By Courtney Klaus, Editor-In-Chief
The nomination process for the Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards is now open, and Sister Charlotte Rohrbach says this year she hopes to see students add some more reflection into why they nominate someone.
Rohrbach said student participation in this process has increased since the ballot went to an online format.
“This is really the opportunity that students have to express themselves and have a say in who wins… There is no question it’s the students who have really picked the people since we’ve got this new system,” Rohrbach said.
However, Rohrbach said one strong nomination that elaborates on why someone is deserving of an award is more important than having someone receive several nominations that do not go into any detail.
“It gives their nomination much more weight and helps us out,” she said.
To be nominated, the faculty or staff member has to have been employed at Newman for at least two years and cannot have received the award within the past five years. Those recipients within the past five years include faculty members Megan Cook, Susanne Berg, Joshua Papsdorf, Jill Fort and Susan Crane-Laracuente; previous staff winners are Morris Floyd, Tina Ast, Debbie Flax, Ami Alvidrez and Shella Augspurger.
Rohrbach said the drop-down menu to nominate a recipient should list all the employees eligible for the award.
Having student representatives on each committee is also a recent development, Rohrbach said. For the past few years, the SGA president has served on the Faculty Excellence selection committee while the SGA vice president has served on the Staff Excellence selection committee.
SGA President Emily Larkin said she believes Newman’s strong academic reputation is thanks to the people working at the university, and she said student input on the Faculty and Staff Excellence awards is particularly important.
“It is essential that students let their voices be heard about the inspiring and dedicated professors we have here at Newman,” Larkin said.
The ballot to nominate faculty and staff for the awards was emailed to everyone on Monday by Rohrbach. The last day to nominate someone is 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo, Newman Advancement
