their program at SWACUHO Annual Conference and recognized during the conference. The winning institution will be required to present their program at SWACUHO Annual Conference and will be presented with an award at a banquet during the conference.

Additionally, because sharing the experiences and successes of leading organizations makes our community stronger, all finalist applications will be published and promoted as case studies during the conference.

Download Frank Award Description & Application Information [PDF]