Distinguished Service Awards : IU Southeast

Distinguished Service Awards

Acknowledging distinguished service

The Distinguished Service Awards at IU Southeast are an important way the university can recognize and encourage outstanding performance by exempt and non-exempt staff.

They honor employees who demonstrate exceptional dedication, professionalism, and commitment to the mission of the university.

The nominees are chosen by the campus community, and the awards are presented at the end of the fall semester each year.

Recipients get to choose between an award of an IU Southeast captain’s chair or a one-time monetary award of $500.

2025 award recipients

**Chris Ralston,** Academic Advising (exempt)

**Mindy Smith,** University Relations (non-exempt)

**Sherry Pfeiffer,** Accounting Services (non-exempt)

Eligibility and criteria

The following criteria constitute the basis for nominations and for committee recommendations for award recipients.

Job performance:
- Individual initiative: performance above and beyond the normal expectations of the position.
- Extraordinary assignments: performance relating to extra assignments by a supervisor.
- Exemplary conduct of normal duties: e.g., attendance, dependability, punctuality, etc.
Personal attitude:
- Positive and professional in all contacts with others.
- Represents the university in the best possible way.
Commitment to the mission and goals of IU Southeast, as reflected by service and responsiveness:
- Above and beyond what is expected in job performance.
- Evidence of loyalty to IU Southeast.

Additional qualifiers:

Nominees must have been employed at IU Southeast for at least three years as of the date of the nomination.
Prior recipients are not eligible for the same award unless the award was granted over 10 years ago.

Nomination procedure

Your help is needed to identify and reward distinguished service to IU Southeast.

Everyone in the campus community can nominate the person they believe is most deserving of the award in each category (exempt and non-exempt).

Upon closing of the nomination window, the selection committee reviews the submissions based on the stated criteria and submits them to the chancellor. The chancellor then chooses the recipients and announces them during the fall semester.

Nominate someone for the Distinguished Service Award

Please submit all nominations by May 2 of the nomination year.

Submit your nomination

Selection committee

In the fall semester, a committee is appointed by the chancellor to review nominations for the awards in the following spring semester and recommend, confidentially, to the chancellor up to three full-time, exempt or non-exempt staff members (at least one exempt and at least one non-exempt) that will be chosen based on supplied justification in the nominations.
The committee will include eight (8) members, approved by the chancellor:
- (3) The most recent award recipients
- (2) Two representatives of the Staff Council
- (2) Two at-large members, from within the above groups, previous recipients, or a member of the previous year’s committee.
- (1) One representative from HR.
The chancellor appoints the committee chairperson.

The committee follows procedures and criteria as outlined in this document. However, if no candidates are judged to meet the criteria in a particular category, the committee will not recommend a recipient in that category.
All proceedings of this committee must be kept strictly confidential.
The chancellor will review the recommendations of the committee and select and announce the award recipients at an appropriate time.

The following procedures are recommended for receiving and reviewing nominations:

The chancellor’s office solicits nominations in the spring semester via a campus-wide email.
Nominators complete a submission form. The form addresses specific criteria and invites the nominator to write their rationale for nomination. The nomination must address the criteria and not exceed one written page.
Once the nomination deadline has passed, the chancellor’s office will collect all nominations and continue with the nomination vetting process.
The names of the nominees will be submitted by the chancellor’s office confidentially to Human Resources, who will then notify the chancellor’s office of any pending or relevant adverse personnel action(s), solicit a job description, and confirm that the nominees have a minimum of three years’ employment with IU Southeast.
Once the HR information has been secured, the chancellor’s office will then notify each nominee’s supervisor and solicit a one-page letter of support from the supervisor, specifically addressing the selection criteria.
The committee will review each nomination according to the selected criteria and recommend recipients, in a confidential manner, to the chancellor.
The chancellor will review and approve the recommended recipients, personally notify the recipients, and make an announcement at an appropriate time.

Previous awardees

Following are the honorees from the past 10 years. For Distinguished Service Award winners from previous years, contact the Office of Administration & Finance at +1-812-941-2202 or send an email to jenhersh@iu.edu.

Cari Edwards, clerical
David Rainbolt, professional/technical
John Brendle, service/maintenance

Teresa Andrews, clerical
Karen Richie, professional/technical
Anita Harris, service/maintenance

Tammy Glover, clerical
Dana Gohmann, professional/technical
Joe Lampkin, service/maintenance

Christy Thomas, clerical
Danny Clements, professional/technical
All Facility Operations staff, service/maintenance

Michelle Clements, clerical
Joe Glover, professional/technical
Danny Wilson, service/maintenance

Mary Ann Wild, clerical
Kirk Randolph, professional/technical
Beth Hogan, service/maintenance

Mary Patterson, clerical
Julie Ingram, professional/technical
Lesa Dean, service/maintenance

Kim Shaughnessy, clerical
Michael Turley, professional/technical
Bettie Ricketts, service/maintenance

Amanda Dailey-Weaver, clerical
Kim Pelle, professional/technical
Sean Engleman, service/maintenance

Christine Thompson, clerical
Melissa D. Hill, professional/technical
James M. Curd, service/maintenance

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