Moving Spirit Award - Application Process

Candidates for the award must be members in good standing of the Institute, and have been a member for at least five (5), but not necessarily consecutive, years. A candidate for the Moving Spirit Award must have been a "moving spirit" in his or her chapter or student chapter (in the case of faculty advisors).

Qualifications may be satisfied by a candidate:

  • leading efforts either to form a new chapter or to reactivate a dormant chapter;
  • chairing the local organizing committee of a new or reactivated chapter; or
  • through long-term involvement with various chapter activities, and services to the Institute or its predecessor societies on chapter committees and/or
  • as a chapter officer.

In the case of a faculty advisor, leading a student chapter to perform extraordinary service to the Institute. In order to avoid giving the impression that a Chapter officer is rewarding him/herself, the candidate cannot currently hold the Chapter offices of president, vice-president or president-elect. Past Moving Spirit Award recipients are not eligible to receive the award, and their nominations will not be processed.
 
Candidates shall be nominated by the candidate him-/herself, Chapter members and/or other observers. The work of some candidates would be known through observers, e.g., the Chapters/Fora Committee (as in the case of nominees who have led efforts to form or revive Chapters). In the case of recognizing long-term chapter volunteers, the candidates would be known through the chapter members, and nominated by the chapter.

Nominations must be received at least six weeks prior to the national meetings of INFORMS, and submitted in writing to the Chapters/Fora Committee in care of the INFORMS office. All relevant information, including the candidate's qualifications along with a statement describing how the nominee is a "moving spirit" in the chapter.

Only nominations of eligible candidates will be processed. Nominations of candidates from a chapter that had a member recognized in the previous calendar year will not be considered until the following year. Nominations of those candidates considered but not selected for the award will be combined with additional nominations received prior to the next national meeting for further consideration at that time.

Selection of recipients will be based on the recipients' contributions to their chapters' longevity and to the Institute through chapter activities. A survey of the Chapters/Fora Committee members will be performed in order to determine a relative ranking of the deserving candidates. The number of the candidates to be selected for the award in a given year will be determined at the discretion of the Chapters/Fora Committee Chair. No more than three candidates, each from different chapters, will be selected for the award annually. There is no obligation to give any awards in a given year. The final decision will be made by the Chair in consultation with committee members as appropriate.

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