Faculty and Staff Awards

Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement

Eligibility

All Penn State Harrisburg faculty and staff are eligible to be nominated for this award.

• Any person who has received this award in the past five years is not eligible.
• Nominations can be made by any employee; self-nomination is allowed.
• Must be an active employee in good standing.

Award Criteria

• The nominee must be an individual who has continuously demonstrated outstanding achievement, skill and an unwavering commitment to excellence in all aspects of their work. This award recognizes highly notable service to the Penn State Harrisburg.
• The nominee should demonstrate excellence in activities beyond the scope of their job responsibilities. The ideal candidate will demonstrate creativity and flexibility in performing his or her position to meet campus, student, employee or community needs. 
• Special consideration will be given to employees who consistently provide exemplary customer service to students, employees and other members of the campus community. This individual demonstrates exemplary service and commitment to achievement at Penn State Harrisburg. 
• Nominations should fully describe how this individual has made lasting and significant impacts to students, colleagues, their departments, the campus community or the university. Nominations should highlight outstanding contributions to professional fields, operating units or the campus community. This award is intended to acknowledge superior professional achievement and encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence.

Excellence in Diversity: IDEAL Leadership Award

Eligibility

All Penn State Harrisburg faculty and staff, or groups comprised of faculty and/or staff are eligible to be nominated for this award.

• Any person or group who has received this award in the past five years is not eligible.
• Nominations can be made by any employee or student; self-nomination is allowed.
• Must be an active employee in good standing.

Award Criteria

• Recognizes outstanding individuals who have shown exceptional leadership in cultivating an environment of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, Access, and beLongingness within the college.
• Successful nominees will have demonstrated, through their actions, behaviors, leadership and/or innovation a commitment to increase/retain/support the success of individuals who have been historically underrepresented and/or by removing the barriers that prevent full participation of all members of our community. Such actions may include but are not limited to:
  • Advancing diversity awareness and understanding within the college
  • Helping to create or promote a sense of belonging within our campus community
  • Promoting policies and practices that strengthen a culture of inclusivity
  • Serving as an advocate for the interests of underrepresented populations
  • Leading efforts aimed at improving diversity representation on campus
  • Developing diversity programming
• Contributions could be spread over a relatively long period, such as a major portion of a career, could be characterized by contributions to more than one area, or could be a recent, new initiative.
• Nominations should include a detailed description of the nominee’s significant impact in one or more of these areas, or a related area.

Outstanding Performance Award

Eligibility

All Penn State Harrisburg faculty and staff are eligible to be nominated for this award.

• Any person who has received this award in the past five years is not eligible.
• Nominations can be made by any employee or student; self-nomination is allowed.
• Must be an active employee in good standing.

Award Criteria

• Recipients of this award should have:
  • Exhibited a commitment to serve students, colleagues or the community 
  • Sustained a high-level of productivity and consistent quality of work 
  • Demonstrated a high degree of initiative in the performance of functions  
  • Displayed exceptional dependability  
  • Maintained effective relationships with others 
  • Demonstrated leadership qualities 
  • Enhanced the campus's image through professional publications and public service
• Nominees need not meet all of the above criteria for the award, but the nomination must recognize the employee's service orientation and describe specific examples and a description of their efforts. 

Student Impact Award

Eligibility

All Penn State Harrisburg faculty and staff are eligible to be nominated for this award.

• Any person or group who has received this award in the past five years is not eligible.
• Nominations can be made by any employee or student; self-nomination is allowed.
• Must be an active employee in good standing.

Award Criteria

• Eligibility for this award includes any faculty or staff member, and/or a group comprised of faculty and/or staff, that have demonstrated a significant positive impact on a student or students at Penn State Harrisburg. This award is for faculty or staff who have helped students achieve personal or professional goals, have added great value to a student's academic, personal, or professional trajectory, or have otherwise positively influenced a student's life through teaching, mentoring, advising, or providing support in any number of other ways.
• Nominations should include a detailed description of demonstrated outcomes or specific impact data / measurables.

Community Impact Award

Eligibility

All Penn State Harrisburg faculty and staff are eligible to be nominated for this award.

• Any person or group who has received this award in the past five years is not eligible.
• Nominations can be made by any employee or student; self-nomination is allowed.
• Must be an active employee in good standing.

Award Criteria

• Whether through professional or volunteer service, individuals nominated for this award must have demonstrated a significant and positive impact on the community. 
• The award may honor an individual for multiple or diverse forms of community engagement, including but not limited to: 
  • volunteer service
  • service-learning
  • policy work
  • community organizing
  • advocacy
• The nomination description should clearly articulate the nominee’s:
  • deep commitment to partnering with others to address community issues
  • outstanding ability to lead and inspire others to engage
  • evidence of sustainable impact of the nominee’s work

Research Excellence Award

Eligibility

All Penn State Harrisburg full-time faculty are eligible to be nominated for this award, given: 

• Nominee must be a full-time faculty for a minimum of two years at Penn State Harrisburg. 
• Any person who has received this award in the past five years is not eligible.
• Nominations can be made by any employee; self-nomination is also allowed
• Must be an active employee in good standing.

Award Criteria

• The nominee should demonstrate excellence in academic research, creative activity, scholarship, and mastery of subject matter.  
• The nominee should have a long record of research/scholarly productivity, recent publications of particularly high quality, recent receipt of significant research funding, or other meritorious achievements. 
• The nominee should have engaged undergraduate and/or graduate students in their scholarly activities and provided research mentorship. The ideal candidate will demonstrate integration of latest research outputs in their curriculum.
• The ideal candidate will also demonstrate great level of research-related services in their technical community (e.g., conference chair/organizer, editorial board memberships, proposal panel reviewer, etc.

Additional Requirements

Each nominator must submit one PDF file which includes the following two documents:

• A statement explaining how the research contributions match the award’s requirements (maximum length: 2 pages).
• Curriculum Vitae for the nominee (any format, no page limit)