Quality Improvement and Innovation Awards
The CAATE Foundation’s mission is to serve as a catalyst to advance athletic training education through the promotion of quality improvement, innovation, diversity, and best practices for student recruitment. In support of its mission, the CAATE Foundation has developed an awards program to recognize programs for innovation and quality improvement in athletic training education. Applications are now being accepted until April 10, 2026.
Innovation Award: Recognizes a program’s use of strategic and intentional processes for identifying, implementing, and measuring new initiatives that advance program quality and/or learner achievement.
Quality Improvement Award: Recognizes a program’s use of a structured, data-driven process to evaluate systems and outcomes that include identifying areas for improvement, selecting and implementing measurable changes, and analyzing changes to ensure progression toward established quality improvement project benchmarks.
Award Identification and Recognition Procedures:
- The CAATE Foundation will seek submissions for the Innovation and Quality Improvement Awards on an annual basis.
- The CAATE Foundation will select one winner in each category—Innovation and Quality Improvement—for both professional programs and residency/fellowship programs. Additionally, there will be no limit on the number of honorable mentions awarded. The winners will be featured in a CAATE Town Hall, and summaries of their work will be posted on the CAATE website.
- Programs must be in good standing with the CAATE in order to submit an application.
- If noteworthy processes are identified through the Comprehensive Programmatic Review Process, the Annual Report review, or the quality improvement process, the program will be encouraged to apply.
Submission Categories: Applications addressing the CAATE core competencies are encouraged but not required. The CAATE Foundation further encourages applications that aim to address innovation and quality improvement in a variety of contexts, such as faculty development; preceptor development; social determinants of health; diversity, equity, and inclusion; assessment of student learning; clinical education; program marketing and recruitment; alumni engagement; and faculty and preceptor scholarship.
Questions? If you have any questions or need assistance determining the appropriate category for your project, please email a brief project description to support@caate.net. A Foundation Board member will review your submission.
Innovation Self-Nomination Applications
- Open: January 20, 2026
- Due: April 10, 2026
- Application Link
- Self-nominations are narrative-based. Data will be highlighted in collaboration with the CAATE Education Committee when winners and other nominees are highlighted.
- Applications will be scored based on the following dimensions:
- Impact: Measurable and tangible results of the innovation in improving the program. How significantly has it contributed to the overall success or improvement of the program?
- Creativity in Problem Solving: The originality of the approach used to address the problem. Does the innovation demonstrate a fresh, novel perspective or an unexpected solution that goes beyond conventional methods?
- Replicability and Scalability: The potential for the innovation to be adapted or scaled to different contexts or settings. Can it be effectively implemented elsewhere with similar results? This dimension will be used in the event of a tie.
Quality Improvement Self-Nomination Applications
- Open: January 20, 2026
- Due: April 10, 2026
- Application Link
- Self-nominations are narrative-based.
- Applications will be scored based on the following dimensions:
- Impact: Measurable and tangible results of the quality improvement project in improving the program. How significantly has it contributed to the overall success or improvement of the program?
- Replicability and Scalability: The potential for the quality improvement project to be easily adapted or scaled to different contexts or settings. Can it be effectively implemented elsewhere with similar results? This dimension will be used in the event of a tie.