Awards
Penn State Intercom......September
13, 2001
Augustson receives national
recognition for excellence
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Gary Augustson
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EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association with a mission to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology, will honor J. Gary Augustson with its 2001 Excellence in Leadership Award. The association's highest individual award, it recognizes extraordinary effectiveness, influence, statesmanship and lifetime achievement, on both individual campuses and the wider higher education community.
For more than 20 years, Augustson has kept Penn State a national leader in applying information technology to the challenges faced by higher education. As chief information officer for the University, Augustson has kept his focus on facilitating and creating learning communities and supporting top-quality research. This has required construction of a flexible information technology infrastructure that embodies "best in class" applications and management techniques that he has continued to develop and adapt throughout his professional career.
Augustson is nationally respected for his early advocacy and leadership of higher education's national networking efforts, and for the key role he has played in shaping the higher education position on national technology policy issues. According to the award selection committee, he is recognized by his peers as a visionary, a creator and a builder of constituencies to implement a vision.
He chaired the steering committee of Educom's Internet2 project, which led to the creation of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID). Augustson then served on UCAID's board of directors and was first chair of its Network Policy and Planning Advisory Committee. At the state level, he was instrumental in establishing PREPnet, the Pennsylvania Research and Economic Partnership Network, where he was an advocate for outreach, quality of service and equity among the various constituencies. A key behind-the-scenes player in the founding and early success of the Coalition for Networked Information, he also was instrumental in ensuring the implementation of a number of early networked information projects. In addition, Augustson was an early advocate of involving the presidential associations (particularly NASULGC) more closely with information technology policy and politics, and has been effective in obtaining corporate support for new campus initiatives and in balancing the interests of the corporate and educational worlds.
Augustson will be recognized in Indianapolis on at the upcomingEDUCAUSE annual conference, a forum for more than 5,000 professionals involved in the management of information resources in higher education and their corporate partners.
As part of this award, EDUCAUSE will make a $5,000 contribution in Augustson's name to the Renaissance Fund, an endowed fund providing support for the brightest Penn State students with the greatest financial need.
For more information, check the Web at http://www.educause.edu/awards/.
Nominations sought for faculty
and staff achievement awards
Nominations for the 2002 Faculty and Staff Achievement Awards are being sought from University and local community organizations and individuals. Nominators may obtain copies of a standardized format for submitting nominations by visiting the Office of Human Resources' Web site at http://www.ohr.psu.edu, under the document section. The nomination form also is available by contacting the Office of Human Resources at (814) 863-6188.
The Faculty and Staff Achievement Awards are:
**The Barash Award for Human Service. This award, created in 1975 by the family of the late Sy Barash, carries a stipend of $1,000. It is awarded to a full-time member of the faculty, staff or student body at University Park who has contributed most, apart from regular duties, to human causes, public service activities and organizations, or the welfare of fellow humans. These human service activities must have been performed in University Park, the Borough of State College, or College, Patton, Harris, or Ferguson townships.
**The McKay Donkin Award. This award was established in 1969 in honor of the late McKay Donkin, who served as vice president for finance and treasurer of the University from 1957 to 1968. The award, which consists of a $500 stipend, is presented to a full-time faculty or staff member, or retiree, who has contributed most to the "economic, physical, mental or social welfare of the faculty" of the University. The contributions of the nominee should be for duties for services which are above and beyond his or her regularly assigned duties.
**The Administrative Excellence Award. This award, which carries a stipend of $1,000, is made to a member of the staff of the University whose performance methods and achievements exemplify administrative excellence. The award is funded by a gift from Kenneth E. and Mary K. Warrick. Important criteria considered in the evaluation of nominees include total experience in an administrative position, accumulative levels of responsibility and authority, years of service at the University and in present position, and impact on own organization and on the University in general.
**The Staff Excellence Award. This award, established in 1993, carries a stipend of $500. The award is made annually to a member of the staff of the University who has demonstrated and practiced the philosophy of continuous quality improvement, team spirit and managerial excellence, and provided leadership in establishing a quality service orientation of the performance of assigned duties. To be eligible for the award, full-time staff must have a least five years of University service.
**The Support Staff Award. Established in 1997, this award carries a stipend of $1,000. It recognizes the overall high-quality performance of a non-exempt member of the support staff in fulfilling the mission of the University and of his or her college or administrative unit. The award will be given to a full-time, non-exempt member of the support staff in recognition of dedicated focus to customer service, commitment to quality improvement, outstanding skills and abilities, teamwork and professionalism. To be eligible for this award, a non-exempt staff member must have at least five years of active University service.
**The Dr. James Robinson Equal Opportunity Award. The award, sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association and given in honor of James Robinson, 1949, a devoted alumnus and former Alumni Council member, is designed to recognize a University faculty or staff member who promotes the concept of equal opportunity through affirmative action and/or contributes to enhancing the educational environment of the University through improving cross-cultural understanding. The award, consisting of a $1,500 stipend, is given in recognition of meeting one or more of the following criteria: demonstrated commitment to the spirit of equal opportunity through affirmative action; demonstrated leadership in the elimination of discrimination through encouragement of understanding between persons of different races, sexes, age groups, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religious heritage; and demonstrated commitment to meeting the special needs of students, faculty or staff who are members of traditionally underrepresented groups. To be eligible for this award, full-time faculty and staff must have at least two years of active University service.
Billie S. Willits, assistant vice president for Human Resources, is chairing a general committee to solicit nominations for the 2002 awards. Ronald R. Rohde, human resources officer, Office of Human Resources, and Carol Griffin, administrative assistant, Office of Human Resources, are providing staff support to the committee. Six subcommittees will screen nominations and develop recommendations for the respective awards.
Nominations should be sent to Billie S. Willits, Box 6, Rider Building, or faxed to (814) 863-3461, by Friday, Dec. 3. Supporting information which accompanies nominations should be as brief as possible. Early submission of nomination forms is encouraged.