Please see the specific award descriptions for further instructions.
Two ECA Centennial Scholarships may be awarded each year to one deserving Ph.D. student and one deserving M.A./M.S. student. The specific criteria for these awards include:
A committee consisting of the immediate past ECA president, the three ECA journal editors, and the current ECA president will work to select the recipients of the ECA Centennial Scholarships.
Nominations for the 2026 Centennial Scholarships must include:
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Jordan Atkinson
DONALD H. ECROYD & CAROLINE DRUMMOND ECROYD TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD
The Ecroyd Teaching Excellence Award is presented annually to recognize excellence in teaching. The specific criteria include:
Nominations for the 2026 Ecroyd Award must include the following information:
The Ecroyd Award selection committee is composed of the past three winners of this award.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Sarah Delulis
The Past Officers' Award is presented annually by the past officers of ECA to one outstanding ECA member who has not been a past ECA officer. To be considered for the award, the nominee must:
All members of the Past Officers' Club as well as members of the Association at large are encouraged to submit nominations. Nominations for the 2026 Past Officers' Award must include:
ECA past officers are ineligible for the award.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Jennifer Waldeck
Research Fellow status may be awarded annually in recognition of distinguished research. The specific criteria include:
Nominations for the 2026 ECA Distinguished Research Fellows must include the following information and materials:
No more than 1% of the ECA membership will receive this award in any given year. All previous research fellows serve as the selection committee.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Timothy J. Brown
ECA LEGACY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED IDEA SCHOLARSHIP
The ECA Legacy Award for Distinguished IDEA Scholarship recognizes a scholar who has, over the course of a career and through a sustained body of work, demonstrated a firm commitment to inclusivity, diversity, equity, and access. Nominees should have a track record of successful publication and/or production of transformative scholarly work pertaining to social justice and community uplift. This scholarly work must be original research that involves synthesis of information across two or more sub-disciplines within the field of communication, and may be applied, critical-theoretic, theoretic, and/or reflective of the range of proven methods and methodologies within the field of communication (Boyer et al, 2016).
This award is named to both reflect ECA’s legacy of excellence in communication scholarship and praxis, and to regard the world’s dire need to celebrate a legacy of scholarly contributions that have shown us the importance of positive progressive radical change while bringing us even closer to realizing the greatest of our human potential.
Nominees must be current members of ECA and current advanced rank (e.g., associate/full professors or senior fixed term faculty) or retired faculty members at colleges or universities. Nominations must be submitted by someone well acquainted with the nominee’s scholarship. Self-nominations are encouraged.
The nomination must include the following materials:
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Dr. Angela Putman
The Distinguished Service Award honors an individual ECA member for his/her contributions to the field of communication in general and to ECA in particular. A committee appointed by the President, who acts as chair, selects the recipient.
Nominations for the Distinguished Service Award must include:
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Jessica Papajcik
The ECA Article of the Year Award is presented annually to the most outstanding journal article published during the previous calendar year (2022) in Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, or Qualitative Research Reports in Communication.
Nominations for the 2026 ECA Article of the Year Award must include:
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Jessica Papajcik
The Everett Lee Hunt Award is presented annually at the discretion of the ECA Committee of Scholars. The Hunt Award reflects the philosophic commitment and scholarly contributions of Everett Lee Hunt, one of the founders of the discipline of communication and the eighth president of ECA (1927-1929).
The nominee should have provided a major contribution to the understanding of rhetoric and communication as a human function in the contemporary world; a means of explaining and realizing public responsibilities beyond the discipline of communication; and/or an intellectual and humane instrument for merging diverse fields of knowledge in a way that infuses them with moral purpose and public significance.
The guidelines for the Hunt Award include:
Nominations for the 2026 Everett Lee Hunt Award should include:
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Jordan Atkinson
APPLIED URBAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH GRANT
The Applied Urban Communication Research Grant is funded annually by the Urban Communication Foundation and given to foster and promote significant inter-disciplinary communication research contributions that extend the boundaries of "applied research" by investigating real-life communication phenomena affecting urban communities. The prize is to be awarded to fund the development of original research that meaningfully centralizes the concerns of everyday citizens and their struggle to define, identify with, and/or construct "spaces" for discourse and/or engagement within cities.
The recipient of the prize will receive a $2,500 grant-in-aid to be awarded to fund communication research related to urban communication. Nominees must be members of ECA. Nominees will be evaluated based on the potential impact of their work as well as the quality and rigor of their contribution. The award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Communication Association.
Nominations for the Applied Urban Communication Research Grant should include:
Self-nominations are encouraged.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Jordan Atkinson
RICHARD E. VATZ AGENDA-SPIN PERSUASION AWARD
The Eastern Communication Association is now accepting nominations and self-nominations for the "Richard E. Vatz Agenda-Spin Persuasion Award," which will be granted to a current member of ECA who indicates by their writing and/or media work a dedication to persuasion or political persuasion consistent with the rhetorical perspective argued in Dr. Vatz's “The Myth of the Rhetorical Situation” and The Only Authentic Book of Persuasion: The Agenda-Spin Model (LAD Custom Publishing, 2021: Buy.ladportal.com/course-pack/view/id/121).
The member’s work must make an effort to make rhetorical study more relevant and not just an appendage of political study.
Applications for the award must include the following:
An award of $2,000 will be granted yearly by the award committee.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Richard E. Vatz
DR. JAMES W. CHESEBRO MARGINALIZED COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The Dr. James W. Chesebro Marginalized Community Scholarship Fund honors his lifetime dedication to research and diversity. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage scholarly activities in all individuals who have felt marginalized by decreasing financial barriers. The Eastern Communication Association recognizes that existing power structures and architectures may create barriers for individuals of marginalized communities when these individuals attempt to engage in traditional paths such as participation in research conferences. The maximum amount awarded each year will be $2,000, Each year, faculty applicants may apply for any amount up to $1000. Students may apply for up to $500.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Katherine S. Thweatt
The Eastern Communication Association (ECA) is now soliciting nominations for 2027 Distinguished Teaching Fellows recognition. The Distinguished Teaching Fellows program recognizes a distinguished career of teaching excellence in the field of communication and is limited to colleagues who have active and ongoing service to ECA. Please note that the Distinguished Teaching Fellows committee revised criteria and requirements in 2022, to start with the 2026 year.
A potential candidate must be a living member of ECA at the time of nomination and have a minimum of ten (10) years of consecutive ECA membership. There are no self-nominations for the Distinguished Teaching Fellows.
The nomination is comprised of one (1) PDF file that includes the following information and materials, not to exceed forty-five (45) total pages:
No more than 1% of the Association membership can be given this award in any given year. All previous Teaching Fellows serve as the selection committee for annual nominations. If a nomination packet does not adhere to the guidelines listed above, the chair will return it to the nominator for an opportunity to re-submit, provided there is time before the due date; otherwise, the nominator may be asked to re-submit the next year.
All nominations and materials must be sent by February 15, 2027 to ecaawardssubs@gmail.com.
Award Coordinator: Janie Harden Fritz