It's only categorized as "Award" for filing purposes. They were owed CASH at the end of the year and decided to take stock, at market, in satisfaction of the cash. In other words, they paid for those shares with cash. No difference than if the company paid them the cash, and they went out and purchased those shares in the open market. Either way, they paid "at market" price via a direct purchase from the company and they were all required to file Form 4's, which they did.
And just for absolute clarity, the members of the board of directors are paid a small cash fee at the end of each year for their service to the company. I looked at the filings and there is no contingent agreement that they can opt to take stock rather than the cash. Its obviously something they agreed to do, ostensibly, because they know things we don't and believe the stock may be worth much more than the $3.40 per share they paid for them. But because the original consideration was based on their "service" to the company, and the "cash" would be considered an "award" under the SEC definitions (but in the real world not really, because its more compensation for their service to the board), it has to be characterized as an award - so the stock in lieu of cash, carries that same definition.
