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CSC member commitment to nominating and voting is crucial to the success of the Academic All-America® program — a program that honors thousands of student-athletes from all divisions. Below are tips and tricks to help you navigate the system interface to get the most out of your experience.

Nominations
  • Nominations will be sorted by position for soccer, football, baseball and softball contests. 
  • Two-year schools, Canadian schools not affiliated with the NCAA or NAIA and those remaining schools not affiliated with the NCAA or NAIA will have one at-large team to be announced in the spring. This one at-large team will cover all the sports for which the other divisions have teams. The structure for this at-large team will be according to the number of nominations received.

Using the nomination bullet points successfully
In addition to current single-season statistical information in team sports, nominators have the opportunity to add career athletic accomplishments, academic achievements and community service in a series of text boxes at the end of the nomination form. 
  • Consider how to strategically order your bullets and put the most important information first, specifically related to athletic achievement. This includes major honors like National Player of the Year, All-American, national champion, Academic All-American, conference MVP, or all-conference selection — let voters know that right away. 
  • Academic honors are important but reconsider stating the obvious, or at least save it for one of your last bullets. Of the over 30,000 nominations for the most-meaningful academic and athletic award, all of them are likely "dean's list" honorees. 
  • Don't repeat information from the statistical boxes (i.e., started all 26 games). Stats that are more likely to get voters' attention are when your student-athlete is a national leader or has broken a record.
  • Including community service, on-campus experiences, and job prospects help round out the candidate. Some voters may not completely analyze all five bullet points, so make the case of what your nominee has achieved athletically first.

The bottom line when nominating is to think about what you look for in candidates when you vote. Keep in mind that every voter may not, especially at the national level, be familiar with your student-athlete. It's your duty to make sure you give your student-athlete the best chance to be noticed on the ballot.

Who should I nominate?
Nominate your best and most deserving student-athletes for Academic All-America honors. The awards program is not a popularity contest nor is Academic All-District designation merely an honor roll.

The recognition at both levels is based on athletic accomplishments AND academic achievements, not just one or the other.
  • Avoid nominating every student-athlete who qualifies based on GPA alone. 
  • A student-athlete must meet the athletic standards provided for their sport.  
  • Nominate student-athletes who make a significant contribution on the field of play for the team and carry a 3.50 or above grade point average. GPAs may NOT be rounded up.

Before you hit the Submit button on your nomination, please check the following:
  • Did you enter the student-athlete's name and gender correctly?
  • Did you nominate in the proper gender category, sport, division?
  • You'll receive a confirmation email when you submit a nomination. Be sure to check your spam/junk folder if you don't immediately receive it.

Pro Tip: When composing your nomination information, put it in a Word document first before cutting and pasting into the online nomination form. Doing this will prevent you from having to re-create your nomination if for some reason the nomination information does not save to the portal.


How do I pick my At-Large candidates?
  • The at-large program allows for a maximum of six student-athletes per school for each gender for NCAA and NAIA institutions, and 10 student-athletes for each gender in the College Division. The same standard benchmark "would another SID vote for my candidate?" is an excellent guide to use in determining how many student-athletes to nominate.
  • If you have more than many outstanding student-athletes you are considering, analyze their athletic accomplishments to determine who has the best chance of advancing to the national ballot.

Voting
Did you know that as part of your CSC membership, you can vote for every Academic All-America® team in your classification? The Academic All-America Core Committee believes that increased voting numbers will yield better teams. Members at every institution are strongly encouraged to vote. Members of the core committee, the CSC Executive Board of Directors and CSC staff continue to vote on every All-America team in every division.

Why should I vote if I haven't nominated a student-athlete?
Think of it as your civic duty as a CSC member! All nominated athletes deserve our attention and consideration. Without a strong voter turnout, we risk the integrity of the program. Voting takes some time and we understand that your time is at a premium. Please plan accordingly so you can vote: every CSC member is eligible to vote in their respective divisions for the Academic All-America contest.

Voting made easier
While there are no set guidelines on what defines an Academic All-American, it's worth thinking about what criteria you use to evaluate Academic All-America® ballots. 
  • Generally speaking, CSC is looking for the Academic All-America® Team to be represented by the best student-athletes in the nation both in athletic competition and in the classroom. 
  • Voters are encouraged to compile teams with student-athletes that represent the best combination of athletic excellence and academic accomplishment. The percentage of weight that voters give to each is an individual decision, but CSC looks to honor teams that combine top performance athletically AND academically. Voting strictly by GPA is highly discouraged.

Where to get more information
  • AcademicAllAmerica.com serves as the public face of the program and is your resource for all historical information. Announcements of all teams originate here.
  • CollegeSportsCommunicators.com contains all of the details of the program that would be intended primarily only for CSC members, including criteria to nominate and vote. Notices of the nominating/voting portals opening and closing are posted on CollegeSportsCommunicators.com and communicated via a weekly member email.
  • Nominating and voting takes place at awards.collegesportscommunicators.com.
  • The Academic All-America® Program has its own social media channels:
  • Academic All-America® and Academic All-District® logos are available to download from CollegeSportsCommunicators.com, via the Academic All-America® drop-down tab. These logos have been created to be used on any background and must not be altered in any way.