- Nominees and honorees shall have completed at least four semesters at Willamette; it is not necessary for them to have graduated from the university.
- For the Sparks Medallion, the honorees should be at least 10 years post-graduation from Willamette.
- While it is preferable that the honorees are living, it is not a requirement.
- The honorees should be nominated by someone other than themselves. The nominator does not need to be a Willamette alum or affiliated with Willamette. The nominator should, however, know of the nominee’s work and be able to speak not only to the high regard in which the nominee is held, but also to the relevance of their actions to Willamette’s mission and the spirit of the award(s). To aid in the process, the nominator should provide documentation such as a resume of the nominee, articles (by and/or about the nominee) and any other print materials which would assist the committee in evaluating the nominee. The nominator does not need to know the nominee personally.
- If a nominee is not selected to be honored in the year of their nomination, the appropriate documents and information should be placed in a file for future consideration in subsequent years. Nomination information will be retained for a minimum of three years.
- Honorees are representatives of the university and should be held to an appropriate standard of ethical and personal conduct, in concert with the values of the university.
- Honorees should represent a variety of fields and lifetime accomplishments; these awards should demonstrate that alumni in a wide variety of backgrounds, all with roots at Willamette, excel in their chosen fields. All colleges should have distinguished alumni honorees over time, and honorees should represent the breadth of liberal arts majors over time.
- Honorees should not be current staff members of Willamette University.
Submit nominations via the online nomination form.