The Dissertation Award Committee evaluates and selects the winner of the annual Dissertation Award. In appointing members to this committee, the President should be sensitive to potential conflicts of interest, with particular attention to schools that have had high levels of submissions. Considering factors such as the number and length of submissions and the disposition of the committee, the evaluation procedure is agreed on after the chair consults with all committee members. Normally all committee members read, rank and prepare brief comments on all of the submissions.  If a large number of submissions prevent members from reading each one, the evaluation procedures can be modified with committee members reading the abstract and portions of a dissertation to determine whether it merits further consideration. Dissertations chosen for the short list must be read in their entirety. More information about the award can be found here.