Neill Humfeld Award for Excellence in Trombone Teaching

• ITA members may submit nominations for the awards. Each nomination should include a short (under 250 words) biography for each nominee.
• Nominations are closed by the end of the day on January 1 each year.
•  Nominations remain active for three years after which time, a candidate may be renominated for consideration for an award.
• Members of the Standing Committee on Awards may not submit nominations for awards.
• If a member of the Committee on Awards is nominated for an award, that Committee member must either resign from the Committee, depart from the Committee for one year, or withdraw their nomination from consideration.
• Once all nominations are received, the Standing Committee on Awards will convene either in person or virtually to discuss the nominations (new nominations as well as those that carry over from previous years) for each award.
• The Committee will, after consideration of the nominees, arrive at consensus and prepare a ballot that lists three nominees for each award. If an award has received fewer than three nominations or if the Committee agrees that there are not three qualified candidates for an award, the Chair of the Committee on Awards shall consult with the Chair of the ITA Executive Board who, in consultation with the Executive Board, decide if additional nominees should be added to the ballot to bring the number of candidates up to three, or if the ballot shall be prepared with fewer than three candidates.
• The ballot shall be prepared by the Chair of the Committee on Awards with (if technical assistance is required) the assistance of the Chair of the Committee on Governance and/or the ITA Executive Director. The ballot shall ask those voting to assign a ranking of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd to each nominee on the ballot.
• The Committee on Awards is to include the submitted biography for each nominee who is on the ballot. These biographies will be included with the ballot.
• On February 1 of each year, a ballot with the candidates for each award shall be sent to the ITA Officers (President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President,), members of the Council of Past Presidents, and members of the ITA Board of Advisors. If a person serves the ITA in more than one capacity, that person may cast only one vote.
• Any ITA Officer, member of the Council of Past Presidents, and member of the ITA Board of Advisors who appears on the ballot for any award may not vote for that award.
• A 1st place vote shall receive 3 points; a 2nd place vote shall receive 2 points; a 3rd place vote shall receive 1 point. Upon tabulation of all votes, the candidate receiving the most votes and who also more than 50% of the total number of points (determined by multiplying the number of people casting ballots by 3), shall be declared the winner of the Award. If no nominee receives more than 50% of the total number of points on the first ballot, the nominee who received the lowest number of points shall be dropped from the ballot and a second ballot shall be distributed with the names of the top two nominees. If the 2nd and 3rd place nominees are tied with the same number of points on the first ballot, the nominee with the most second place points shall advance to the second ballot along with the nominee with the most points. If after the second ballot no nominee receives more than 50% of the total number of points, the Award will not be given.
• Voting shall be concluded by February 1 of each year. Those who vote for awards shall do so anonymously and the results of voting shall go directly to the Chair of the Committee on Awards. The Chair of the Committee on Awards shall collate the ballots and determine the winner of each award. Once winners for each award are determined, the Chair of the Committee on Awards shall inform the ITA Executive Board, members of the Council of Past Presidents, and the members of the Board of Advisors.

Nominations may be sent to the Chair of the ITA’s Standing Committee on Awards at awards@trombone.net.