Announcing the
2013 PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN WRITING
California Baptist University
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In an effort to encourage students in all departments of California Baptist University to achieve the
highest possible standards in written expression and to honor students who do, the President of California
Baptist University has established the President’s Award for Excellence in Writing. The 2013 award
presented to the winner will be in the amount of $300, the first runner-up will receive $200, and the
second runner-up will receive an honor certificate.
SELECTION PROCESS
Term papers or other substantial written projects (book critiques, creative articles, and short stories) that
are submitted in satisfaction of course requirements during the 2012-2013 school year may be considered
for the award. Any student of CBU may submit an entry to the teacher of the class for which the paper
was written. The teacher will submit no more than two of his or her best papers for departmental
consideration. The department will submit the best paper or two to a faculty committee, which will select
the recipient of the award and the runners-up.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The selection will be based on the following:
1. A substantial written project submitted for a class during the 2012 spring semester or at any time
during the 2012-2013 academic year;
2. The level of scholarship (certainly beyond general encyclopedias and Reader’s Guide periodicals)
or creativity presented by the paper;
3. The quality of the paper’s organization, readability, and effectiveness;
4. Maturity of style;
5. Overall excellence in writing. [Some written forms such as excellent technical research,
statistical analysis, or chemical theories are difficult to evaluate against one another. Thus, the
committee must adhere to the central intent of the President: to award excellence in the writing
itself. Past winning essays have been deposited in the library.]
6. Reflection of the Christian principles at the heart of the University.
SELECTION SCHEDULE
1. Refer to the Instructions for Entries listed below.
2. Students must submit entries to teachers by March 1, 2013.
3. Teachers will submit no more than two of their best papers to their department head by March 8,
2013.
4. Departments will submit no more than two of their best papers to the selection committee by
March 22, 2013.
S. The selection committee will submit the name of the winner and the two runners-up to the
President by April 5, 2013.
Instructions for Entries
All students of California Baptist University are eligible to enter.
Instructions are as follows:
1. Follow the criteria and schedule above.
2. After receiving a graded paper from a professor, type a clean copy as error-free as possible.
Corrections and suggestions from a professor may be incorporated into the paper, but the work
must be your own (not collaborative effort). Entries must be typed; computer versions should be
letter quality.
3. Do not put your name, your teacher’s name, or the name of the course on the submitted copy.
4. In the upper left corner of the first page put your student number and the date. Center the title of
the paper about two inches from the top of the page. No separate title page is needed.
5. Though the original paper must be submitted for class by March 1st, you may submit the clean
copy to your teacher as late as March 8, 2013.
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