President’s Achievement Award

Recognizing the best of NAU

Each year, the president of Northern Arizona University awards special recognition to classified staff and service professionals to recognize outstanding performance.

Nomination criteria

  • Promotion of strong positive interpersonal relationships and working with others to create a sense of true community in the workplace.
  • Complete job mastery and performance that far exceeds Northern Arizona University expectations
  • Active support of and loyalty to Northern Arizona University, its mission, values, and goals.

Eligibility

  • An employee must be in a full- or part-time regular position and in good standing with the university for three years. and have at least 3 years of performance appraisals.
  • Recipients from previous years are eligible if it has been at least five years since they received the award.
  • Prior nominees who were not selected to receive the award are eligible to be nominated again

Nomination process

Any university employee may nominate candidates who meet these criteria. Nominations should be submitted to Ryan Thomas at Ryan.E.Thomas@nau.edu or addressed to Ryan Thomas at P.O. Box 4030 via inter-office mail.

Nominators Accordion Closed
  • A Northern Arizona University employee can nominate another employee with the approval of the nominee’s supervisor and the dean, director, or department head.
  • Using the guidelines on the nomination form, the nominator should state the ways the individual nominee meets the criteria.
    • This will include the names and phone numbers of two additional references, who have first-hand knowledge of the nominee’s job performance. It is important that supervisors and/or the nominating party contact references in advance to ensure they are willing and able to provide to the committee information about the individual being nominated.
  • The screening committee will accept only one completed nomination form per nominated employee.

Download the nomination form PDF Download the nomination form Word

Deans, directors, and department heads Accordion Closed
  • Deans, directors and/or department heads review all nominations from their area and decide which to forward through their chain of command to their vice president. There is no set number of nominations that they may forward.
  • If the dean, director, and/or department head does not directly report to a vice-president area, the nominations should be forwarded to the next level up in the chain of command for endorsement.

Vice presidents Accordion Closed
  • Each vice president will review all classified staff and service professional nominations and select those they believe warrant further review by the screening committee.
  • All nominations forwarded to the screening committee will be reviewed on behalf of the president.

Screening committee Accordion Closed

The screening committee will comprise representatives of:

  • the President’s Office
  • Human Resources
  • Classified Staff Advisory Council
  • Service Professional Advisory Council

The screening committee will make recommendations to the president regarding employees they believe are most deserving of the award.

President Accordion Closed

The president will review the recommendations of the screening committee and determine the final award recipients.

Winners

Award winners are announced in April. Recipients are awarded $2,000 and recognition by the president.

2019 winners Accordion Closed
  • Shannon Bailey
  • Precilla Cox
  • Maria DeCabooter
  • Christy Draper Nations
  • Joseph Harting
  • Melissa Jurgensen-Armstrong
  • Matthew Tantau
  • Matt Kaplinski
  • Cheryl Miller

2018 winners Accordion Closed
  • Krista Allen
  • Judy Amos
  • Kristine Bellmore
  • Christine Drake
  • Shelley Jones
  • Ellen Nymark
  • Matthew Tantau
  • Deanna Theiss
  • Marcia Warden

2017 winners Accordion Closed
  • Julie Thurston
  • Dan Stoffel
  • Joey Ruiz
  • Karen Blalock
  • Kelly Weston
  • Mary Hager

2016 winners Accordion Closed
  • Christine Baca
  • Christal Black
  • Troy Campbell
  • Joelle Clark
  • Tim Darby
  • Dana Middlebrook
  • Rhonda Powers
  • Marie Sather
  • Ed Smith
  • Mary Kate Wolter

2015 winners Accordion Closed
  • Ryan Belnap
  • Megan Duskey
  • Toni Fox
  • Theresa Harmon
  • Cody Hodgeson
  • Pam Lynch-VanWyck
  • Stephanie McCarthy
  • Penny Medina
  • Margot Saltonstall
  • Javier Trejo-Sainz
  • Donna Zimmerman

2014 winners Accordion Closed
  • Agnes Drogi
  • Patrick Fahey
  • Lisa Ganey
  • Wendy Garrison
  • Maria Jackson
  • Eileen Mahoney
  • Mansel A. Nelson
  • Rosemary Rudy
  • Melinda Treml
  • Shawna Whitehat

2013 winners Accordion Closed
  • Jamie Axelrod
  • Monica S’hang-ah Bai
  • Paul Capps
  • Mike Harbottle
  • Nicole Harris
  • Terri Hayes
  • Mark Lord
  • Pam Torbico
  • Elmo Torrez
  • Bobbie Ursin