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Community Partner Awards

ACE Awards logo

The ACE Awards were created to recognize and honor outstanding efforts and achievements made toward the development and practice of the field of community engagement inside and outside of the UNC campus in order to prioritize, strengthen, and solidify community-based learning and research. The primary mission of this award is to make service learning and civic engagement the expectation inside and outside research fields to denote the need for more efficient, dynamic, and high-quality UNC-Community partnerships. 

Categories awarded include, but are not limited to: undergraduate student, graduate student, faculty member, staff (exempt and classified staff), and Greeley/Weld County/regional organization and/or partner. 

Please refer to the guiding principles outlined below to see if you or a fellow community partner qualify.

Community partners can self-nominate or be nominated by UNC students, faculty, staff members, or other community partners. Application opens in Fall 2020. 

Araceli Calderon Araceli Calderon (right) receiving her 2019 Engaged Community Partner Award  

Guiding Principles 

  • Community Partner/Organization 
    •  Has a history of ongoing partnerships with the UNC community. 
    • Sees UNC–Community partnerships as helpful and/or applicable to the organization and community. 
    • Understands the differences between volunteer service and service learning, to provide each student team member with unique experiences that put emphasis on and encourage transformative learning and experiences.  
    • Utilizes current research, pedagogy, and best practices to guide the organization’s techniques for successful performance. 

Past ACE Award Recipients 

  • 2019
    • Engaged Community Partner Award: Araceli Calderon 
  • 2018
    • Engaged Community Partner Award: Vern Ingraham 
  • 2017
    • Engaged Community Partner Award: Elena Rosenfeld
  • 2016
    • Engaged Community Partner Award was not awarded. 
  • 2015
    • Engaged Community Partner Award: Armando Silva 
  • 2014
    • Engaged Community Partner Award: Greeley-Evans School District 6