Celebrating excellence in gerontology across Service Projects, Student Papers, and Video.
Submission deadline: March 5, 2025
Award notifications: March 14, 2025
Public announcement: Annual Business & Awards Meeting at the Southern Gerontological Society Conference (April 2025)
These awards are funded solely by donations from SPO members and friends of the organization. If you’d like to keep these recognitions going for years to come, please consider a gift.
Donate online: Visit the SPO Store (add your store link)
Mail a check:
Sigma Phi Omega
PO Box 2
Ezel, KY 41425
The Service Project Award recognizes service-learning experiences and projects led by professionals, students (undergraduate/graduate), and/or faculty who are members of an SPO Chapter. Projects must demonstrate a positive impact on older adults and on SPO Chapter members. Eligible chapter members (faculty, staff, or professionals) self-nominate for this award.
Academic Service Learning
Course-based, credit-bearing activities that integrate meaningful community service, instruction, and structured reflection to enrich learning and develop civic responsibility. Nominations should be innovative, inspiring, and show clear evidence of positive impact.
Curricular Service Learning
Discipline-specific collaborations in which students and faculty work with the community, apply classroom learning, and reflect on outcomes. Nominations should be innovative, inspiring, and show clear evidence of positive impact.
Co-Curricular Service Learning
Community activities not tied to academic credit but guided by learning objectives and reflection opportunities. Nominations should be innovative, inspiring, and show clear evidence of positive impact.
Professional Contribution
Recognizes a member in the professional community who has contributed to Sigma Phi Omega and the well-being of older adults. Any active SPO member (student, faculty, or professional) may submit a nomination. Nominations should be innovative and inspiring.
To apply for the Service Project Award, complete the Service Project Award Nomination Form by March 5, 2025. The award recipient will be notified by March 14, 2025. This is not an individual award; the SPO Chapter of which the nominee is a member receives a cash award of $200.
Recognizes outstanding research and writing by an SPO student member.
The award is presented at the Annual SPO Business Meeting & Awards Ceremony (held with a gerontology-related association).
Student is actively enrolled (undergraduate or graduate) at time of submission.
Student is a current member of the SPO chapter on their campus.
The same abstract may also be submitted to other awards or conference proceedings.
Significance & Rigor – Addresses an important gerontological topic.
Appropriate Methods – May be qualitative, quantitative, theoretical, or scientific.
Scientific papers: include conceptual framework, design, methods/analyses, and discussion.
Non-scientific papers: design must be appropriate to the paper type.
Style / APA – Concise scholarly writing; no errors; APA (current edition); double-spaced, 12-pt font, 1-inch margins.
Authorship – Student is first and principal author; a faculty member may be secondary author if appropriate.
File Format – Submit as .docx or .pdf.
Deadline: Submit the President’s Student Paper Nomination Form by March 5, 2025.
Notification: Recipient will be notified by March 14, 2025.
Award: $200 cash award to the selected student.
SPO invites members to use their creativity to say something meaningful about aging or gerontology in a video of five (5) minutes or less. Entries might inform about an aging issue, attract students to gerontology, or simply celebrate aging.
Judging criteria: quality of communication, creativity, relevance to SPO’s mission, and compliance with the official rules below.
Submit: the Video Award Submission Form by March 5, 2025.
Notification: Award recipient will be notified by March 14, 2025.
Prize: This is not an individual award; the recipient’s SPO Chapter receives a $200 cash award.
Your video must not:
Exceed 5 minutes in total playtime.
Contain material that is sexually explicit, obscene, pornographic, violent, discriminatory, illegal, offensive, threatening, profane, or harassing; or that promotes such activities.
Use copyrighted media (music, films, books, TV, etc.) or identifying descriptions of any media property.
Infringe anyone’s rights (privacy, publicity, intellectual property/copyright) or include third-party trademarks, logos, signage, photos, artwork, or sculptures.
All music must be original (written/performed/produced by the entrant) or otherwise license-free for public use on a no-compensation basis.
Include third parties (including minors and celebrities) without their express consent to use their image, likeness, and/or voice.
If a minor appears, the parent/guardian must consent.
Entrant warranties & permissions
By submitting, you warrant your entry does not defame or violate any rights/laws and that all necessary permissions have been secured.
You grant SPO a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, assignable, royalty-free license to publish, reproduce, distribute, display, perform, transmit, and create derivative works from your video in any media, now known or later developed, and you waive any moral rights to the extent permitted by law.
SPO reserves the right to disqualify entries that violate these rules or the spirit of the contest and to use entries for trade, advertising, promotional, or other purposes without further consideration.
Tip: Keep it clear, creative, and compliant—under 5 minutes, no third-party rights, and original/royalty-free audio only.
