Introduction
The programme of providing awards to the best performers has been with the Association for a long time and is regarded as a good way to encourage members to participate in the events of the Association and contribute to the profession. However, it has been noted that the level of participation in various awards has slowed down – and some awards tended to get very few or no candidates. It is perceived that this is due to the values of these awards not appreciating and not being equitable because the sponsors are targeting certain awards. As a result, this creates some inequalities in number of contributions towards the bidding of various awards. This is also difficult because the Management Committee has to chase the sponsors in order to accommodate such specific awards every year.
In the previous Management Committee meeting, the Vice-President and the Additional Member were requested to review the AEASA Award Policy that would address above problems. This was to be done within the context of AEASA Investment Policy of equitable and fair exposure to sponsors
Proposed Approach of Handling Awards
In order to ensure equity and avoid administrative problems of the AEASA awards, it is proposed that:
A single pool of funds for the AEASA awards should be established.
The sponsors will then contribute towards the pool.
The Management Committee will then allocate values to such awards and finance them using the funds from the pool.
Sponsors would be acknowledged for the amount they have contributed as well as for certain awards that their sponsorship is allocated to (e.g. Agri BEE Award for this year has been sponsored by ABSA, etc.)
New awards should be introduced to existing list of AEASA Awards, in line with developments in the country.
The Awards should have first and second prizes for certain awards. However, the Best Contributed Paper Award will also have a third prize.
Values of the awards should be reviewed every two years.
The whole policy and programme of the awards should be reviewed every five years in order to ensure relevancy.
All award winners shall receive certificates of appreciation in addition to their prizes.
Implementation
These proposals should be implemented from the next financial year.
Management Committee, especially the Vice-President and the Additional Member, shall be responsible to implement the award programme.
Every five years, the Management Committee shall appoint the Award Review Committee to review and revamp, if necessary, the programme.
The Secretary and the President will popularize the policy to members.
The additional member shall ensure that the Awards Guidelines are updated.
The Sponsors will be encouraged to include Awards sponsorship into the overall sponsorship
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