Rules and Guidelines

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY - PURCHASING ANY GOODS OR SERVICES WILL NOT INCREASE THE ODDS OF WINNING 

The Anthology Catalyst Awards (the “Program”) is a customer recognition program that recognizes innovation and excellence in Anthology’s global customer community. For purposes of these Rules, the selected winners are referred to as “Award Winners” or “Winners”.  

By entering this Program, you agree to these Official Rules (“Official Rules” or “Rules”) and the decisions of Anthology Inc. (“Sponsor” or “Anthology”), which are final and binding in all respects. 

1. Eligibility 

Who can participate? The Catalyst Awards Program is open to active licensed customers of Anthology and/or Blackboard software from all regions. Higher Education, K-12, Business, and Government institutions or organizations are eligible to participate. This Program is voided where it is expressly prohibited by applicable law. 

Employees and board members of Anthology and any Anthology partners or resellers, and all of their respective parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotion agencies, and legal advisors, and members of their immediate family or members of the same households of such employees or directors are not eligible for the Program. 

Submissions: Nominations must be related to the use of Anthology or Blackboard solutions in a customer institution or organization in the 2024 calendar year.  Nominations not representing an institution, not related to the use of an Anthology product or solution offering, or not executed during the 2024 calendar year do not qualify.  

2. Entry Categories 

Award Winners will be recognized across 9 categories: 

1. Assessment & Institutional Effectiveness: This award recognizes customers that have successfully grown in their assessment practices and influenced positive behavioral change using Anthology solutions. 
2. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: This award recognizes customers that have taken specific steps to rethink how learning is achieved and are using Anthology solutions to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practices that ensure that their pedagogy, content, and educational services are supportive of all learners, providing them with equitable opportunities to succeed. 
3. Ethical AI Instruction: This award recognizes clients who are harnessing the power of AI tools within Blackboard to elevate course design and digital teaching practices while upholding ethical standards in AI use. By integrating AI in a transparent, inclusive, and responsible way, they are creating dynamic, engaging learning environments that promote collaboration, critical thinking, and personalized learner support.
4. Institutional Advancement: This award recognizes customers that have made significant changes to provide an exceptional alumni and donor experience using Anthology solutions. 
5. Leading Change: This award recognizes customers that have used Anthology solutions to implement transformational initiatives that are driving innovation and change on campus and beyond and serve as an example in the industry. They are setting new standards in education, championing collaboration, and sharing best practices. 
6. Student Experience: This award recognizes customers that have used Anthology solutions to develop educational and administrative innovations that have a positive influence on the total learner experience and/or improve operational efficiency, addressing the new and changing dynamics in areas such as recruitment, financial aid, enrollment, engagement, student services, graduation, and beyond. 
7. Student Success: This award recognizes customers that have used Anthology solutions innovatively to increase retention, completion, and/or improve student outcomes through the implementation of new academic resources, data analytics solutions, scalable advising and intervention, and student support programs. 
8. Teaching & Learning: This award recognizes customers that are using Anthology solutions in innovative ways to advance learning. They have redefined what is possible in the classroom by adopting new delivery and pedagogical models and tools that have a positive influence on the educational experience, increase flexibility, further learner and instructor efficiency, and foster academic excellence. 
9. Training & Professional Development: This award recognizes institutions that display an organization-wide dedication to innovative training and development programs for their educators and staff. They have used Anthology solutions to enhance their training programs, develop employees’ skills and competencies, increase retention, and ultimately improve the experience for the constituents they serve. 

Each category has its own set of award criteria that is used to evaluate the merits of each nomination. The complete category details and criteria are published on the Catalyst Awards website.  

3. Nomination Period

Nominations will be open from February 3, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), to March 17, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (PT). This date is final, and no extensions will be provided.  

4. Nomination Process 

Type of nominations: You may nominate yourself, a colleague, or a team.  

Submissions Portal: All nominations must be submitted through the Submissions Portal. The link to the portal will be included on the Catalyst Awards website. Nominations sent via email or other channels will not be considered. 

How to submit: Submissions must be completed in English. To submit a nomination, entrants should visit the Catalyst Awards website, select the category that applies to the initiative, review the sample submission form, and register on the submissions portal to start the process. 

Once the account is created, entrants will receive detailed instructions on how to create and fill out the nomination form. After completing all the required information, the form must be fully submitted to finish the process. Forms in “draft” status will not be considered. 

