The Centers of Excellence Awards were initiated in 2001 by the Business & Finance Division under the leadership of Stephen Kochoff, the Division’s Chair at that time. The purpose of the COE Awards is to recognize quality and excellence in libraries and information centers within the Business & Finance Division. Modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards, the COE Awards strive to recognize the very best in library and information practices. The goal of the Centers of Excellence Awards is not only to recognize this excellence but also to bring it out into the public eye so that others may learn from it and benchmark themselves against these truly outstanding organizations.

Centers of Excellence Awards Guidelines

Recipients of the Centers of Excellence Awards receive two FREE registrations for the conference!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to receive one of these awards?

Any member of the Business & Finance Division may apply. The award is presented to the organization described by the applicant. The application can take any form, e.g. written report, videotape, photography, and narration. Each award will be presented to specific business information centers, based on a point system administered by the judges, who are members of the Business & Finance Division.

Can I send in an application for an organization that I am not affiliated with?

Yes, you can submit an application for an organization that you are familiar with, but not affiliated with. However, that can pose many challenges. An alternative is to nominate an organization and have the COEA Committee contact that organization to tell them they have been nominated and invite them to submit an application for the award.

What areas of information management are being focused on?

Service — excellence in service, instruction, and support to constituent users.
Management — successful and effective performance in four basic management roles: conceptualizing/planning, organizing, directing/motivating, evaluation/measuring.
Technology — successful, cost-effective and appropriate application of technology.

What are the award criteria?

The application should cover and comment upon all of these criteria for each category (Service, Management, and Technology):

Leadership
Strategic Planning
Customer/User Focus
Information and Analysis

Human Resource Focus
Process Management
Service Results

Details can be found in section 5.2 of the Centers of Excellence Awards Guidelines.

Whom can I contact with questions?

Michael M. Smith
Associate Professor
West Campus Business Library
Texas A&M University
Mail Stop 5001
College Station, TX 77843-5001
ATTN: COE
michaelsmith@tamu.edu
979.845.2902