Since its modern inception, the profession of athletic training has long been a tradition of acquiring knowledge from those professionals already in the field. In the current model of athletic training, it has become essential to blend a challenging and rigorous formal education with practical application and clinical decision making needed to become a competent athletic training professional. This would not be possible without the preceptors every athletic training program needs and relies on as part of their formal curriculum. The NATA Preceptor of the Year award seeks to recognize those within the profession who have served as a preceptor for an athletic training program, who go above and beyond to help mentor students, and who work to improve the future of our profession by preparing the students of today to become the professionals of tomorrow.
Candidate Criteria
Individuals must meet or exceed the following requirements for consideration:
1. Current certified membership in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association
2. Served as a preceptor for a CAATE accredited institution for a minimum of three years.
3. Evidence of being a quality preceptor. Evidence can include but is not limited to:
- Proof of contribution to student learning (e.g., student program, student event organized by this preceptor)
- Student evaluations
- Program director/clinical education coordinator evaluations
- Letters from previous students
- Preceptor’s peer recommendation w/evidence (colleague in their setting)
- Supervisor evaluations that coincides with being a preceptor
- Progressive work towards CEU activity that coincides with being a quality preceptor (i.e. Master preceptor Module, etc.)
4. Must have served as preceptor for the same institution that the recommendation is coming from for a period of at least three years.
Application Guidelines
I. The nomination can be made by any athletic trainer, student, administrator or faculty member of a college/ university.
II. Each nominator in collaboration with the nominee is responsible for compiling a dossier supporting the nomination. The materials should include the items listed below:
- Three letters of support for the candidate’s nomination. One letter can be from the nominator with other letters coming from AT program faculty and/or administration and current and/or past students.
- The candidate’s curriculum vitae.
- A summary statement of the candidate’s contributions as they relate to the candidate’s impact on athletic training education written by the clinical education coordinator or program director of the athletic training program.
- All candidates are reviewed by the selection committee, based on a weighted scale using the candidate criteria noted in this document. Specifically, the overall impact on athletic training clinical education on behalf of athletic training students and the athletic training program. Therefore, when compiling the dossier these criteria should be kept in mind. Each criterion should be supported by examples of artifacts of clinical education teaching, supervision and mentorship (for example: student evaluations, clinical education coordinator evaluations, etc.)
- Once nominated, the candidate's dossier will be kept on file for a two-year period and considered both years if not selected in the first year.
- No more than two candidates will be selected in a calendar year and the award need not be given every year if no candidates are deemed qualified for the award. Awards should be announced within appropriate NATA and CAATE media correspondence.
Submit nominations to ece@nata.org no later than March 4.