Number of nominations: Entrants can submit more than one nomination. An individual or team can also be nominated more than once for different initiatives.  

Duplicated Submissions: An initiative can only be submitted in one category. Duplicated submissions will be disqualified from each category it was submitted to.  

Official Nominees: After all submissions are reviewed and validated by the Catalyst Awards Team, all eligible nominees will be notified via email and included in the official list that will be published on the Catalyst Awards website. 

5. Evaluation Process 

Eligible submissions will be evaluated by an internal cross-functional panel of judges who have significant experience and expertise in each category area. Winners will be selected based on the category criteria, level of innovation, and the Catalyst Awards Rubric defined by Anthology. Entrants can find more detailed information about the evaluation process on the Catalyst Awards website.  

Anthology shall be the sole judge and all decisions by Anthology are final and not subject to inquiry or reconsideration. Feedback on submissions is not provided. 

6. Award Winners  

Number of Winners: There could be multiple winners per category, and a nominee and/or institution can win more than one award.   

Winner Announcement: Winners and non-winners of the Catalyst Awards will be notified via email by the end of May 2025, and officially announced in a press release no later than June 20, 2025. They will also be published on our corporate channels, including, without limitation, the Community Site, Anthology’s social media accounts, and the Catalyst Winners Page. 

Winner Recognition: Once winners have been officially announced, our communications team will share a press kit with the winners’ communications offices that can be used to help promote their awards.   

Winners will be recognized and presented with their awards at the Anthology Together user conference that will take place on July 14-16, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. All travel and costs related to the Winners attendance at the Anthology Together conference shall be the sole responsibility of each Winner.

Awards Ceremony: Winners will be recognized in a special ceremony at Anthology Together where they will receive a Catalyst Awards Trophy. If a winner is not able to attend, the award will be shipped to them following the conference. If the conference cannot be held in person or is canceled for any reason, the ceremony will be virtual, and awards will be sent directly to the Winners.  

7. Promotion: 

The Winner and their stories will be promoted on Anthology websites and/or in various promotional materials selected by Anthology. This includes videos, blogs, and assets submitted by customers as part of the program, as well as photos and videos from the awards ceremony and other Winners' recognition events. 

By entering, entrants and Award Winners state that they are authorized to submit the respective materials in their Nominations due to you being the rightful claimant or the legal representative for all submitted material, and that they consent to the use of their names, voices, pictures, and likenesses for advertising and promotional purposes related to this program or to any Anthology product, in any medium throughout the world without any time limit or additional compensation, unless prohibited by law.  

CONSUMER DISCLOSURE 

By entering this Program, entrants and Award Winners (1) agree to be bound by these Official Rules and (2) agree to release Anthology and its subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, advertising and promotion, fulfillment and/or judging agencies, related entities from any and all liability for any loss, harm, damages, costs or expenses, including, without limitation, property damages, personal injury and/or death arising out of participating in this Program, or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize and/or claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy and merchandise delivery, which may be sustained in connection with the submissions they provided for the Program. 

Anthology reserves the right to prohibit any entrant from participating in the Program if, in its sole discretion, Anthology believes such entrant to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Program, or if such entrant repeatedly shows a disregard for, or attempts to, circumvent these Rules, or acts: (a) in a manner the Anthology determines to be not fair or equitable; (b) with an intent to annoy, threaten, or harass any other entrant; or (c) in any other manner disruptive to the Program. Any failure by the Sponsor to enforce any of these Rules shall not constitute a waiver of such Rules. 

Anthology assumes no responsibility for any lost, late, incomplete, inaccurate, stolen, misdirected, illegible, or altered entries. 

Anthology assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Program entries or entry forms, or alteration of entries or entry forms. Anthology is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or mailed-in entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this Program.  

Any attempt by any person to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Program may be a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, Anthology reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. 

If the program cannot be executed as planned, due to force majeure or any other extraordinary circumstances outside the control of the Sponsor, the Sponsor can make the decision to cancel, modify, or reschedule it at their discretion. 

Governing Law: The Program is governed by the laws of the United States with venue in Washington, D.C., and all claims must be resolved under State of New York law without regard to choice of law rules, first by mediation, and then by arbitration, in the District of Columbia, under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. 

Permission to reprint this form is granted to educational institutions and academic researchers provided that the Rules are reprinted in their entirety and without modification. Non-academic use requires express written permission of Anthology. 

Questions: If you have any questions related to the Program, please contact us at CatalystAwards@anthology.com