Most Successful Wellbeing and Support Program
The radical disruptions to our everyday lives over the past few years have shown us how critical it is to maintain a healthy level of mental, emotional, physical, and financial well-being to weather the constant fluctuations of life.
Now more than ever, members need to be actively offering Wellbeing and Support Programs that provide ongoing opportunities for students to connect with others in safe and supportive ways, and help to facilitate and promote good health, well-being, and resilience.
Successful programs can be broadly or specifically focused. They will provide a welcoming, safe, and caring environment, with opportunities to access tools, skillsets, education, and practical necessities. They will leave participants feeling motivated, supported, and connected enough to keep making positive changes in their own lives.
A program being submitted in this category can be a new initiative or a recurring one that has been held on or off-campus, or online. This award celebrates excellence in Wellbeing and Support programs and must have been actively run for students by a member campus during 2022/23.
Program focuses can include but are not limited to: advocacy, financial services, mental health and wellbeing programs, international student welfare programs, stress management or resiliency education, etc.
The Jury will be looking for entries that demonstrate excellence in the following:
- Astute recognition for the type of program required to meet student needs
- Good adaptability to the changing needs of the student community
- Tangible and measurable goals and objectives
- Evidence of strong strategic planning
- Creative techniques used to deliver on the desired outcomes
- Effective use of resources (teams, funds, assets)
- Inclusivity, diversity, and environmental considerations
- The quality of the program
- Student and campus community engagement and experience factors
- Evidence of success and positive impacts with measurable results
- Innovation, leadership, and recognition* (applies to ‘Best of the Year’ submissions only)
Award Submission Criteria
Submissions need to address each of the following criteria:
- Name of organisation
- Organisation logo
- Name and contact details of the person completing the submission
- Full-Time student load (total student enrolments)
- Name of Program
- Number of participants in the program
This category of the SEN Awards has two levels of recognition – ‘Award of Distinction’ and ‘Best of the Year’.
For your submission to be considered for an ‘Award of Distinction’ you will be required to complete the first 3 sets of criteria PLUS provide supporting evidence.
For your submission to be considered for the ‘Best of the Year’ Award you will be required to complete all of the ‘Award of Distinction’ requirements, PLUS the additional Innovation and Leadership criteria.
Tell us the WHY of your program.
- What was the reason for the program?
- What were you aiming for and why?
- What were the goals and objectives you were hoping to achieve?
Tell us the HOW of your program.
- What key strategies were identified and used to deliver on the goals and objectives of your program?
- What creative techniques and effective use of resources were applied?
- Was there student input into the program and if so in what capacity? Did you engage with any external partnerships and if so, what was their input?
- What communications and marketing did you use to promote your program?
- How did you ensure your program was inclusive and responsible? You can reference details such as: race/gender diversity, inclusivity, accessibility to the program, WCAG guidelines, use of environmental and sustainable materials/products/collateral, etc.
EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS
- What was the outcome of your program?
- Which of your goals and objectives did you achieve?
- What were the overall engagement and experience outcomes of your program on students and the campus community?
- What were the tangible and measurable positive impacts for your organisation and students? How have you determined the program’s success?
- Financial overview
This section may be used to support your submission by providing evidence of your claims, it is not a substitute or an additional opportunity for answering the criteria in your submission.
The quality of your supporting documents will be measured against the rubric.
Relevant examples will include documentation that adds value and validation to your submission which could include links to:
- Before and after comparative data (quantitative & qualitative)
- Hero photos that capture the success of the program
- Program website page or feature page
- Program social media campaigns
- Program video files
- Program PR or media
- Storyboards
- Financial documents
- Feedback forms
- Written articles
- Evidence of innovation, leadership, and formal recognition* (applies to ‘Best of the Year’ submissions only).
You can collate supporting documents into a word doc to minimise the number of your uploads.
To progress your submission for consideration at the ‘Best of the Year’ level, you will be required to complete the following criteria.
- What was innovative about your program?
- How does it stand out from other Wellbeing and Support Programs you have run or seen before?
- What did you incorporate, and how was it coordinated or promoted in a completely different and innovative manner to anything you have offered or seen before?
- How does this program provide meaningful and significant leadership outcomes for your organisation, your campus community and/or within the sector?
- How has this program gone over and above in addressing and delivering on an identified need within your organisation?
- How is it positively influencing other organisations in the sector?
- How is the program replicable and are you offering support for its development at other organisations?
- Have you received official recognition for your program within your own organisation, within the sector, or broader industry fields?
Please ensure that you have uploaded adequate supporting documentation to support your claims including any reference to formal industry and/or organisation recognition.
Each category has a rubric that will be used as a scoring guide by the Awards Jury Panel against criteria responses in your submission.
Please note:
- Criteria Responses that are a direct copy and paste from previous criteria fields in the same category submission will be marked as Basic.
- Submissions that do not provide supporting evidence of the stated claims will be marked as Basic.
- In the event of multiple applications achieving equal scores, the award decision is at the discretion of the Awards Jury Panel.
- In order to be eligible to win ‘Best of the Year’, your application will need to achieve a score of at least 13 out of 15.
- Applications submitting for ‘Best of the Year’ that do not meet the higher score ranking required to win can also be considered for an ‘Award of Distinction’ at the judge’s discretion.
Category-specific rubrics will be available to download on the submission page of each category.
Click HERE to see an example.