2008 McGhehey Award
Deadline: September 1, 2008

    Criteria:

• Individuals receiving the award must have a long history of service to the Education Law Association.
• The individual’s work must have had an impact nationally in the field of law and education through publications and/or presentations, both within and outside the Education Law Association. The individual’s work must be recognized through other national organizations, by briefs filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court level, or by other significant contributions in the field of education law.
• Those nominating individuals should address the McGhehey Award criteria in some detail. The discussion of contributions to the field should include specific publications, presentations, and other accomplishments, and the discussion of service to ELA should identify specific committees and leadership roles.

Those nominated can be deceased as well as living ELA members, with preference given to the living.

 Submit a nomination online

2008 Joseph C. Beckham Dissertation of the Year Award
Deadline: July 1, 2008

    Criteria:
    To be considered, the dissertation must:

• have a theoretical base
• be conceptually clear and address an important problem or hypothesis
• contain a comprehensive and relevant review of applicable literature
• demonstrate a methodologically sound approach
• present a cogent analysis of data
• show significant results and discussion
• be written in a scholarly style with appropriate documentation.

ELA uses a blind-review process with multiple readers to evaluate the dissertations.

  Submit a nomination via email

The chair or a member of the student’s dissertation committee, as a member of ELA, should submit a letter of nomination that includes an endorsement attesting to the nominee’s eligibility and specifying the meritorious nature of the dissertation. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Email a copy of the dissertation and the nomination letter to Dissertation Committee Chair, Richard Fossey, at ela@educationlaw.org.

2008 Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law
Deadline: July 1, 2008

The Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law is presented annually in recognition of an outstanding article, book, book chapter, or other form of scholarly legal writing in the field of education law.

Criteria:

• A work of scholarly excellence that has an impact on education law
• Original work must be published within the past two (2) calendar years prior to the deadline for nominations
• Nominated work must be written by an individual author

 Submit a nomination via email
Nominations must include a cover letter stating the justification for the nomination and a copy of the nominated work. Self-nominations will not be accepted. The award is granted on the basis of merit as determined by the selection committee. Email nominations to the Goldberg Award Committee, Chris Borreca and Lois Berlin, at ela@educationlaw.org, or mail nominations to 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-0528.

2008 Officer and Board Elections
Deadline: September 1, 2008

Criteria:

• The individual must be an ELA member in good standing.
• The individual must have exhibited a personal commitment to ELA (e.g., long-standing membership, regular attendance at conferences, contributions to ELA publications, recruitment of new members, presentations at conferences/seminars, or other ways that demonstrate support for ELA activities).
• The individual must have demonstrated leadership in education law.

The individual must be able to devote the time, talent, and energy required for the position.

  Submit a nomination online

2008 George Jay Joseph Education Law Writing Award
Deadline: July 15, 2008

The purpose of this national competition is to generate increased interest in and recognition of education law among not only graduate students in education schools but also, in particular, to students in law schools. The winner of the competition will be recognized at the Annual Conference of the Education Law Association (ELA), and the manuscript will be published in the Journal of Law and Education. Additionally, the winner will be invited to present on the topic of the article at the ELA Annual Conference and receive a commemorative plaque, a year’s membership in ELA, waiver of the registration fee for the 2008 conference, and national recognition via an ELA press release.

Criteria:

• subject matter: one or more legal issues within any of the various contexts of education, including public and private k-12 schools and institutions of higher education, especially current and emerging issues in elementary and secondary public education
• format: double-spaced, with 12-point font and one-inch margins, with footnotes on each respective page (rather than at the end) carefully conforming to Blue Book citation style
• length: between 35 and 55 pages including the footnotes
• status: not previously published and not under review elsewhere for publication
• authorship: single-authored by a law student or a student in a graduate program in education

Doctoral dissertations are not eligible; they are subject to a different ELA Award; however, manuscripts that synthesize dissertations may be submitted provided that they meet the specifications

 Submit a nomination via email
The author must submit the manuscript via email (as an attachment in Word format) to the chair of the selection committee for the Joseph Award Committee by July 15, 2008: perry.zirkel@lehigh.edu. The committee will announce the winner of the competition by September 15, 2008.

 Member Benefits (yearly)