Office of Inclusive Excellence

Building Inclusion and Leadership in Disability (BUILD) Award

Recognizing leadership in accessibility, disability inclusion and belonging

The Building Inclusion and Leadership in Disability (BUILD) Award is a university-wide recognition program honoring ASU faculty, staff and academic professionals who have made exceptional contributions to advancing accessibility, disability inclusion and belonging across the ASU community.

The award recognizes work that meaningfully improves the experiences of disabled students, faculty, staff and community members through innovation, leadership and systemic change. The Inaugural Award will be announced at the Lawrence J. and Virginia Devlin Bolmarcich Annual Memorial Lecture.

View the Bolmarcich Memorial Lecture Series

Submit a Nomination

BUILD Awards At a Glance

AWARD AMOUNT
Two awards of $1,200

NOMINATION CYCLE
August 21, 2026 to October 8, 2026

NOTIFICATION
By October 23, 2026

RECOGNITION
October 29, 2026 at the Bolmarcich Memorial Lecture on Disability

QUESTIONS
[email protected]

Award Focus Areas

Who Can Be Nominated

Eligible nominees must be current ASU faculty, staff or academic professionals at any ASU campus and in any modality, including in-person, online or hybrid roles. Eligible nominees include:

Tenured, tenure-track and career-track faculty
Instructors, professors of practice and faculty associates
Academic professionals, including librarians and archivists
Administrative, professional, service or technical staff
Recently retired faculty or staff within one year of retirement

Questions?

Contact: [email protected]

How to Nominate

Nominations may be submitted by any member of the ASU community, including faculty, academic professionals, staff, undergraduate, graduate and professional students, university leaders, alumni, and community partners who collaborate with ASU on disability-related initiatives.

Nominate Someone Else

Complete the nomination form with the nominee's information. The nominee will receive instructions to submit their personal statement and supporting materials.

Self-Nominate

Complete the nomination form and submit your personal statement and supporting materials at the same time.

Nomination Categories

Nomination Materials

Use this application preview copy to review the nomination questions and prepare responses before submitting the official BUILD Award Nomination Form. This document is for planning only; nominations must be submitted through the online form.

If you need the form in an alternative format or would like assistance completing it, please contact [email protected].

Nomination statement

Nominees must submit a statement of approximately 300-500 words. Statements may be submitted in writing or in an accessible alternative format, such as video or audio.

Supporting materials

Supporting materials should help the committee understand the significance and impact of the work. Include brief summaries or annotations explaining the relevance of each item.

Statements should address:

Contributions to disability inclusion, accessibility and belonging at ASU
Why the work is exceptional or goes beyond typical role expectations
Impact on students, faculty, staff, academic professionals, units or programs
Evidence of leadership, service, innovation, collaboration, mentorship or advocacy
Alignment with ASU's Charter, Design Aspirations and the BUILD Award purpose

Evaluation Criteria

The extent to which the nominee's work has improved accessibility, disability inclusion, belonging or participation for disabled students, faculty, staff, academic professionals or community members connected to ASU.

The extent to which the nominee has demonstrated creativity, leadership, service, mentorship, advocacy or initiative in advancing disability inclusion.

The extent to which the work has benefited the ASU community, strengthened partnerships or contributed to shared accessibility and inclusion goals.

Evidence may include assessment results, feedback, testimonials, participation data, policy or process changes, implementation examples or other indicators of impact.

Reviewers will consider alignment with ASU's Charter and Design Aspirations, the nominee's role and resources, and whether the work demonstrates follow-through or lasting improvement.

Timeline

Nomination cycle opens
August 21, 2026
Nomination deadline
October 8, 2026
Recipients notified
By October 23, 2026
Recipients recognized
October 29, 2026 at the Bolmarcich Memorial Lecture on Disability

View the Bolmarcich Memorial Lecture Series

Accessibility Statement

If you need assistance completing the nomination form or need materials in an alternative format, please contact [email protected].

Ready to nominate?

Submit a self-nomination or nominate someone whose work advances accessibility, disability inclusion and belonging at ASU.