SACAs see record-breaking number of nominations
Nearly 2,000 nominations made this year, more than double the previous record.
This year’s Student Academic Choice Awards (SACAs) have received the highest number of nominations since their inception.
Imperial College Union, who organise the SACAs, received 1868 nominations for the awards, across a range of areas. The previous highest number of nominations was 831, which was achieved last academic year. In total 935 staff members were nominated, including support staff, tutors, and lecturers – again, the highest number in the award’s five year history.
This year saw a shift in the strategy used to communicate the SACAs nominations process, with the campaign shortened to a three week period, following a ‘soft launch’ at the end of last term. Nick Burstow, Deputy President (Education), who is responsible for the award process, also worked with constituent unions (CUs) on communicating the nominations to students, with increased involvement from the Faculty of Medicine. The nominations process was also simplified, to reduce the time it took to submit nominations.
Michael Edwards, President of the Royal College of Science Union (RCSU), told Felix: “Nick’s new grassroots method of achieving this excellent batch of SACAs submissions is to be applauded, and hopefully this signifies a major change in the way that Officer Trustees and staff engage critically with Union volunteers.”
Claudia Caravello, President of City and Guilds College Union, told Felix: “I think it was great to get the CUs involved, asking them to help advertise and also put in their weekly emails. I think that the Union would benefit greatly in actively asking us for help on more things, which in turn would strengthen the links between CUs and ICU.”
The Union has targeted 1000 nominations for the past few years, but has always fallen short of this target. Burstow told Felix: “The SACAs give our students the chance to recognise and reward excellence among College staff. This huge number of SACAs nominations reflects just how much students value excellent staff, and allows our students to showcase this excellence to the College.”
This is the sixth cycle of the SACAs. Staff can be nominated across eight areas, including Best Supervision, Best Innovation, and Best Feedback, among others. All staff members who are nominated for an award will receive a mug, and shortlisted staff will attend the prize ceremony in May.
