SACAs - A huge SACA-ccess

Deputy President (Education)
Tuesday 27 February 2018

Welcome to blog number two! Given the success of the first blog, which I’m told was viewed a whopping 113 times (NOT me repeatedly pressing F5) I thought you would be on tenterhooks waiting for this update, so here it is:

SACAs – the highest ever number of nominations

Today marks the end of our Student Academic Choice Awards (SACAs) shortlisting process. Our student panels have sifted through our highest-ever 1868 nominations to arrive at eight winners and forty shortlistees. Who are these winners? Well you’ll have to wait till May to find out…

Now to those of you reading who’re unfamiliar with the SACAs (how are things under your rock?), they’re our annual campaign that gives students the chance to say ‘thank you’ to all the staff who make a positive difference to their time at Imperial. For the past five years we’ve targeted 1,000 nominations, but always fallen short. But as you’ve already read, this was the year we finally did it. With 1868 nominations cast, this year our students made the highest ever number of nominations – more than the last two years combined!

Nominations – quantity AND quality

But while the number of nominations is amazing, what’s equally amazing has been the quality of this year’s nominations. One of the questions I’m often asked is whether people with the most nominations automatically win. The answer to this is: no. Winners are chosen based on both the number and quality of nominations.

Saying ‘thank you’

This huge number of nominations goes to show just how much we students value the staff who go the extra mile for us, and reading through the nominations has been an incredibly enjoyable experience.

The SACAs emphasises how important it is to say ‘thank you’ to these members of staff. It doesn’t take long, but makes a huge difference to them, and encourages them to keep up the good work. In the words of Mother Theresa:

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

All the best,

Nick