Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award (CSEA)


Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award Program Procedures

Purpose

The Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award (CSEA) is designed to recognize the importance of the outstanding work of all university staff members who perform a wide range of critical functions for our university. Staff provide critical administrative support, support our research laboratories and education programs, serve our students, and offer important outreach programs throughout the state and beyond.

Criteria

Annually up to 16 awards will be distributed based on 8 functional categories listed below, providing up to 2 awards per category.

Individual awards will be given based on the degree to which the nominee meets the four criteria (click here for descriptions):

1. Demonstrates excellence in overall work performance.
2. Puts forth an effort to improve self as well as to develop and recognize others.
3. Exhibits initiative and creativity resulting in improved operating efficiency of the department and/or University.
4. Enhances the reputation of the department and/or university.

Eligibility

Eligibility requirements are as follows:

1. Nominee must be currently employed by a unit associated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign*, with at least three years of permanent service or the equivalent (e.g., 100% appointment for three years or 50% appointment for six years) by the nomination deadline.
2. Must have a positive work record.
3. Must be an active employee at the time the awards are determined, which will be March 2024, in the inaugural year of the program.
4. May receive the award only once.
5. Must be a civil service or academic professional employee, staff who also have a zero percent modified faculty title are also eligible (i.e., teaching or research associate, lecturer, or instructor). 

*University Systems office employees located in Urbana Champaign and employees of the UIC College of Nursing unit located in Urbana Champaign are not eligible for this award. 

The Award

Each winner of the CSEA award will be honored at a reception hosted by the Chancellor, receive a $1,500 (after taxes) and a commemorative award. They will also be featured virtually in either a podcast or video.

Nomination Process

Any current member of the campus community, i.e. faculty, staff or student, may nominate a staff employee who meets the eligibility requirements. 

In the event of multiple nominations submitted for one employee, nominators will be contacted and asked to review all of the nominations for that individual, determining which will go forward as the ‘official’ nomination. 

Those wishing to nominate an employee for this award can do so by using this link. The nomination form must be submitted by the published deadline. If there are questions, please contact email ihr-cseaward@illinois.edu or Cheryl Hahn at (217) 333-3101.

The Nomination form must address the four criteria listed above and specify the nominee’s functional category. Nominees will be evaluated against others within the same category.  To view a list and description of the CSEA functional categories click here.

IHR reserves the right to change the functional group if the title/description does not fit into the selected group.

Nominators will receive an e-mail acknowledging receipt of their nomination.

After the first screening, if the nominee is chosen as a  semi-finalist, nominators will be contacted to secure and then submit at least one, but no more than three, letters of support. Each letter of support should be no more than one page in length. A minimum of one of the letters must come from the nominee’s current employing unit head or his/her designee.

Selection Committee

A selection committee, appointed by the Chancellor, will consist of:

1. Two co-chairs will lead the committee. One co-chair will be a representative from Academic Professionals, and one will be from Civil Service staff.
2. There will be one committee member from each of the functional categories listed above, as well as one each from the Council of Academic Professionals (CAP) and the Staff Advisory Council (SAC). Half of the voting committee members may be asked to serve two-year terms, providing some committee continuity.

The committee will select sixteen finalists to be recommended to the Chancellor for selection of the award.

Members of the selection committee are not eligible for the award.

A representative from IHR will staff the committee.

In addition to selecting finalists for the awards, the selection committee will be responsible for conducting an annual evaluation of the program in order that needed improvements be considered on an annual basis. The committee will also consider ways to encourage stronger participation from deans, directors, department heads, and across all units.


This award program will periodically be reviewed for updates and improvements.