Nomination tips

During Adult Learners Week we award three scholarships to outstanding adult learners to help them continue on their adult education pathway. And we encourage all organisations involved in adult community education to consider nominating a student for a scholarship.

In the lead up to the announcement of the winners we share and celebrate all the nominees. Being nominated is an affirming experience for the student and their stories are an inspiration to others. It’s also a great way to showcase the achievements of your organisation.

We’ve put together these tips to make nominating someone easy.

1. Be persuasive

The nomination tells a story about why you think the nominee is outstanding. Write the nomination as if you are talking to someone else about why you think this person deserves a scholarship. Avoid jargon and keep it simple and direct. If you know the person well and feel strongly that they deserve support, writing the nomination will be straightforward.

2. Provide factual detail

Include the how and why of how your nominee first connected with your organisation. Include details on when they started, what they studied and why they enrolled.

3. Tell a story

In describing the impact the adult education program has had on your nominee’s life, think of it as a story of then and now. How would you describe them when you first met? How would you describe them now?  What changes have you seen in them as a result of their participation in your program? What challenges did they face at the beginning and how did they handle them? Be specific and give examples. You can use feedback from the learners’ teachers or fellow students here to highlight the nominee’s achievements.

4. Describe how the scholarship will help

Outline what next steps the scholarship will enable your nominee to take.  What are their education goals and how will the scholarship help them to achieve this?

5. Share what you’ve written

Get feedback on your nomination from colleagues as well as with your nominee and get their permission to be considered for a scholarship.

6. Include a good photograph

Nominees’ photos will be shared across social media so make sure it’s good quality.

7. Read winning nominations

Stories of previous scholarship winners will give you a good idea of what a winning nomination looks like and the kind of detail and information to include in your nomination.