President Lester A. Lefton presents a surprised Dana
Lawless-Andric, director of the Pre-College TRiO Upward
Bound Programs, the President's Excellence Award last year.

Nominations for the third annual President’s Excellence Award will be accepted beginning today (Aug. 15) through Sept. 16. Kent State President Lester A. Lefton established the award program in 2009 as a way to reward staff members who demonstrate their daily commitment to carrying out the university’s Excellence Agenda.

In the first two years of the President’s Excellence Award, 21 recipients have been recognized and each recipient received a check for $1,000 after taxes. Past recipients have come from diverse areas of the university and include custodians, residence hall workers, academic advisors, administrative support staff, a police officer and a member of the women’s basketball coaching staff. You can view a list of past recipients on the President’s Excellence Award website.

President Lefton says he looks forward to reviewing the nominations each year. “This award is an opportunity to showcase the many examples of hard work and dedication that our staff put forth every day to advance the goals of our university,” he says. “Sometimes this is demonstrated through work on a major initiative, but it can also be shown through the employee’s daily interactions with students, their colleagues and others.”

Full-time classified and unclassified employees at all campuses who have been employed by the university for a minimum of one year and are in good standing are eligible to be nominated. Past recipients are not eligible to be nominated for a minimum of two years following their award and faculty are not eligible.
A nominee must demonstrate exceptional performance in advancing one of the following goals of the university’s Excellence Agenda during the previous fiscal year (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011). This includes actions, initiatives or projects related to:

• Student success
• Diversity and inclusion
• Quality customer service
• Effectiveness and efficiency
• Collaboration
• Serving as an ambassador for the university
• Sustainability
  

Nominations may come from peers, supervisors or other divisional leaders, faculty or students. The nomination period runs through Sept. 16. Nominations will be reviewed and a final list will be submitted to the Office of the President. The final decision resides with the president; award recipients will be announced in December.

The nomination form, along with detailed information on the award criteria and the nomination process, is available on the President’s website. The nomination forms may be printed and mailed or submitted electronically. If you have questions, contact Carla Wyckoff, HR communications and events manager, at 330-672-5857 or cwyckof1@kent.edu.