The online nomination process for NCAA Woman of the Year candidates is now open.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Nominees must graduate from their undergraduate studies before the beginning of the fall 2009-10 academic year and have completed eligibility in their primary sport.

The form must be completed and submitted by the institution via an online process no later than May 15, or an earlier deadline established by the conference office. For those nominees in Divisions I and II whose primary sports are unaffiliated with a conference office, nominations must be submitted online to the national office by May 15 as well. Schools must send the completed signatures page to their conference office by that deadline.

Nominees from reclassifying institutions will be considered and evaluated in the division in which they were nominated by a conference or, for independents, the division in which they competed in their primary sport.

Upon receiving nominations from its member institutions, each conference will be responsible for assessing each nominee’s eligibility and subsequently selecting a conference nominee based on collective achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics. Both schools and conferences are encouraged to nominate two candidates, so long as at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.

Each conference office must submit its nominee(s) to the national office via a Web-based form and send in the completed signatures page by June 26. All conference nominees will be forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year.